The manager’s role in successful lean implementation evidences from vietnamese enterprises

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY LE THE NGUYEN TRUNG HIEU THE MANAGER’S ROLE IN SUCCESSFUL LEAN IMPLEMENTATION: EVIDENCES FROM VIETNAMESE ENTERPRISES MASTER’S THESIS BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Hanoi, 2018 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY LE THE NGUYEN TRUNG HIEU THE MANAGER’S ROLE IN SUCCESSFUL LEAN IMPLEMENTATION: EVIDENCES FROM VIETNAMESE ENTERPRISES MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION CODE: 60340102 RESEARCH SUPERVISORS: ASSOC PROF DR VU ANH DUNG ASSOC PROF DR KODO YOKOZAWA Hanoi, 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Research rationale 1.3 Research objective and research question 1.4 Research scope 1.5 Structure of the research CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Lean production 2.2 Leadership and management 10 2.3 Lean leadership 11 2.4 Research gap 16 2.5 Theoretical framework 28 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 30 3.1 Study design 30 3.2 Sample 30 3.2.1 Shinmeido 33 3.2.2 LME IDN 33 3.2.3 Viet An JSC 34 3.2.4 An Phu Viet Plastic Co., Ltd 34 3.2.5 Toyota Industrial Equipment Vietnam (TIEV) 34 3.3 Data collection procedure 35 CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND FINDINGS 37 4.1 With-in case analysis 38 4.1.1 Shinmeido 38 4.1.2 LME IDN 43 4.1.3 Viet An JSC 47 4.1.4 Toyota industrial Equipment Vietnam (TIEV) 52 4.1.5 An Phu Viet Plastic Co., Ltd 54 4.2 Cross-case analysis 58 4.2.1 Committing to Lean vision 59 4.2.2 Encouraging new ideas and innovations 61 4.2.3 Sharing information 63 4.2.4 Empowering employees 64 4.2.5 Coaching and training 66 4.2.6 Visiting the factory 68 4.2.7 Visualizing the performance 71 4.3 Descriptive analysis of survey 72 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH 75 5.1 Discussion 75 5.1.1 Lean leadership and Transformational leadership theory 75 5.1.2 Lean leadership and Leadership behavioral taxonomy 76 5.2 Limitations and future research 79 CONCLUSION 80 REFERENCES 83 APPENDIX 91 Appendix 1: Interview protocol 91 Appendix 2: Survey 94 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Definitions of Lean tools and techniques Table 2.2: Literature on Lean leader‘s behaviors 18 Table 3.1: Case companies 32 Table 4.1: Behaviors in Shinmeido 40 Table 4.2: Behaviors in LME IDN 45 Table 4.3: Behaviors in Viet An JSC 49 Table 4.4: Behaviors in TIEV 53 Table 4.5: Behaviors in An Phu Viet 56 Table 4.6: Data sources of Committing to Lean vision 60 Table 4.7: Data sources of Encouraging new ideas and innovations 62 Table 4.8: Data sources of Sharing Information 63 Table 4.9:Data sources of Empowering Employees 65 Table 4.10: Data sources of Coaching and Training 67 Table 4.11: Data sources of Visiting the factory 69 Table 4.12: Data sources of Visualizing the performance 71 Table 4.13: Descriptive analysis of survey 73 Table 5.1: Common leadership behaviors and Yukl‘s behavior taxonomy 77 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Research structure Figure 2.1: Conceptual framework 29 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this chance to give my sincere appreciations to all the people who have given me supports throughout the time I conducted this research Without their helps, it would be impossible for me to complete this work successfully First of all, I would like to express my deep gratefulness to my advisors, professor Dung and professor Yokozawa Professor Yokozawa was the one who gave me the inspiration and motivation for the research topic, and during my time in Japan, he was always available and willing to support me whenever I had any problems with my thesis as well as providing me with invaluable knowledge, experience and advices He also recommended me to apply case study approach in this research and provided me with detailed and useful steps to analyze the data and write the report in the most precise and concise way From the support of Professor Dung, I had great contacts with all the companies, which are invaluable sources of data He also helped me in building and completing my conceptual framework and methodology, which are the base of this research Without their kindness, supports and enthusiasm, it would have been extremely hard to me to go this far in my research Next, I would like to give my thanks to my wife, Mrs La Thu Thuy During the time I conducted this research, she always shows support and belief in me, even when I thought I could continue She also gave me feedback and suggestions to improve my interview questions and survey Finally, I am truly thankful to my family and all of my friends who assisted me in my thesis Without the beliefs and encouraging words from my parents, I would not have been such consistent in my choice and