Experiences from Implementation of Lean Production: Standardization versus Self-management: A Swedish Case Study

Abstract

In this article, we discuss important aspects of the perceived problematic relationship between self-management and standardization. The article presents data from three case studies conducted within manufacturing companies in Sweden, where the popularity of lean production has led to a renaissance for short-cycle and standardized assembly work in settings that traditionally have made use of sociotechnical production design. The data suggest that the implementation has not contributed to an increased commitment, smooth operations, and capacity for change and innovation. Despite these not so positive results, it is argued that it is possible to combine self-management principles with lean production and standardization if 1) the implementation of lean is done with a contextual sensitivity, 2) a balance is reached between the use of standards on the one hand and work enrichment on the other, and 3) a feeling of ownership as regards both implementation and production process is upheld among the product on personnel.

Applying Principles of Sociotechnical Systems onto Working Environment Research

“…The New Management Discourse, seen as a central feature of NPM, is described to reinforce monitoring, control, and inspection of workers and, hence delimit professional autonomy and even sometimes lead to deprofessionalization (Broadbent et al, 1997;Christensen & Laegreid, 2007;Kärreman et al, 2002;Klikhauer, 2013). Much of the same critique is directed towards Lean Production, which is even criticised for endangering ground-floor workers health and well-being, with its reinitiating of specialization, standardization, and routinization in professional work (Hasle et al, 2012;Landsbergis & Schnall, 1999;Oudhuis & Tengblad, 2013). Another string of critique of neoliberalism is concerned with how deregulation and apparent 'freedom' at the work-task level of the single worker, which also is seen as a feature of NPM, is paired with new forms of discipline (Gordon et al, 1991;Miller & Rose, 1988;Rose, 1999).…”

Quality Development in Health Care: Participation vs. Accreditation

“…In the example with the effect of obtaining a shorter fasting period, a prime motivation for the clinicians was their knowledge of the research evidence pointing to clinical complications of long fasting periods. Local experimentation to obtain effects may help address the implementation challenges experienced with DQM, as a way to combine standardization with self-management principles (Oudhuis & Tengblad, 2013). For example, the participatory approach driven by local clinicians aims to foster motivation and engagement by providing conditions conducive to arriving at a work organization and technology that, according to Weick (2000), make sense to the clinicians.…”

Managerial Practices that Support Lean and Socially Sustainable Working Conditions

“…Most prior studies point at factors in lean implementations that jeopardize the development of SSWC (Hasle, 2014;Koukoulaki, 2014;Landsbergis et al, 1999;Oudhuis & Tengblad, 2013). Regarding research on lean and employee control, the majority of studies report restricted employee control in lean companies (c.f.…”