Lean in the Public Service - an analysis of the literature

Authors

  • Mônica Bruschi
  • Fernando Antonio Forcellini

Keywords:

Public Service, Lean, Public Administration

Abstract

The public services management presents an increasing demand for efficiency, giving more effective results to the citizens. This results-oriented management is a challenge in the context of public services, and the targeting of improvement actions for the generation of value in the processes consists of an alternative for the improvement of efficiency in this context. For this purpose, the Lean philosophy has been applied in several settings, although it has begun in manufacturing. There are several successful applications of this approach in services. However, its use in the scope of public service is still incipient. Given this scenario, this paper aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature on the application of the Lean philosophy in the public service, and the results are presented and discussed through bibliometric analysis and content analysis. The report shows the main barriers, facilitators, and benefits in Lean implementation in the context of public service. Also, suggestions for future research on the subject are presented, based on the gaps identified in the analyzed literature.

References

Abdi, F., Shavarini, S. K., & Hoseini, S. M. S. (2006). Glean lean: how to use lean approach in service industries?. Journal of services Research, 6, 191-206.

Agbodzakey, J. K., & McCue, C. P. (2015). The key enablers for the adoption of lean thinking by public purchasing departments. International Journal of Procurement Management, 8(6), 666-687.

Almeida, J. P. L., Galina, S. V. R., Grande, M. M., & Brum, D. G. (2017). Lean thinking: planning and implementation in the public sector. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 8(4), 390-410.

Antony, J. (2015). Challenges in the deployment of LSS in the higher education sector: Viewpoints from leading academics and practitioners. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 64(6), 893-899.

Antony, J., Krishan, N., Cullen, D., & Kumar, M. (2012). Lean Six Sigma for higher education institutions (HEIs) Challenges, barriers, success factors, tools/techniques. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 61(8), 940-948.

Antony, J., Rodgers, B., & Gijo, E. V. (2016). Can Lean Six Sigma make UK public sector organisations more efficient and effective?. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(7), 995-1002.

Antony, J., Rodgers, B., & Cudney, E. A. (2017). Lean Six Sigma in policing services: case examples, lessons learnt and directions for future research. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-13.

Arlbjørn, J. S., Freytag, P. V., & de Haas, H. (2011). Service supply chain management: A survey of lean application in the municipal sector. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 41(3), 277-295.

Asnan, R., Nordin, N., & Othman, S. N. (2015). Managing change on lean implementation in service sector. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 211, 313-319.

Barton, H. (2013). ‘Lean’policing? New approaches to business process improvement across the UK police service. Public Money & Management, 33(3), 221-224.

Bateman, N., Hines, P., & Davidson, P. (2014). Wider applications for Lean: An examination of the fundamental principles within public sector organisations. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 63(5), 550-568.

Bateman, N., Radnor, Z., & Glennon, R. (2018a). Editorial: The landscape of Lean across public services. Public Money & Management. 38(1), 1-4.

Bateman, N., Lethbridge, S., & Esain, A. (2018b). Pillar or platform—a taxonomy for process improvement activities in public services. Public Money & Management, 38(1), 5-12.

Burgess, N., & Radnor, Z. (2012). Service improvement in the English National health service: Complexities and tensions. Journal of management & organization, 18(5), 594-607.

Burgess, N., & Radnor, Z. (2013). Evaluating Lean in healthcare. International journal of health care quality assurance, 26(3), 220-235.

Carelli, F. P. L., Rodriguez, C. M. T., & Rôa, L. M. (2016). Proposta de adequação do processo de inspeção com base nos conceitos do lean manufacturing: estudo de caso em um fabricante de equipamentos agrícolas. Journal of Lean Systems, 1(4), 66-86.

Carter, B., Danford, A., Howcroft, D., Richardson, H., Smith, A., & Taylor, P. (2011a). Lean and mean in the civil service: the case of processing in HMRC. Public money & management, 31(2), 115-122.

Carter, B., Danford, A., Howcroft, D., Richardson, H., Smith, A., & Taylor, P. (2011b). ‘All they lack is a chain’: lean and the new performance management in the British civil service. New Technology, Work and Employment, 26(2), 83-97.

Carter, B., Danford, A., Howcroft, D., Richardson, H., Smith, A., & Taylor, P. (2013a). Taxing times: Lean working and the creation of (in) efficiencies in HM Revenue and Customs. Public Administration, 91(1), 83-97.

