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Although leadership is consistently found to be the main success factor for lean transformations, our knowledge about how to develop the necessary leadership competences at the level of the individual and the organisation remains limited. Based on an action-research study of lean leadership development in a Norwegian high-tech manufacturer, this article proposes an integrated model for how to develop corporate lean leadership. The model combines earlier research on 'hard' versus 'soft' leadership competencies and individual versus collective competency development in a two-dimensional framework, which highlights four areas of intervention. We argue that conventional lean leadership training should be supplemented by insights and practices from human resource management and organisational development. Hence, lean professionals (coaches and trainers) should reach out to HR-professionals often organised in different functional departments. The model might guide future practical interventions. We encourage further research to investigate the model with respect to its wider applicability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lean has evolved from an operational tool to a complete management concept that incorporates softer aspects such as participation, learning and leadership. This evolution challenges the traditional way in which large management consultancy firms intervene in the lean implementation process; an outside expert cannot easily install a soft, participation-oriented form of lean. To explore this challenge, we report a longitudinal, qualitative case study of how a large consultancy firm supported lean implementation in a public service organisation. Our findings show that although the consultants’ rhetoric had been adapted to the contemporary ideal of soft lean, their practice had not: implementation remained tool-centred and external consultants took the roles of experts. We posit that the business model of large consultancy firms and the nature of conventional client–consultant contracts may explain this mismatch between consultants’ talk and action. Hence, this challenge is difficult to overcome in practice, and managers are advised to consider critically what management consultants can and cannot effectively deliver in lean implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a number of arguments for implementing public service Lean in a decentralized fashion, characterized by employee participation and local adaptions of the concept. This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of decentralized Lean implementation in a large Norwegian public service provider. The analysis points to unintended consequence of communication and co-ordination difficulties. The authors suggest ways of striking a reasonable balance between centralized and decentralized strategies of Lean implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failure or unsatisfactory results from organisational transformations aiming at excellence are often attributed to lack of management support and commitment. Why these issues become problematic has only been superficially explored in the literature, and typically no distinctions are made between different layers of management. This study explores why management support and commitment become problematic in lean transformations in public service organisations. Based on multiple case studies, we argue that lack of support and commitment are most prevalent among middle managers, and that this lack can be explained by the organisations’ choice of transformation process. While top management is the sponsor of lean, the details of the transformations are worked out by external and internal lean experts along with front-line employees. As a result, middle managers are effectively bypassed and never get involved. This approach to lean transformation is not recommended. We suggest that lean transformations would benefit from earlier and more intensive involvement from middle managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author focuses on the need of developemnt in operations for public service operations management. It mentions that the operations should be built on conventional operations management concepts for both the public sector and of service. it also mentions several research on public service organizations (PSOs) which reveals the need of change management in public services.