Lean and green – a systematic review of the state of the art literature

The move towards greener operations and products has forced companies to seek alternatives to balance efficiency gains and environmental friendliness in their operations and products. The exploration of the sequential or simultaneous deployment of lean and green initiatives is the results of this balancing action. However, the lean-green topic is relatively new, and it lacks of a clear and structured research definition. Thus, this paper’s main contribution is the offering of a systematic review of the existing literature on lean and green, aimed at providing guidance on the topic, uncovering gaps and inconsistencies in the literature, and finding new paths for research. The paper identifies and structures, through a concept map, six main research streams that comprise both conceptual and empirical research conducted within the context of various organisational functions and industrial sectors. Important issues for future research are then suggested in the form of research questions. The paper’s aim is to also contribute by stimulating scholars to further study this area in depth, which will lead to a better understanding of the compatibility and impact on organisational performance of lean and green initiatives. It also holds important implications for industrialists, who can develop a deeper and richer knowledge on lean and green to help them formulate more effective strategies for their deployment

The challenges for sustainable skills development in the UK automotive supply sector: policy and implementation

Original paper can be found at: http://www.gerpisa.univ-evry.fr/rencontre/16.rencontre/GERPISAJune2008/home.htmlThe European Automotive industry is a key strategic player in the European Union with an estimated 10 million workers. The majority of these work in the supply chain (CLEPA 2005). As a major employer, the sector must work to maintain its competitive edge if it is to keep that workforce engaged.Final Accepted Versio

Downsizing implementation and financial performance

In the present study we explore the relationship between downsizing decisions and corporate financial performance after top management has decided to downsize. Our focus is on the financial consequences arising from the amount of downsizing and the use of disengagement incentives. For this purpose, we use a sample of downsizing announcements in the Spanish press from 1995 up to 2001. Although the results show that the amount of downsizing is not significantly related to post-downsizing profitability, the evidence provided supports the finding that the use of disengagement incentives (which motivate workers to leave the organization) is negatively related to firm performance. Our analysis helps to understand the role that strategic downsizing decisions play in explaining observed variance in the performance of downsized firms. Thus, it advances scholarly organizational research by reinforcing the concept that corporate performance is not only contingent on strategies, but also influenced by the means through which these strategies are implemented

Lean production and supply chain innovation in baked foods supplier to improve performance

Purpose: Service industries are currently facing an excess of over production that results in extra inventory and waste levels. With the prospect of methods such as lean production, this research seeks to investigate the impacts of lean production methods towards enhanced performance of service based industries through the study of a local baked foods supplier. Design/methodology/approach: The paper highlights the first stage of research study through current world literature and a critical review as inputs of research findings. The research applies a descriptive research framework within a semi-structured questionnaire survey method which was implemented within three different companies, the baked goods manufacturer, the café purchasing the baked foods products, and the end users, hence covering the overall supply chain cycle and its entities. Findings: The research study identified that one of the major challenges facing the baked food company when adopting the lean practices was the lack of commitment from the top management, continuous training and hence, employee engagement measures were necessary towards performance improvement of the organisation. Originality/value: The research novelty is to develop an early understanding of lean production practices within the baked goods manufacturer and its upstream and downstream stakeholders. This paper would be considered by the food manufacturer companies in order to require their key suppliers to adopt the most common lean tools identified as Just in Time (JIT), Value Steam Mapping (VSP) and the 5S methods

Leanness and agility as means for improving supply chains. A case study on Egypt

Supply chain management has received greater attention from the academics and the practitioners, however the literature review lacks a comprehensive view for supply chain management practices and how its members should act to contribute to its overall success (Li el at., 2005). In this era, where the business organisations are working in several challenging threats and opportunities, greater attention is given to supply chain management. Nowadays, companies are always searching for means to improve their supply chains. The main aim of this research is to show "how leanness and agility approaches can be used within the same enterprise as complementary means for improving its supply chain". To achieve this research objective, the research has provided an assessment and summarised the literature on the supply chain management, lean thinking and agility thinking including their importance; their definitions; their practices and the relationship between lean and agility. The resulted proposed framework deduced from the literature has been applied in the Egyptian Manufacturing Business to show the relationship between the agility principles, lean principles, entity performance and the successful supply chain

The Effect of Lean Manufacturing on the Financial Performance: Case of the Manufacturing Companies in South Lebanon

