Lean management pilosophy and its impact on employee attitudes and perfomance : the critical role of first line supervisors.
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Using a quantitative research design and survey data from 83 supervisor - employee dyads working in North American facilities of a large multinational healthcare organization, this study explores the critical role of first line supervisors in a lean environment. Many organizations have adopted the Toyota Production System (TPS, also known as lean management or the Toyota Way) in an effort to improve organizational effectiveness. Implementation success has been surprisingly limited. The predominantly negative effects documented in the scientific literature are attributable to the introduction of lean as a series of tools and techniques for cost cutting. In environments that truly manage according to the TPS, all share the belief that the development and participation of all employees is essential to maintain competitiveness. Increased emphasis on teamwork and worker involvement in a lean environment places rising demands on the first - line supervisor. The supervisor role in a lean environment is considered critical and becomes one of encouraging more participation, and creating an environment of continuous improvement. Given that leadership is a complex construct, the current paper uses a multi - domain approach proposed by Graen and Uhl - Bien (1995) to study the effect of empowering leadership behaviours (leader domain), leader - member exchange (relational domain) and psychological empowerment (follower domain) on individual performance (measured as in - role performance and organizational citizenship behaviours) through the mediating variable of job involvement in the work setting. Findings indicate that the role of the first line supervisor in a lean environment is critical. The follower (psychological empowerment) and relational (leader - member exchange) domains of leadership are significant in predicting variations of job involvement in the work setting, and job involvement mediates the relationship between the relation domain variable of leader - member exchange and individual performance (organizational citizenship behaviours targeted at the individual). Empowering leadership behaviours are significantly related and directly related to in - role performance. Development of first line supervisors should emphasize building high quality relationships, facilitating employee psychological empowerment, and demonstrating empowering leadership behaviours in order to enhance involvement in a team setting and individual performance.
Author: Joanne Roberts
Language: English
Subfield: Management Information Systems
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2104180484