believe I can what I wanted to And thanks to my friends for all of their feedback and efforts that helped me collect the data and finish the research on time ABSTRACT Lean Production is a philosophical view and practices centered on improving customer value by eliminating activities which have no values from production operations Recently, Lean Production is experiencing an increasing interest, mainly as its principles and practices is especially suitable for the situation of scare resources and unstable economy Despite this, scholar work of Lean Production, particularly exploration on the management of Lean implementation, stays limited In this research, the author conducted 16 interviews and a survey of 50 respondents to explore the behaviors performed by effective Lean leaders and managers The result was the use of more positive relations-oriented behaviors such as: active listening and sharing, empowering and showing care to employees, training and coaching, showing positive attitudes, be open in information sharing while the uses of task monitoring such as monitoring, clarifying are seen to be less popular, except for the increase practice of visualization Behaviors towards changes such as envisioning change and encouraging new ideas and innovations are promoted The study compares the findings with modern leadership theories, as well as proposes implications for Lean practitioners The end includes limitations and suggestions for future research CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Since its introduction, Lean production has been developed to become the state of the art manufacturing The term Lean production was coined by Womack, Jones and Roos in their book The Machine that Changed the World (1990) The authors intended to clarify the efficiency differences amongst Japanese and Western automobile manufacturers and call the process "Lean production" to depict the prevalence of the Toyota manufacturing system, that involves less efforts from human, less resources, and a shorter time to produce a more prominent and developing assortment of products with less variability (Womack et al., 1990) Due to increasing intense of worldwide competition, rare resources, and unstable economies, it is not shocking that Lean manufacturing has become basic to the long-term survival of many companies in various industries Numerous companies these days are occupied with implementing Lean production practices to enhance their efficiency, lessen expenses and improve their competitive advantages (Lewis, 2000) Findings from a large amount of Lean manufacturing research and evidences from efforts to adopt Lean across nations have demonstrated its practical values and applicability in various geographic regions and diversified industrial sectors (Distellhorst, Hainmueller, Locke 2016; Panat et al 2014; Naruo, Toma 2007) Over the years, the knowledge of factors of outstanding performance of organizations following the Toyota Production System (TPS) has steadily changed At first, the main objective was on the possibility that outstanding performance was determined by the use of one or few Lean practices, for example, kanban, 5S, cell manufacturing or TPM From that point, the consideration moved to the possibility that it is the incorporated usage of such techniques into a system that contributes to the result, in addition to the related human resource practices (Spear and Bowen, 1990; MacDuffie, 1995; Shah and Ward, 2003) In the meantime, it started to become obvious that, the principles of Lean rooted in the tools were more critical than the tools themselves, and that those critical principles were to be implemented not just in production process but the entire organization (Womack and Jones, 1996; 2005) The capacity to adopt those principles and to constantly organize by them in the long run has been considered as the key capacity of an organization and the potential source of competitive advantage (Fujimoto, 1999; Anand et al., 2009) 1.2 Research rationale Although the key principles and techniques of Lean production are moderately simple to handle and apply in various settings (Womack and Jones, 1996), in practice many companies are not ready to change themselves into Lean enterprises (Liker, 2004; Bhasin and Burcher, 2006) A number of Lean transformation programs yield promising outcomes at first, yet neglect to support them after some time (Mann, 2005; Hines et al., 2008) Several firms experiencing positive outcomes from Lean adoption also found that those results stay localized to the particular unit and they cannot exchange the Leant knowledge to different department of the companies (Adler and Cole, 2000) As literature has pointed out, Lean production can be successfully adopted if only companies satisfy certain conditions regarding major changes in organizational