The impact of lean practices on the operational performance of SMEs in India

Published date11 March 2019
Pages317-330
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-02-2018-0088
Date11 March 2019
AuthorVinod Yadav,Rakesh Jain,Murari Lal Mittal,Avinash Panwar,Andrew Lyons
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems
The impact of lean practices on
the operational performance of
SMEs in India
Vinod Yadav
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, Jaipur, India and
Department of Automobile Engineering, Manipal University Jaipur, Jaipur, India
Rakesh Jain and Murari Lal Mittal
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, Jaipur, India
Avinash Panwar
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Government Ram Chandra Khaitan Polytechnic College Jaipur, Jaipur, India, and
Andrew Lyons
Management School, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Abstract
Purpose Although lean thinking is deemed to be a gold standard of modern production management, a lot
of scepticism still remains regarding its applicability in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The
purpose of this paper is to understand the perception of lean in SMEs and establish the relationship between
lean adoption and operational performance.
Design/methodology/approach With the help of a survey, data were collected from 425 SMEs in India
and analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings Operational performance of the firms was found to be positively related to lean implementation.
Originality/value This study also furnishes practitioners with a better understanding of lean thinking in
SMEs and its impact on performance.
Keywords Lean manufacturing, Lean thinking, Small- and medium-sized enterprises, Operational performance
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Toyota developed the Toyota Production System in Japan. This concept evolved into lean
manufacturing (Krafcik, 1988) in the USA and then diffused to other developed economies.
Although numerous studies have reported the significant benefits of lean adoption in large
enterprises (LEs) (Shah and Ward, 2003, 2007; Belekoukias et al., 2014; Bevilacqua et al.,
2017), a lot of scepticism still remains regarding its impact in small- and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs). The benefits of lean adoption need to be fully considered and evaluated
in SMEs. Similarly to lean research in general, lean adoption in SMEs has recently
gained attention in developing countries such as India, where SMEs account for 45 percent
of exports, 45 percent of the total manufacturing output and employment to over 80m people
(MSME, 2016).
A few lean implementation case studies in SMEs can be found in the literature (Kumar
et al., 2006; Upadhye et al., 2010; Panizzolo et al., 2012; Arya and Jain, 2014; Vinodh et al.,
2014; Arya and Choudhary, 2015; Gupta and Jain, 2013) principally focusing on the level of
implementation and the development of presentational and analytical frameworks.
However, the literature concerning the impact of lean adoption on operational performance
in SMEs is limited. Thus, there is a strong need for further investigation into the relationship
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 119 No. 2, 2019
pp. 317-330
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-02-2018-0088
Received 27 February 2018
Revised 31 May 2018
Accepted 19 June 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
317
Operational
performance of
SMEs in India

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