Purpose – The purpose of this article is to identify work practices and activities at programme and local levels which constitute conditions that enable development in workplace development programmes (WPDPs). These are introduced by public agencies as change agents that provide the resources for local organizational change. Design/methodology/approach – The study constituted separate interactive research projects in three WPDPs conducted through a total of 256 interviews and documentation from meetings. The findings were compared in a qualitative content analysis. Findings – The outcomes of development processes in the programmes and local Lean implementation are enabled by the interplay of three conditions: a) organized learning activities with the stakeholders involved, b) key stakeholders’ active ownership and c) support for employee participation. The three conditions thus support programme management in leading the programme development processes. Research limitations/implications - The findings operationalize broad theoretical concepts. However, the research projects involved were not originally designed for this comparative study, which created some difficulties when performing the analysis. The longitudinal design and vast amount of data partly compensate for this. Practical implications – This knowledge will be helpful in the formation of new WPDPs that support local organizational development and for those who lead such processes. Originality/value – The novelty of the findings is the operationalization of broad theoretical concepts, such as the conditions that support development programmes. Moreover, this article shows a set of work practices and activities that management may be used in organizing WPDPs.

Conclusions about implementing the management concept lean in healthcare are contradictory and longitudinal studies are scarce. In particular, little is known of how working conditions contribute to the sustainability of lean in healthcare. The aim of this article is to identify to what extent lean tools (visual follow-up boards, standardised work, 5S [housekeeping], and value stream mapping [VSM]) promote working conditions for employees and managers in healthcare organisations (outcomes: engagement in development, job satisfaction and exhaustion), while considering the context (i.e., job resources and job demands) and aspects of the implementation process. A longitudinal quantitative study was conducted that involved employees and managers in two hospitals and one municipality (n = 448). Applying the job demands-resources model, multiple linear regression models were used. VSM, standardised work and 5S promoted employees and managers’ working conditions when supported by job resources. When no support was provided, visual follow-up boards were inhibiting employees and managers’ job satisfaction. VSM and standardised work were seen as central lean tools. In this sample, the application of lean cannot be considered sustainable as employees and managers’ working conditions deteriorated under the implementation of lean.

Lean is a management concept that has been implemented in different sectors, including healthcare. In lean, employees continuously improve the work processes, which is closely associated with small step innovation. In moving away from the ambiguity surrounding lean in healthcare, this empirical study expands upon lean tools and innovation enabling job resources, as a contextual prerequisite, promoting healthcare employees’ individual innovation at work. Three public sector entities in Sweden participated in a longitudinal quantitative study (n=281). Idea generation and idea implementation, as individual innovation, were analysed using four-level multiple linear regression models. 5S and value stream mapping facilitated employee individual innovation. Hence, these lean tools are considered job resources for such innovation in the initial phase of implementing lean. After controlling for the lean context, job resources and job demands, visual follow-up boards and standardised work had no significant influence upon individual innovation, while development resources and information as participation promoted individual innovation. This study contributes to the understanding of how individual innovation is associated with lean tools and other innovation-related resources in healthcare. These results add to the knowledge of methods and resources promoting individual innovation when initiating a lean implementation.

The concept of sustainable development is commonly used worldwide. In the public sector, characterized by a rationalization focus, conclusions about the sustainability of lean production (lean), as a management concept for organizational change, are contradictory. This thesis aims to identify conditions promoting sustainable development in the public sector, in particular the healthcare sector, when implementing lean. Two qualitative and one quantitative case study were conducted using longitudinal data collection: focus group interviews, semi-structured interviews, analysis seminars, steering board meetings, and a questionnaire. The empirical data was collected from national lean programs in Sweden. The results describe that socio-technical principles may be used as indicators of sustainability as well as a guide in the implementation of lean in healthcare. Active ownership among stakeholders, a developmental view in the organization, stakeholder participation, organized joint innovative learning activities, role and goal clarity may be conditions influencing the sustainability of lean in the public sector. Furthermore, when supported by a favorable lean context, the results show that the lean tools value stream mapping, standardized work and 5S (housekeeping) may promote a sustainable implementation of lean in healthcare by the promotion of employees and managers’ working conditions and/or employee individual innovation. Visual follow-up boards may inhibit employees and managers’ job satisfaction, when not supported by job resources. Personnel stability, time for development, and information to be able to participate were in this context shown to be central job resources. In conclusion, conditions which may promote sustainable development in the public sector, when implementing lean are: stakeholder values of inclusive social well-being, an implementation process including stakeholder ownership and joint innovative learning, and a favorable lean context: balancing job resources and job demands. Lean tools may empower public healthcare employees to engage in development and counteract a poor implementation process and a poor lean context but only to a limited degree. The lean contexts studied were unfavorable, i.e., a weak implementation process and job resources not balancing the job demands. Hence, the lean implementations studied could not be considered sustainable.

