Development and validation of a lean supply chain management measurement instrument

Abstract

It is widely argued that to be competitive, a company not only needs to focus on internal aspects but on the entire supply chain. Lean supply chain management has become a means of enhancing competitiveness by improving efficiency and increasing flexibility at all stages of the supply chain. This research develops and validates a lean supply chain management measurement instrument. A two-phase approach is used for scale development and refinement. In the first phase, a literature review is conducted to identify definitions of lean supply chain management and agile supply chain management and their corresponding measurement items. In the second phase, the lean supply chain management measurement instrument is validated using survey data based on scales developed in the first phase by 59 scholars with experience in lean management and/or supply chain management. The results provide a structured and comprehensive measure of lean supply chain management indicating that there are two differentiated dimensions in the measurement instrument: one related to the operational aspects of lean supply chain strategy implementation and the second related to lean supply chain planning.

Keywords:

• Supply chain management
• lean supply chain management
• agile supply chain management
• measurement
• validation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The authors acknowledge the financial support of Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Research Project ECO2015-65874-P.

Notes on contributors

José Moyano-Fuentes

José Moyano-Fuentes is a Full Professor of Operations Management at the Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology in University of Jaén (Spain). He currently conducts research on lean management, supply chain management and firm performance in different industries. His research has been published in Journals as Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Management Studies, International Journal of Management Reviews, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Human Resource Management, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Production Planning and Control, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Logistics Management, Journal of Cleaner Production, Technovation, among other Journals.

Sebastián Bruque-Cámara

Sebastian Bruque is a full professor at the Department of Business Organization, Marketing and Sociology, University of Jaén. Sebastian Bruque has been developing teaching activities primarily at the University of Jaén. He has also been teaching Technology Management and International Management courses in 10 universities in Europe, the Americas and Asia. He has been carrying out research in the fields of International Management and Technology Management, yielding research results in top International Journals such as the Journal of Management Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Cleaner Production, Technovation, Computers in Industry, Management Decision, Industrial Management andand Data Systems, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, International Journal of Human Resources Management and The International Journal of Logistics Management.

Juan Manuel Maqueira-Marín

Juan Manuel Maqueira Marín is a Lecturer in Business Administration and Management of Technology at the University of Jaén (Spain). He is currently conducting research on factors leading to Cloud Computing technology adoption and Cloud Computing adoption in Supply Chain. He has a wide experience as a Practitioner in some technological firms such us Fujitsu Technology Solutions Inc. His research has appeared in the Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, International Journal of Technology Management, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, International Journal of Logistics Management, Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, Computers in Industry, Industrial Management and Data Systems or Journal of Cleaner Production, among other journals.