structure, culture and managerial system to fit with Lean context and effectively executes various practices to help the operational and strategic parts of Lean, which brings results not only have short-term values but also ensure the long-term effectiveness (Shah & Ward, 2003, 2007; de Treville & Antonakis, 2006; Liker 2004; Mann, 2005; Bhasin and Burcher, 2006; Dahlgaard et al., 2011) Leadership, therefore, can be the key Lean transformation, as it is vital to change in organizational culture (Schein, 2010) Mann (2005) stated the main reason behind the disappointment of numerous Lean initiatives may be the failure to change leadership practices Likewise, other authors pointed out the source of Lean failures are from the companies‘ sole focus on the waste reduction and technical tools of Lean, whereas the role of leaders and managers is left unknown This gap has been reported by authors such as Liker (2004), Lakshman (2006), Mann (2009, Dibia (2012), Liker and Convis (2012), Marodin and Saurin (2013), Bhasin (2012) and Dombrowski and Mielke (2014) The transformation to Lean is about the entire company, and not just manufacturing department Every single division and their activities inside the company are to be transformed coordinately This is the job of the leaders and top-level managers It is proven by scholars that beside Lean practices and techniques, successful Lean application requires companies to achieve main strategic factors such as commitment from top management, employee autonomy, information sharing and cultural congruence (de Treville, S., & Antonakis, J 2006; Shah, R., & Ward, P T 2003, 2007; Achanga, Shehab, Roy & Nelder 2006; Scherrer-Rathje, Boyle and Deflorin, 2009) While at this point we can perceive firms that have effectively executed Lean changes from how their procedures work and drive performance, it stays vague what leaders and managers in Lean transformation and how it connects to a company's goals, processes and employees 1.3 Research objective and research question More research-based studies are required to give a deeper profound comprehension of Lean leadership and management Hence, the purpose of this study is to shed light on the role of leaders and managers in Lean implementation and provide a stronger comprehension of leadership and managerial practices in Lean enterprises In attempt to accomplish that goal, this study is aimed at answering the research question: What are the specific behaviors of leaders and managers in Lean implementation? 1.4 Research scope 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Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall 89 Yukl, G (2012) Effective leadership behavior: what we know and what questions need more attention Academy of Management Perspectives, 26, 66-85 90 Yukl, G., Gordon, A., & Taber, T (2002) A hierarchical taxonomy of leadership behavior: integrating a half-century of behavior research Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 9, 15-32 90 APPENDIX Appendix 1: Interview protocol INTERVIEW QUESTIONS GENERAL INFORMATION Date: Company: Address: Respondent position Respondent name and phone number: Introduction statement (READ ALOUD) This research is about the role of managers in lean implementation in Vietnamese Enterprise The purpose of this research is to learn about the behaviors of managers to support and facilitate the lean development process In this interview, I will ask you several questions about lean application in your company These questions are organized into two sections In the first section I will ask you several open-ended questions about the experiences that you and your company have had when lean was implemented and the role of managers in that process In the second section I will ask you to fill in a short survey with closed-ended questions about how the nature, organization and operation of your company If there is anything that is not clear, please feel free to ask me for a clarification SECTION 1: OPEN QUESTIONS ABOUT LEAN EXPERIENCES 91 Now, we will start with the first part of the interview In this part, I will ask you several questions that relate to your experiences with lean implementation in your company What is your definition of the term lean manufacturing? What has motivated the company to implement lean production? In which year was lean production implemented? From the first step that was taken to develop the lean manufacturing until this percentage was achieved how much time did this take in months? What techniques or tools of lean production that the company has applied? What were the major steps or phases to develop lean in this factory? MANAGER‘S BEHAVIORS a What did managers and leaders to prepare for the introduction of lean into the company‘s manufacturing process? b When lean was first introduced in the company, what did managers and leaders to support its initiation? c What did managers and leaders to maintain the positive results from lean implementation? d What are the behaviors of managers that negatively affect the results of lean? Now, I would like to give you a questionnaire about the behaviors of the manager Based on your personal experience, please evaluate the importance of the following behaviors in lean manufacturing implementation in your company (DISTRIBUTE THE SURVEY) How is the role of managers among different levels of management differ in lean implementation? 