Businesses have been trying to implement new business initiatives such as lean manufacturing to stay alive in the latest competitive market place. Such initiative concentrates on cost reduction by removing the non-value added activities to achieve better financial performance. This study examined the effect of lean manufacturing on financial performance from the perspective of managers in the industrial sector in South Lebanon. The methodology of this study was quantitative in which 152 self-administered questionnaires were distributed randomly among managers. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were identified and proposed hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation and regression analysis. The results showed that lean manufacturing has a significant and positive effect on financial performance. Future studies are encouraged to expand the research to other regions in Lebanon over a longer time horizon and apply different quality improvement tools

Downsizing implementation and financial performance

In the present study we explore the relationship between downsizing decisions and corporate financial performance after top management has decided to downsize. Our focus is on the financial consequences arising from the amount of downsizing and the use of disengagement incentives. For this purpose, we use a sample of downsizing announcements in the Spanish press from 1995 up to 2001. Although the results show that the amount of downsizing is not significantly related to post-downsizing profitability, the evidence provided supports the finding that the use of disengagement incentives (which motivate workers to leave the organization) is negatively related to firm performance. Our analysis helps to understand the role that strategic downsizing decisions play in explaining observed variance in the performance of downsized firms. Thus, it advances scholarly organizational research by reinforcing the concept that corporate performance is not only contingent on strategies, but also influenced by the means through which these strategies are implemented.Downsizing, Disengagement incentives, Corporate performance, Spanish labour market

The impact of non-technological innovation on technical innovation: do services differ from manufacturing? An empirical analysis of Luxembourg firms

Generally speaking, the support of technological innovation has been viewed in terms of input such as R&D and instruments such as legal protection. The literature on innovation highlights the interactive nature of the innovation process in which non-technological activities are essential. However, few works have taken into account the role of other innovative strategies such as marketing and organisational innovation, a role which may differ according to whether the firm is involved in manufacturing or in services. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to fill this gap by highlighting the effects of non-technological innovation strategies on technological innovation. For the empirical work, we used firm-level data drawn from the Community Innovation Survey 2006 for Luxembourg. Our results show that the effects of non-technological innovations differ depending on the phase of the innovation process. Marketing and organisational innovations significantly increase the likelihood of innovation, but not the commercial success of innovation. The study also shows the differentiated effects of the two types of non-technological innovation in manufacturing and service, and confirms the key role of organisational innovation for services.CIS; Innovation; Marketing; Organisation; Technological Innovation

Sustainable business solutions through lean product lifecycle management

In today\u27s process manufacturing environment, innovation is viewed as critical to sustainable growth and business profitability. While open innovation is regarded as the answer, the companies can effectively measure the return on R&D investment, have acceptable product success rates, achieve acceptable promotional effectiveness, or have visibility into their compliance risks or operational readiness for new product launches. While open innovation is an actual topic, capitalizing on the opportunity requires holistic strategy, not just increased collaboration. Companies must have repeatable, compliant and responsive business processes, global information infrastructure that provides a single source of the truth, alignment across departments and solutions that evolve without coding. With holistic strategy and supporting infrastructure, companies can consistently minimize the time to scale, improve product success rates and promotional effectiveness, and enjoy sustainable and profitable growth. With open innovation providing unlimited opportunities, the company should start to identify the best open innovation opportunity and deliver top and bottom line of the company\u27s benefits. The companies must first focus on the needs of their customer, continually minimize time to scale, eliminate waste, drive out costs and improve. These are core concepts of a Lean strategy. This paper will describe how Lean concept with PLM business strategy can leverage Lean with integrated compliance, continual improvement and other PLM best practices to increase the return on R&D investments and provide sustainable and profitable growth for business processes mainly manufacturing processes. The purpose of this paper is to review PLM approach linked to Lean concepts in order to achieve sustainable and innovative business processes with sustainable and profitable growth

Principles and Business Improvement Initiatives of Lean Relates to Environmental Management System

Lean and Environmental Management System (EMS) are widely appreciated by organizations in improving business efficiency and productivity. The distinct systems have worked towards the enhancement of business capabilities, reducing production costs and meeting ISO standards. This paper analyzes these two systems and provides an understanding of how these processes have contributed in improving business efficiencies. Past research studies have revealed that there are wide ranging possibilities and scope of expanding the application potential of these systems to provide even better business models. The research study aims to provide an understanding of the individual systems and then goes on to explore the possibilities of integrating the two models to provide an effective approach to achieving organizational efficiency