LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS AND LEAN CULTURE ATTAINMENT IN AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS

Previous studies have shown that improving operational performance by adopting lean principles is dependent upon the attainment of an organisational culture that supports the overarching lean philosophy. Changing a non-supportive organisational culture is therefore an imperative for any organisation that seeks to improve operational performance by means of a lean initiative. This change process has been shown to be largely dependent upon leadership behaviours; and a theoretical lean-culture causal framework was recently developed - in an attempt to identify and clarify these behaviours. The study reported in this article reveals the procedure utilised to test this framework, as the next logical step in the research process.