Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems
Lean practices and principles build on a half-century of successive initiatives aimed at transforming social and technical systems in organizations. While they are send as central to the revitalization of the U.S. aerospace industry, th...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
2003
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/3504 |
| _version_ | 1811087270832242688 |
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| author | CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, JOEL |
| author_facet | CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, JOEL |
| author_sort | CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, JOEL |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Lean practices and principles build on a half-century of successive initiatives aimed at
transforming social and technical systems in organizations. While they are send as
central to the revitalization of the U.S. aerospace industry, there is great variation in the
degree to which lean initiatives emphasize just technical/manufacturing systems versus
additional social and enterprise dimensions. Based on a national random sample survey
of 362 U.S. aerospace facilities, this paper examines factors that account for the
incidence of lean practices and the impact on outcomes relevant to key stakeholders.
While structural factors such as industry sector, facility size and others have limited
explanatory power, two process factors – organizational learning and the value placed
on intellectual capital – do account for the increased presence of lean practices. In
examining employment outcomes, facilities higher just on the technical/manufacturing
aspects of lean have a significant and negative impact on job growth, while facilities
higher around the social systems associated with lean have significant and positive
employment growth. This finding is consistent with the views of critics of the more
narrow technical, manufacturing-oriented approaches to lean as a threat to
employment and it validate proponents of a broader value-creating approach to lean
as a way of growing the enterprise. Enterprise dimensions of lean (including both social
and technical aspects of lean) have a positive impact on productivity. Examining
outcomes relevant to multiple stakeholders and various factor inputs produces a more
complete understanding of the limitations and potential for lean transformation in the
aerospace industry |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:42:46Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | mit-1721.1/3504 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:42:46Z |
| publishDate | 2003 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/35042019-04-12T08:25:01Z Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, JOEL Lean Transformation Social and Technical Systems Aerospace Industry Lean practices and principles build on a half-century of successive initiatives aimed at transforming social and technical systems in organizations. While they are send as central to the revitalization of the U.S. aerospace industry, there is great variation in the degree to which lean initiatives emphasize just technical/manufacturing systems versus additional social and enterprise dimensions. Based on a national random sample survey of 362 U.S. aerospace facilities, this paper examines factors that account for the incidence of lean practices and the impact on outcomes relevant to key stakeholders. While structural factors such as industry sector, facility size and others have limited explanatory power, two process factors – organizational learning and the value placed on intellectual capital – do account for the increased presence of lean practices. In examining employment outcomes, facilities higher just on the technical/manufacturing aspects of lean have a significant and negative impact on job growth, while facilities higher around the social systems associated with lean have significant and positive employment growth. This finding is consistent with the views of critics of the more narrow technical, manufacturing-oriented approaches to lean as a threat to employment and it validate proponents of a broader value-creating approach to lean as a way of growing the enterprise. Enterprise dimensions of lean (including both social and technical aspects of lean) have a positive impact on productivity. Examining outcomes relevant to multiple stakeholders and various factor inputs produces a more complete understanding of the limitations and potential for lean transformation in the aerospace industry 2003-05-02T19:41:05Z 2003-05-02T19:41:05Z 2003-05-02T19:41:05Z Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/3504 en_US MIT Sloan School of Management Working Paper;4299-03 Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER);02-2003 728020 bytes application/pdf application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Lean Transformation Social and Technical Systems Aerospace Industry CUTCHER-GERSHENFELD, JOEL Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems |
| title | Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems |
| title_full | Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems |
| title_fullStr | Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems |
| title_short | Lean Transformation in the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Appreciating Interdependent Social and Technical Systems |
| title_sort | lean transformation in the u s aerospace industry appreciating interdependent social and technical systems |
| topic | Lean Transformation Social and Technical Systems Aerospace Industry |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/3504 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cutchergershenfeldjoel leantransformationintheusaerospaceindustryappreciatinginterdependentsocialandtechnicalsystems |