92 Compared to the time when lean was not applied, how did the job of managers change? 10 To make lean production become a part of the company‘s daily activities but not a short-term project, what is the most important issue to be concerned? 11 Can you name some of the factors that influence the effectiveness of lean adoption process? END OF SECTION I CLOSING SECTION CLOSING SENTENCES We have now ended the questions with regard to the topic that I am investigating I have a few more questions that will help me to place your responses in a context compared to other companies Would you therefore please help me with the following questions? 12 What is your nationality? 13 How many years of working experience you have in this company? 14 How many number of employees does the factory currently have? 15 Does your company have a labor union? 16 What is the type of the ownership: New wholly owned subsidiary? 17 Is there anything else with regard to your organization or lean in your organization that you think is important for me to know and that you want to share with me? Thank you very much for your cooperation Once my research is completed I will get back in touch with you to share the results 93 Appendix 2: Survey Source: (Yukl, 2002 2012) Based on your personal experience, please assess the importance of the following behaviors in Lean implementation to your company on a scale of to corresponds to the importance level as follows: - Not important - Little important - Moderately importance - Important - Very important Please briefly explain your answers Recognize the achievement as both groups and individuals 5 5 5 Provide constructive feedback about effective and ineffective behaviors exhibited by the person Be patient and helpful when giving instructions or explanations Provide sympathy and support when the person is anxious or upset Be willing to help with personal problems Interpret events to explain the urgent 94 need for change Clarify the person‘s scope of authority Encourage attendance at relevant training courses Identify necessary action steps Envision exciting new possibilities for the organization Identify the optimal sequence of action steps 5 5 5 5 5 Help the person learn how to solve a problem rather than just providing the answer Encourage and facilitate collective learning in the team or organization Consult with people on decisions affecting them Express confidence in the person when there is a difficult task Suggest specific things that could help to improve the person‘s performance Experiment with new approaches for achieving objectives 95 Provide access to relevant information Provide helpful career advice 5 5 5 5 5 Recognize a variety of contributions and achievements Provide assistance with the work when it is needed Show acceptance and positive regard Resolve immediate problems that would disrupt the work Monitor the external environment to detect threats and opportunities Measure progress against plans and budgets Encourage people to view problems or opportunities in a different way Encourage the use of teamwork and group decision making Provide opportunities to learn from experience Monitor key process variables as well as outcomes 96 Actively search for contributions to recognize Explain the important job responsibilities Provide opportunities to 5 5 5 5 practice difficult procedures before they are used in the work Delegate responsibility and authority for important activities Observe operations directly when it is feasible Involve people in making decisions that affect them Remember important details about the person Encourage reporting of problems and mistakes Conduct meetings periodic progress review 97 ... happening in the workplace; the learning and coaching should also take place in the workplace and the small ratio of leaderemployee during training at the workplace Finally, the principle Honshin... Supporing Developing Recognizing Empowering Engaging Teamwork Visiting the factory Lean Sharing information Implementation Listening Coaching and training Change-oriented behaviors: Advocating Lean. .. small and simple things, such as Fujimoto, keeping the floor clean, drawing white lines on the floor, 1999 keeping the parts boxes neatly inside the lines, putting tools in order in a tool display