Carter, B., Danford, A., Howcroft, D., Richardson, H., Smith, A., & Taylor, P. (2013b). ‘Stressed out of my box’: employee experience of lean working and occupational ill-health in clerical work in the UK public sector. Work, employment and society, 27(5), 747-767.

Comm, C. L., & Mathaisel, D. F. (2005). A case study in applying lean sustainability concepts to universities. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 6(2), 134-146.

Comm, C. L., & Mathaisel, D. F. (2003). Less is more: a framework for a sustainable university. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 4(4), 314-323.

Dammand, J., Hørlyck, M., Jacobsen, T., Lueg, R., & Röck, R. (2014). Lean management in hospitals: Evidence from Denmark. Administratie si Management Public, 23, 19-35.

Di Pietro, L., Mugion, R. G., & Renzi, M. F. (2013). An integrated approach between Lean and customer feedback tools: An empirical study in the public sector. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 24(7-8), 899-917.

Ferenhof, H. A., & Fernandes, R. F. (2016). Desmistificando a revisão de literatura como base para redação científica: método SFF. Revista ACB, 21(3), 550-563.

Furterer, S., & Elshennawy, A. K. (2005). Implementation of TQM and lean Six Sigma tools in local government: a framework and a case study. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 16(10), 1179-1191.

Gauze, J.; Souza, T., & Vaccaro, G. (2017). Lean Office: Kaizen para melhoria de processos de comunicação. Journal of Lean Systems, 2(2), 29-45.

Ghalib, I., Agha, M. H., Hameed, S., & Choudhary, M. A. (2012). A Survey Of Lean Implementation Gap Analysis In Public Sector Organizations. Life Science Journal, 9(4), 1261-1269.

Gupta, S., Sharma, M., & Sunder M, V. (2016). Lean services: a systematic review. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 65(8), 1025-1056.

Holmemo, M. D. Q., & Ingvaldsen, J. A. (2018). Local adaption and central confusion: Decentralized strategies for public service Lean implementation. Public Money & Management, 38(1), 13-20.

Janssen, M., & Estevez, E. (2013). Lean government and platform-based governance—Doing more with less. Government Information Quarterly, 30, S1-S8.

Juliani, F., & Oliveira, O. J. D. (2017). Synergies between critical success factors of Lean Six Sigma and public values. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-15.

Kuvvetli, Ü., & Firuzan, A. R. (2017). Applying Six Sigma in urban public transportation to reduce traffic accidents involving municipality buses. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-26.

Langstrand, J., & Drotz, E. (2016). The rhetoric and reality of Lean: a multiple case study. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 27(3-4), 398-412.

Lindsay, C., Commander, J., Findlay, P., Bennie, M., Dunlop Corcoran, E., & Van Der Meer, R. (2014). ‘Lean’, new technologies and employment in public health services: employees' experiences in the National Health Service. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(21), 2941-2956.

Lokkerbol, J., Molenaar, M. F., & Does, R. J. (2012). Quality Quandaries*: An Efficient Public Sector. Quality Engineering, 24(3), 431-435.

McCann, L., Hassard, J. S., Granter, E., & Hyde, P. J. (2015). Casting the lean spell: The promotion, dilution and erosion of lean management in the NHS. Human Relations, 68(10), 1557-1577.

Miao, X., Tang, Y. H., Xi, B., & Liu, Z. Y. (2011). Lean public management: How lean principles facilitate municipal governance reform in China. African Journal of Business Management, 5(5), 1564-1569.

Monteiro, M. F., Pacheco, C. C., Dinis-Carvalho, J., & Paiva, F. C. (2015). Implementing lean office: A successful case in public sector. FME Transactions, 43(4), 303-310.

Papadopoulos, T. (2011). Continuous improvement and dynamic actor associations: A study of lean thinking implementation in the UK National Health Service. Leadership in Health Services, 24(3), 207-227.

Paré, G., Trudel, M. C., Jaana, M., & Kitsiou, S. (2015). Synthesizing information systems knowledge: A typology of literature reviews. Information & Management, 52(2), 183-199.

Pedersen, E. R. G., & Huniche, M. (2011a). Determinants of lean success and failure in the Danish public sector: a negotiated order perspective. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 24(5), 403-420.