Purpose – This paper aims to identify conditions affecting sustainability of Lean implementations in Swedish psychiatric healthcare, from a socio-technical perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Longitudinal focus group interviews were conducted with 24 first-line managers within Swedish psychiatric healthcare. The analysis was made using Cherns’ ten socio-technical principles and a framework for sustainable development work in healthcare. Findings – The most critical socio-technical principles for a sustainable Lean implementation were boundary location; power and authority; and compatibility. At hospital level, socio-technical principles were inhibited by the weak ownership of the Lean implementation. However, strong ownership at division level meant the same principles were supported. Unclear goals made follow-ups difficult which had negative effects on the learning processes in the Lean implementation. The role and responsibility of first-line managers were unclear in that they perceived they lacked power and authority resulting in negative effects on the participation – an important sustainability concept. Originality/value – Empirically based papers assessing Lean implementations in psychiatry are rare. This study is a contribution to the research area of sustainable Lean implementations in healthcare. The practical implication of this study is that decision makers, senior managers, first-line managers and psychiatrists can be supported in reaching sustainable implementations of Lean.

Lean is introduced in industry as well as in the public sector. Previous research has criticized Lean for creating bad working conditions. Also sustainability of organizational changes is claimed to be low. The aim of this chapter is to describe consequences for working conditions and sustainability as a result of implementations of Lean in manufacturing industry and in the public sector. A second aim is to give examples of the type of knowledge produced in an interactive research approach and to discuss the use of interactive research when implementing Lean. Two programs for implementing Lean were assessed through interactive research. The research showed that there is a huge variation between organizations regarding how Lean is interpreted, how it is implemented, and also regarding the outcomes. The majority of the employees in the manufacturing companies experienced that Lean meant improved working conditions, e.g. more participation, learning and development. However they also experienced more stress and repetitive work. For the public organizations, the employees experienced on average that the working conditions had deteriorated. Sustainability of the changes was also substantially lower than for the manufacturing companies. The interactive research approach enabled deep access to a broad sample of organizations and contributed to better relevance and validity of the research results.

Lean production has become a major change strategy in Swedish public organizations. The aim of this paper was to identify factors that support or counteract sustainability and development of Lean implementations in public organizations. In an interactive research project including interviews and questionnaires, seven public organizations were followed during a three year period. Some factors supported and other factors counteracted sustainability and development of Lean. In conclusion, lack of sustained change was to a  large extent due to replacement of the top managers in five of the organizations and introduction of another change philosophy, low political and managerial ownership and financial problems.

Lean Production has spread from industry to the public sector and administration, and is now the dominating change concept in Sweden. The influence of Lean on the work environment has been debated. However, both positive and negative work environment consequences have been reported in different studies and in different contexts. The aim of this presentation is to describe consequences for the work environment following Lean implementations and to further knowledge about conditions that influence the work environment.

An experimental device has been developed intended for the material characterization of powder metals. The experimental approach rests on the uniaxial (die) compaction of powders. The output is the compaction force depth relationship together with the die wall/powder contact pressure determined at eight different points using pressure sensors placed on the die wall. The recorded data are of such high quality that it can be expected that inverse methods aiming at material characterization can be applied without numerical instability problems. Finite-element methods are used in order to verify the outcome of the experimental approach for the particular case of WC/Co powder materials mechanically described by using an advanced elasto-plastic material model with a large number of constitutive properties.