Raffaele Secchi

Rolling out lean production systems: a knowledge-based perspective

Purpose – Adopting a knowledge-based perspective, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the roll-out process of lean production systems and explores the dimensions that might enhance or hinder its performance. It develops a framework to understand and design lean roll-out processes, identifying the research dimensions/design variables to classify and interpret such processes. Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory multiple case study analyses seven lean roll-out processes in multinational companies’ plants. An original data set, developed on the basis of a purposely design research protocol, was built through two rounds of plant visits and structured interviews. The cross-case analysis compares and contrasts the lean roll-out processes according to the research dimensions constituting the framework. Findings – The effectiveness and the efficiency of the lean roll-out processes: first, negatively co-vary with the degree of lean knowledge codification; second, positively co-vary with the degre...

Strategic goals and design drivers of the supplier portal: lessons from the Ferrari case

The purpose of this work is to identify the main design drivers of a supplier portal and to verify the relationships between these drivers and the strategic goals of such portals. Through the analysis of an empirical case, three different design drivers have been identified, called penetration, breadth, and depth. Moreover, a relationship has been found out between strategic goals and the identified design drivers. This relationship, based on the evidences of a currently successful field experience, can provide a framework to support the design of a supplier portal.

The Diffusion of Lean Operations Practices in MNCs: A Knowledge-Based, Plant Level, Cross-Firm Study

Abstract Rolling out lean operations practices in MNCs’ plants is a complex knowledge transfer process whose design and implementation, though critical to operations performance, to date has not been investigated by operations management, international business, strategy, and organizational design research. Applying conceptual tools drawn from various theoretical approaches to knowledge management, transfer and diffusion, this exploratory study: (a) classifies and interprets lean roll-out processes in MNCs, framing them in terms of (i) knowledge replication strategies (template vs. principles-based), (ii) decentralization of decision making (degree of plant autonomy), and (iii) type of organizational ambidexterity (structural vs. contextual) underlying the process; (b) develops, through seven case studies of lean roll-outs in MNCs’ plants, three testable propositions about what might enhance the lean roll-out process performance, arguing about the individual and combined effect of the three above mentioned dimensions on lean roll-out effectiveness and efficiency. We posit that an approach characterized by principles-based knowledge replication, larger decentralization, and prevalence of contextual ambidexterity positively impacts on roll-out process performance.