The police service in England and Wales continue to face intense pressures to manage and reduce budgets while simultaneously maintaining and improving levels of service. In achieving reform, attention has been directed towards the implementation of proven operational improvement frameworks, such as ‘lean thinking’ taken from the automotive industry. However, the qualitatively different contexts have resulted in ‘lean’ interventions making only limited contribution to police reform. This research draws on contemporary views of ‘lean’ as a knowledge creation process to assess how such a reconceptualization may contribute to more successful police transformation
