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Controlling lean manufacturing in multidivisional organisations: Highlighting local interests and constraints

Martijn Pieter van der Steen (Department of Accounting, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands)
Sandra Tillema (Department of Accounting, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands)

International Journal of Operations & Production Management

ISSN: 0144-3577

Article publication date: 21 February 2018

Issue publication date: 15 November 2018

1685

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address the impact of a multidivisional structure on the implementation of lean manufacturing. It investigates how the controls employed by the corporate level impact the local implementation of lean manufacturing.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports on case studies in three subsidiaries in different multidivisional organisations.

Findings

The paper finds that lean manufacturing can be severely constrained by the accounting-based controls which are commonly in place in a multidivisional structure. Depending on the degree of centralisation, subsidiaries may be restricted to implementing lean tools in a fragmented way, rather than acting according to a coherent set of principles.

Practical implications

Companies may have to accept that being part of a multidivisional organisation can imply that their lean implementation is more gradual and piecemeal than they prefer. The paper proposes several ways to mitigate the constraints that may arise from incompatibilities between accounting-based controls and lean controls.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature about external constraints on production innovations, such as lean manufacturing. It highlights how the organisational context creates local conditions that may be detrimental to the implementation of lean manufacturing.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful for the comments of Paula van Veen-Dirks, who made useful suggestions on management control in production environments, and Jan Riezebos, who was able to provide helpful feedback on lean manufacturing and operational control.

Citation

van der Steen, M.P. and Tillema, S. (2018), "Controlling lean manufacturing in multidivisional organisations: Highlighting local interests and constraints", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 38 No. 11, pp. 2149-2168. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-09-2016-0563

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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