How can general leadership theories help to expand the knowledge of lean leadership?

Abstract

Leadership has been cited by several studies as key for the success of lean production. However, studies on lean leadership are not usually based on any leadership theory lens and the extent to which general leadership theories are relevant to lean leadership has not yet been properly investigated. The research question addressed by this study is stated as ‘how can general leadership theories help to expand the knowledge about lean leadership?’ Seven general leadership theories were adopted as bases: Authentic Leadership, Leader-Member-Exchange, Complexity Leadership, Distributed Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Servant Leadership and Situational Leadership. The research method involved: (i) a literature review of lean leadership as to identify how it accounts for three core constructs of the general leadership theories, namely leaders’ personal attributes, influence process and context; and (ii) a comparison between lean leadership with general leadership theories based on the same three constructs. Based on this, propositions to guide future research and practise of lean leadership were developed. An underlying assumption of these propositions is that lean leadership shares characteristics with all the investigated general leadership theories, and it can be interpreted as the instantiation of the said theories in a lean system.

Keywords:

• Lean management
• lean leadership
• leadership theories

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

André Seidel

André Seidel is a PhD candidate in Industrial Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Business Administration. He was a visiting scholar at the University of South Caroline (USA). He has been teaching Operations Management for 15 years in both undergraduate courses and MBA programs. He has more than 20 years’ experience working for industries of different sectors, both in managerial/technical positions as well as in consultancy. He has been carrying out consulting projects on process improvements in both manufacturing and services environment.

Tarcisio Abreu Saurin

Tarcisio A. Saurin is an Associate Professor at the Industrial Engineering Department of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). He has a BS in Civil Engineering, MS in Construction Management, and PhD in Industrial Engineering. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Salford (UK) and at Macquaire University, at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation. His main research interests are related to the modelling and management of complex socio-technical systems, resilience engineering, safety management, lean production, process improvement, and performance measurement. He has carried out research and consulting projects on these topics in healthcare, construction, electricity distribution, and manufacturing.

Guilherme Luz Tortorella

Guilherme Luz Tortorella is an adjunct professor at Systems and Production Engineering Department at Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil). He finished his Post-Doctoral research in Production Systems. Also a Doctor in Industrial Engineering, a Master of Science in Production Systems, a MBA in Business Administration and graduated in Mechanical Engineering (2003), all from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Moreover, Guilherme has worked for 12 years in the automotive industry with experience abroad in Mexico, England, USA and Uruguay. He is a member of the Production Systems Simulation Lab and Productivity and Continuous Improvement Lab.

Giuliano Almeida Marodin

Giuliano Almeida Marodin is a clinical assistant professor and fellow of the Operations and Supply Chain Center at the Management Science Department at University of South Carolina. Prior, he was a visiting professor and fellow of the Center of Operational Excellence at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. Former fellow of the Lean Institute Brasil (a member of the Lean Global Network), he has more than 15 years of experience in consulting and research in Operations and Process Improvement. He received his PhD. and Master’s degree in industrial engineering and a BBA degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.