Lean thinking in lean times for education

Education is a valuable asset that contributes much to economic growth and social development. Due to the economic downturn of the last decade, education is under increased pressure to deliver quality, improve efficiency and reduce costs, while adhering to stakeholders’ expectations. Lean thinking (LT) is an approach that aims to improve processes and customer satisfaction, while managing costs and demands for continuous improvement. The beneficial implementation of LT in the manufacturing sector led this concept to evolve into a managerial paradigm with wider applicability to various sectors and practices, including education. The present study undertook a systematic literature review (SLR) of LT in education (LTE) to document its implementation. The SLR used a number of search criteria, resulting in a total of 47 scholarly articles, published from 2003 to mid-2018 in 20 scientific journals, being identified for further examination and discussion. The study produced a comprehensive mapping of recent trends and content of the literature on LTE from various methodological and empirical perspectives. This approach enabled the selected articles to be classified and compared according to relevant features such as publication data, timeline distribution, geographic base of operations, tools, keywords and results. It also oriented the LTE literature within two frameworks to document (a) the maturity of the given study in the research lifecycle and (b) the evolution of LTE research over time. The articles reviewed were thoroughly examined, enabling us to identify limitations or deficiencies that could indicate future research directions.