Quality management vision of future early career operations managers

Exploring the dark side of Lean: a systematic review of the lean factors that influence social outcomes

Purpose

Lean has shifted over the years from a set of tools to implement to a human-centric approach concerning both hard and soft factors. However, there is a limited research on these soft factors and how they influence companies performance and social outcomes on the one hand and how they enable the hard factors on the other hand. Taking this as a valuable opportunity, the purpose of this paper is to present the key motivating factors and key gaps in the literature as an agenda for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic methodology to identifying the literature on social outcomes and factors in Lean is presented. Web of Science, EBSCO, Emerald, Science Direct, Google Scholar and the top journals were searched, and 158 papers were identified.

Findings

The systematic review helped the authors to identify the evolution, current trends, research gaps and an agenda for future research for exploring social outcomes in Lean and the factors mediating them. These factors are grouped and presented.

Practical implications

The implications of this work include understanding for managers and professionals how both soft and hard factors in Lean are related and that for a sustainable implementation, the whole system must be observed. This work could serve as a valuable resource that depending on the execution of Lean, either positive outcomes will emerge or even negative outcomes, referred to as “The Dark Side”.

Originality/value

This paper presents an extended survey on the factors in Lean mediating both companies’ performance and social outcomes. The authors also believe that this is possibly the most comprehensive systematic literature review on the topic and will set the foundation for various research avenues based on the key findings of this study.

Mapping the implications and competencies for Industry 4.0 to hard and soft total quality management

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to map the implications and competencies for Industry 4.0 to the hard and soft aspects of total quality management (TQM).

Design/methodology/approach

The author/s collected data from purposively drawn samples of early-career engineering professionals (ECEPs) using a cross-sectional survey. A total of 20 ECEPs from three small-class cohorts (2014, 2016 and 2018) participated in the survey. The author/s analyzed data using the Kruskal–Wallis test and Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test to establish the effect of cohort and gender on the implications and competencies for Industry 4.0. The author/s then mapped the top- and bottom-ranked implications and competencies onto the hard and soft aspects of TQM using a matrix.

Findings

Based on the cohort, significant differences p < 0.05 existed in the interests and competencies for Industry 4.0. In congruence, the 2014 cohort had the highest number of “unique” top- and bottom-ranked competencies and implications spanning the hard and soft TQM. Based on gender, nonsignificant differences p < 0.05 existed in the interests and competencies for Industry 4.0. The male and female ECEPs' “common” top-ranked implications appeared under the hard and soft TQM. All their “common” top-ranked competencies appeared under the hard TQM, while all their “common” bottom-ranked competencies appeared under the soft TQM.

Research limitations/implications

The sample size, context/discipline and perceptual data are limitations.

Practical implications

Optimizing an existing TQM framework/matrix to design Industry 4.0 TQM, advanced as TQM 4.0.

Originality/value

Perspectives of early-career professionals for TQM 4.0 implementation.

Autobiographical internal dialogue on TQM

Purpose

To present the internal dialogue of a TQM practitioner using the conceptual lens of reflective practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a pragmatic philosophical approach to collect qualitative critical reflection data and quantitative career construction data from stratified and purposively sampled respondents, using structured questionnaires. The qualitative data were analyzed through reconstruction, while the quantitative data were analyzed through co-construction using the percentage agreement value and Wilcoxon–Mann Whitney test.

Findings

Five questions were found to be valuable for steering the internal dialogue for critical reflection, thus recommended as a must-have in a TQM practitioner's toolkit. This study found the career adapt–abilities scale to be a valuable tool for assessing the career construction of a TQM practitioner. This was supported by a 64% agreement and non-significant difference between the two groups of raters used, p < 0.05 (U = 3356.5, W = 7451.5, Z = 1.9826), two-tailed.

Research limitations/implications

The pragmatic philosophical stance used in this study lends it to a certain level of subjectivity. However, the inputs from the three other participants neutralize the subjectivity. Most notably, this study is not about consensus-seeking but rather verifiable/testable self-reflection.

Practical implications

The theory-informed results presented in this study are useful for the continuing professional development of TQM practitioners.

Originality/value

This study provides insights for applying an individual-level self-assessment tool for TQM implementation.

Quality and lean practices synergies

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between investments in quality and lean practices, and their impact on factory fitness. Using concepts originating in the theory of swift even flow, this study asserts that manufacturers, in order to improve their production swiftness and evenness, must leverage the potential synergetic effects between quality and lean practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses data from the Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG) survey project (with data collected from 922 manufacturing plants, across 18 countries). The constructs and measurement model were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the hypotheses were tested using ordinary least square (OLS) models.

Findings

This study highlights that both investments in quality and lean practices have direct impact factory fitness. The results provide insights into the efficacy of the investments in manufacturing practices and their role in augmenting the operational performance. The investments in quality practices were found to enhance the efficacy of investments in lean practices, which in turn impact the factory fitness.

Practical implications

From a practical perspective, the study informs managers on how to leverage investment in quality practices to enhance the impact of lean practice on performance. The results provide empirical evidence to support management decision-making concerning the development of competences in quality and lean practices, which may create competitive advantage.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the quality and lean literature and provides empirical evidence of the synergetic effects between investments in quality and lean practices. The analysis offers a greater understanding of the mechanisms that can be used to maximise the impact of investments in lean practices, from a global perspective. The findings are important to the advancement of theory in operations management, as it integrates three research streams: quality practices, lean practices and swift even flow research.