Strategic resources for lean production: a case study in the electronic manufacturing industry

Abstract

Many companies that try to implement lean production fail to neglect the strategic aspect involved in organizational change that requires a new management model. From the perspective of resource-based view, it is necessary to identify the strategic resources that support the implementation, in order to protect, explore and develop the resources that that enable lean production. Adopting this perspective, this article aimed to analyze the implementation of lean manufacturing in an electronic manufacturing plant, identifying the most important resources for the process. The methodological approach used was the case study, in which the semi-structured interview was the main data collection instrument. It was identified 11 lean production practices implemented and 13 resources to support the implementation. In general, the results showed the importance of intangible resources for the implementation and maintenance of lean production at the company, in particular: organizational culture, values and employees. Specifically, it was possible to identify which resources are most representative for each lean practice, which helps to improve the decision about what resources to invest in accordance with the implementation priorities.