Identifier

etd-11152014-161720

Degree

Master of Science in Industrial Engineering (MSIE)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Extensive research has shown the impact of Lean implementation at the process level of an organization to increase quality, reduce cycle time, and reduce operational costs. However, little research has been done to associate Lean with improvement at the strategic level of an organization. The objectives of the present research were to (a) study the association of Lean implementation with maturity levels of employees (b) study the relationship between Lean implementation in the levels of agreement with cohesion between managers and staff in evaluating perceived current state and desired state of organizational practices (c) identify potential barriers of Lean implementation that may affect the establishment of a culture of continuous improvement. The research took place in two different departments within the Office of Public Health (OPH) of Louisiana that were classified as Lean and Non-Lean. A total of 53 participants volunteered to participate in the study (25 Non-Lean and 28 Lean), and 46 were used in the analysis. The Government Lean Self-Assessment Tool (GLESAT) was used to assess the level of maturity and identify gap scores between managers and staff. The assessment consisted of 55 practices divided into three main sections: 1) enterprise leadership 2) lifecycle and enabling processes 3) enabling infrastructure. The overall scores of the Lean group were significantly higher than the Non-Lean group by 41.18% for the current state and 13.53% for the desired state. However, Gap scores between managers and staff did not differ significantly between Lean and Non-Lean groups for either perceived current state or desired state of organizational practices. In terms of barriers of Lean implementation, participants identified lack of management support, lack of training, lack of communication, lack of strategy, poor organizational culture of improvement, employee resistance and understaffing as the main problems faced in the organization. In conclusion, Lean implementation can be associated with higher perceived organizational maturity of employees. Good organizational maturity is crucial in the development and support of a transformation plan, where the organization understands its current performance and strengths so further plans can be developed to improve the organization’s weaknesses. However, results of the present study showed that Lean does not affect the levels of cohesion between managers and staff in evaluating perceived current state and desired state of organizational practices.

Date

2014

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Ikuma, Laura

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.5

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