What do lean managers do? Modeling management behaviors in lean production environments

Developing existing literature on Lean Thinking as a management system and a dynamic capability, this study investigates the management behaviors and competencies associated with successful processes of lean transformation. We applied regression and non-parametric statistical analysis to an original dataset coming from field research on 26 processes of lean transformation in North Italian small and medium manufacturing enterprises and tested if a repertoire of lean management behaviors drawn from the literature captures the essence of management in lean production environments. We found that these behaviors actually correlate with the degree of advancement of the lean transformation process and that managers of lean firms are particularly focused on the development of standards, have wider responsibilities and extended assignments, act more responsibly, pay more attention to the horizontal flow of value along the whole supply chain, evaluate performance referring to the state of the organizational processes rather than on end of year results, and conceive their role as that of a teacher. Research implications are drawn about the evolution of lean management and its relationship with organization and management theory. Insights are provided on how lean practitioners ought to integrate systematically management behaviors into the design of lean transformation processes.