The interplay of culture and lean in service organizations

Abstract

Despite extant research on both culture and lean within the management scholarship, and the recognition of culture as key to a successful lean implementation, the specificities of their interplay are still under-researched. Moreover, service organizations still struggle to adapt the lean principles and practices that have emerged in the automotive sector. Therefore, the purpose of this doctoral thesis is to delve into the interplay between culture and lean implementation in service organizations. The starting point of the thesis is a systematic literature review, which synthesizes over two decades of publications according to the levels of national culture (NC) and organizational culture (OC) and maps which cultural dimensions foster or hinder lean implementation. The review unveils the lack of consensus in the literature and underlines some key paradoxes present in lean organizations. In order to scrutinize such paradoxes, the empirical stage of the research consists of two in-depth single case studies: one on the construction sector and the other on the healthcare sector. Both case studies take an abductive approach exploring the paradox theory as a theoretical lens. The findings offer a dynamic analysis of how culture influence lean implementation, and in turn, how the adoption of lean principle/practices directly impacts and changes the OC. Furthermore, the study presents the defensive mechanisms and counterbalancing actions that organizations adopt in order to manage the tensions derived from this interplay between lean and culture. This identification can guide managers when dealing with challenges of cultural transformation for a successful lean implementation. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has explored the interplay of lean implementation and culture using a paradox theory lens.