Purpose Although lean popularity is rapidly growing, its implementation is far from problem-free and companies may experience difficulties in sustaining long-term success. On this premises, the purpose of this paper is to understand to what extent human factors, affected by the implementation of both hard (defined as technical and analytical tools) and soft (concerning people and relations) lean practices, play a key role in achieving long-term superior performance. Design/methodology/approach The analysis of the relationships between lean practices implementation, human factors and operational performance is carried out in a single exploratory case study. A retrospective approach is adopted to trace the changes of human and operational performance before, during and after the introduction of lean management (LM) implementation. In particular, a mixed method concurrent design merging results of a qualitative analysis with data collected from a survey is selected to provide a more realistic benefit in the exploration of the proposed research questions. Findings The results show a short-term direct relationship between the implementation of lean practices (hard and soft) and physical work environment and job characteristics, directly connected to operational outcome. In the long term, operational performance is influenced by employee behaviour outcome and conditioned by physical work environment and job characteristics with the mediating effect of individual characteristics. Practical implications The proposed model supports the building of a roadmap for LM implementation, taking into account the role of the human factors to achieve superior operational performance. Moreover, it helps managers to implement a monitoring system to check how social and technical components of a LM system evolve over time. Finally, it supports the definition of specific training programs, tailored for specific workers’ types. Originality/value This paper extends theory in LM, highlighting how hard and soft lean practices have to interact to enable a successful LM implementation.

Over the last decade, reshoring has increasingly attracted the attention of practitioners, policy makers and scholars. While a significant number of articles have analysed drivers, locations and activities involved in reshoring decisions, the decision-making and implementation processes (i.e., "how to reshore") still lack empirical analyses. In addition, the few existing frameworks do not include the behavioural aspects characterizing human decision-making, that have proved to be relevant in the case of offshoring and reshoring decisions. Through a multiple case study approach, this paper seeks to address this gap by shedding light on the phases of the two aforementioned processes, the information collected, the stakeholders involved, and the criticalities faced. Based on the empirical analyses and the use of the behavioural perspective, we develop four original propositions that might guide both future research and management practice in this field. In addition, the results from the cases provide a reference for companies willing to implement a reshoring decision and in search for past experiences on which to build on.

Lean Manufacturing (LM) has always been intended as a means to improve efficiency by reducing operations costs, but the recent focus on sustainability and its three pillars (economic, environmental, and social) raises new issues. In this paper, a new model that links LM with sustainability is proposed and then refined through a cross-sector multiple case study. The results highlight a need to align lean implementation processes with sustainability strategy to avoid negative impacts that LM could have on the components of sustainability.

Lean Manufacturing has always been seen as a mean to improve efficiency by reducing operations costs, but the recent focus on sustainability and its three pillar (economic, environmental and social) brought new issues to be addressed. In this paper, a new framework that links lean manufacturing with sustainability is proposed and then refined through a cross-sectoral multiple case study. The results highlight the need to align the lean implementation process with the sustainability strategy in order to avoid the negative impacts that lean production could have on the environmental and social components of sustainability.