HR management during lean production adoption

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the success factors linked to human resources management during the lean production (LP) adoption process. A model of these factors and their interrelationships is also to be built to understand the sequence that leads to the cultural change required in lean production adoption.Design/methodology/approach – A case study is carried out in selected same‐industry companies that are on the same level in the supply chain and have recently completed LP adoption. Twelve first‐tier production plants in the aeronautics industry were selected. Data were gathered from interviews with plant managers and the people in charge of LP in the plant. Data were analyzed using open and coaxial coding and triangulation both within cases and across cases.Findings – The results highlight a number of success factors that depend on the phase of the LP adoption process. In the phase prior to adoption, the success factors are the incorporation of external change agents and the management avertin...

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