Pedersen, E. R. G., & Huniche, M. (2011b). Negotiating lean: the fluidity and solidity of new management technologies in the Danish public sector. International Journal of Productivity and performance management, 60(6), 550-566.

Poddighe, F., Lombrano, A., & Ianniello, M. (2011). Lean Production and One-Stop Shop for Municipal Services. Public Administration and Management, 16(1), 1-20.

Procter, S., & Radnor, Z. (2014). Teamworking under Lean in UK public services: lean teams and team targets in Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(21), 2978-2995.

Radnor, Z. (2010). Transferring lean into government. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 21(3), 411-428.

Radnor, Z., & Johnston, R. (2013). Lean in UK government: internal efficiency or customer service?. Production Planning & Control, 24(10-11), 903-915.

Radnor, Z., & Osborne, S. P. (2013). Lean: a failed theory for public services?. Public Management Review, 15(2), 265-287.

Radnor, Z., & Walley, P. (2008). Learning to walk before we try to run: adapting lean for the public sector. Public money and management, 28(1), 13-20.

Radnor, Z. J., Holweg, M., & Waring, J. (2012). Lean in healthcare: the unfilled promise?. Social science & medicine, 74(3), 364-371.

Ratner, H. (2012). ‘It was the night of the long knives’ when public management collides with group identities. Public Management Review, 14(1), 23-40.

Santos, I. B., Lima, L. R. R., Torres, F. G., Abs, J. R., & Mauricio, T. B. (2017). Aplicação do Lean Office no processo de integração de um professor em uma Instituição de Ensino Superior de Alagoas. Journal of Lean Systems, 2(1), 97-122.

Schiele, J. J., & McCue, C. P. (2010). A framework for the adoption of lean thinking within public procurement. International Journal of Procurement Management, 3(4), 379-396.

Smith, R. (2016). Policing in austerity: time to go lean?. International Journal of Emergency Services, 5(2), 174-183.

Suárez-Barraza, M. F., Smith, T., & Dahlgaard-Park, S. M. (2012). Lean Service: A literature analysis and classification. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 23(3-4), 359-380.

Suarez Barraza, M. F., Smith, T., & Mi Dahlgaard-Park, S. (2009). Lean-kaizen public service: an empirical approach in Spanish local governments. The TQM Journal, 21(2), 143-167.

Suárez-Barraza, M. F., & Ramis-Pujol, J. (2010). Implementation of Lean-Kaizen in the human resource service process: A case study in a Mexican public service organisation. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 21(3), 388-410.

Sum, F. F., Paula, I. C., & Faco, R.T.(2018). Excelência de negócio em serviços de backoffice: argumentação sobre a integração entre Lean Service e Centro de Serviços Compartilhados (CSC). Journal of Lean Systems, 3(1), 02-26.

Taticchi, P., Garengo, P., Nudurupati, S. S., Tonelli, F., & Pasqualino, R. (2015). A review of decision-support tools and performance measurement and sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research, 53(21), 6473-6494.

Tortorella, G. L., Fogliatto, F. S., Anzanello, M., Marodin, G. A., Garcia, M., & Reis Esteves, R. (2017). Making the value flow: application of value stream mapping in a Brazilian public healthcare organisation. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 28(13-14), 1544-1558.

Trägårdh, B., & Lindberg, K. (2004). Curing a meagre health care system by lean methods—translating ‘chains of care’in the Swedish health care sector. The International journal of health planning and management, 19(4), 383-398.

Turati, R. C.(2007). Aplicação do Lean Office no setor administrativo público. Dissertação de mestrado (Mestrado em Engenharia de Produção) - Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, Brasil.

Turati, R. C.& Musetti, M. A. (2018). Análise da variabilidade dos tempos no Lean Healthcare: um estudo de caso em um pronto socorro brasileiro. Journal of Lean Systems, 3(2), 02-25.

Vendramini, M., Cagnin, F., Oliveira, M., & Santos, M. (2016). Simulation and Lean Principles: A Case Study in a Public Service in Brazil. International Journal of Performability Engineering, 12(2), 103-113.

Waterman, J., & McCue, C. (2012). Lean thinking within public sector purchasing department: the case of the UK public service. Journal of Public Procurement, 12(4), 505-527.

Published

2019-10-16

Issue

Section

Artigos