Abstract
M.Phil. (Leadership, Performance & Change)
*Orientation - More and more South African organisations are turning to prominent productivity improvement systems such as Lean Production (LP). Sustaining LP, however, requires the creation of a discernible management system. One of the perennial questions in LP is whether a management system with such a strong Japanese orientation can be successfully transplanted into a heterogeneous culture such as South Africa.
* Research purpose - This research aimed to investigate whether the behaviours and values adopted by successful middle managers in supporting a sustainable LP management system differ from those identified by Van Dun (2008) in a comparative study conducted in the Netherlands. The research also aimed to establish whether managers from different ethnic groups in South Africa adopt different behaviours and values.
* Motivation for the study – Identifying the behaviours and values of LP middle managers in the context of both national and sub-cultures will assist in making the necessary allowances in order to limit dissonance and strengthen LP transformation.
* Research design, approach and method – The study was conducted in two phases. Firstly, a two round Delphi-study was undertaken to identify criteria for the identification of successful LP middle managers, and to ensure that the Behavioural Leadership Questionnaire developed in the Netherlands has theoretical equivalence in South Africa. During the second phase, successful LP managers, their immediate superiors, subordinates and internal LP practitioners were surveyed in order to identify the extent to which certain LP behaviours and values were demonstrated. The data from the survey was analysed using parametric and comparative statistics.
* Main findings – The results indicate that altough LP behaviours and values appear universal, these behaviours and values are to a large extent influenced by national culture. Cross-cultural influences based on racial demographics in South Africa is however inconsequential.