Defining and developing measures of lean production
Journal of Operations Management, (2007)Abstract
Our research addresses the confusion and inconsistency associated with ‘‘lean production.’’ We attempt to clarify the semantic
confusion surrounding lean production by conducting an extensive literature review using a historical evolutionary perspective in
tracing its main components. We identify a key set of measurement items by charting the linkages between measurement
instruments that have been used to measure its various components from the past literature, and using a rigorous, two-stage
empirical method and data from a large set of manufacturing firms, we narrow the list of items selected to represent lean production
to 48 items, empirically identifying 10 underlying components. In doing so, we map the operational space corresponding to
conceptual space surrounding lean production. Configuration theory provides the theoretical underpinnings and helps to explain the
synergistic relationships among its underlying components.