In today’s rapidly changing industrial landscape, multinational production corporations face considerable challenges in realising lasting performance improvements through lean management across their global production networks. Decades after the widespread implementation of lean, the critical challenge of how to manage and align local factory improvements with overarching corporate strategies for operational excellence remains. The complexity intensifies when companies attempt to manage large-scale lean transformations at a global corporation level, raising crucial questions about how such transformations are managed, adapted, and sustained over time. This thesis addresses this gap by examining how companies design, implement, and sustain corporate-level lean strategies—particularly through the management of company-specific production systems (XPSs). Through five in-depth qualitative studies conducted in large industrial production corporations, the research uncovers how practitioners face recurring obstacles characteristic of multisite lean implementation. The main themes that emerged concerned the need to invest in employee training and capability-building, while simultaneously achieving measurable performance improvements. While global standardisation of improvement tools is a common approach, it proves resource-intensive and often insufficient without embedding organisational learning principles and adaptability to local needs. The findings show that many organisations underestimate how chosen implementation strategies shape both immediate operational gains and the long-term development of organisational capabilities. To address these issues, the thesis makes several contributions. It describes four interrelated components central to managing multisite lean implementation and identifies four predominant types of implementation strategies — education, tool, pragmatic, and culture — each influencing organisational outcomes in distinct ways. The dynamic interplay and shifting among these implementation strategies are demonstrated to be essential in adapting to evolving implementation challenges and strategic priorities. Furthermore, an XPS capability framework is introduced, which elaborates programme actions to different problem areas encountered in corporate-level lean transformation. Six core XPS capabilities are identified, supporting companies to initiate, accelerate, and adapt their improvement efforts across global production networks. The research also advances theory by reconceptualising the role of XPS, not merely as a vehicle for diffusing operating values and improvement tools, but as a mechanism for deliberately redesigning the operations management system to a lean-based one. This positions the XPS as a dynamic mechanism through which investments in the programme accumulate as structural capital, providing the company with a competitive edge for future corporate-level transformations toward operational excellence. In addition, the thesis identifies and characterises several forms of ‘implementation waste’ unique to implementation in multisite contexts, providing both theoretical insight and actionable guidance. By highlighting these challenges and offering contextualised frameworks, this thesis contributes to the academic discourse on corporate lean management in an industrial production context, and effective realisation of global production operations strategy. It offers practical tools and concepts to guide practitioners in achieving more deliberate, flexible, and effective corporate lean management, ultimately supporting sustainable improvement across diverse industrial environments. 

I dagens snabbt föränderliga industriella landskap står multinationella produktionsföretag inför betydande utmaningar med att uppnå hållbara prestationsförbättringar genom lean management i sina globala produktionsnätverk. Efter årtionden av lean implementeringen kvarstår den kritiska utmaningen att hantera och samordna lokala fabriksförbättringar med övergripande företagsstrategier för operationell excellence. Komplexiteten intensifieras när företag försöker hantera storskaliga lean-transformationer på global nivå, vilket väcker avgörande frågor om hur sådana transformationer hanteras, anpassas och upprätthålls över tid. Denna avhandling adresserar detta kunskapsgap genom att undersöka hur företag utformar, implementerar och upprätthåller lean-strategier på företagsnivå – särskilt genom hanteringen av företagsspecifika produktionssystem (XPS). Genom fem kvalitativa studier i stora industriella produktionsföretag visar forskningen hur praktiker möter återkommande hinder karakteristiska för implementering av lean inom koncerncer med flera produktionsfabriker. Forskningen visar att de centrala utmaningarna för företagen är hur de ska investera i anställdas utbildning och kapabiliteter, samtidigt som mätbara prestationsförbättringar skulle uppnås. Även om global standardisering av förbättringsverktyg är en vanlig praxis för implementering, visar det sig resurskrävande med ofta otillräcklig effekt där inlärningsprinciper och anpassning till lokala behov förbises. Resultaten indikerar även att många organisationer underskattar hur valda implementeringsstrategier formar både omedelbara operativa vinster och den långsiktiga utvecklingen av organisatoriska förmågor. För att adressera dessa utmaningar innehåller avhandlingen med flera kunskapsbidrag. Den beskriver fyra sammankopplade komponenter som är centrala för hantering av lean-implementering på koncernnivå och identifierar fyra dominerande typer av implementeringsstrategier – utbildning, verktyg, pragmatisk och kultur – som var och en påverkar organisatoriska utfall på olika sätt. Den dynamiska samverkan och växling mellan dessa strategier visas vara avgörande för att anpassa sig till föränderliga implementeringsutmaningar och strategiska prioriteringar. Avhandlingen introducerar även ett ramverk för XPS-kapabiliteter som specificerar programåtgärder för olika problemområden vid lean-transformation på företagsnivå. Ramverket identifierar sex centrala kapabiliteter för ledning av XPS, vilket stödjer företag att initiera, accelerera och anpassa förbättringsinsatser i deras globala produktionsnätverk. Forskningen bidrar även teoretiskt genom att omkonceptualisera XPS-rollen: från att inte enbart formulera värderingar och förbättringsmetoder, utan som en mekanism för medveten omstrukturering av operationsledningssystemet till ett lean-baserat system. Detta positionerar XPS som en dynamisk mekanism där investeringar ackumuleras som strukturellt kapital, vilket ger företaget konkurrensfördelar i framtida transformationer mot operationell excellens. Dessutom identifierar och karakteriserar avhandlingen flera former av "implementeringsslöseri" unika för implementering inom koncerner, vilket ger både teoretisk insikt och handlingsbar vägledning för praktiker. Genom att belysa dessa utmaningar och erbjuda kontextualiserade ramverk bidrar denna avhandling till den akademiska diskursen om företags lean management i industriell produktion samt effektiv realisering av globala produktionsoperationsstrategier. Den erbjuder praktiska verktyg och koncept för att vägleda praktiker mot mer avsiktlig, flexibel och effektiv företagslean management, vilket slutligen stödjer hållbar förbättring i olika industriella miljöer.  

Operational excellence (OpEx) in organisations requires a systematic approach and the involvement of all employees in improvement processes. Multisite production companies typically manage this through global OpEx programmes. However, unclear priorities and limited adaptation often create obstacles to programme development. This study aims to propose an action-guiding capability framework based on practitioners' experiences by identifying their main challenges. An interactive research approach, incorporating joint workshops, was employed to build on the experiences of programme managers in five multisite production companies with varying maturity. When developing programmes, three main recurring and interconnected problems tend to occur: establishing priorities during programme initiation, achieving impact with limited resources, and adapting to evolving conditions. Key capabilities include programme managers earning executives' commitment, avoiding premature scaling of the programme, and controlling programme development. The framework proposed here can be used to map programme capabilities and guide actions to avoid problems and improve programme performance.

This paper explores global implementation of capability building projects as part of an corporate lean programme. The aim is to identify the core parameters in global implementation of complex knowledge in various contexts within the corporation. The empirical research investigates the global implementation of a lean capability project in three regional clusters within a large pharmaceutical multinational production company. The findings indicate that contextual situations in regional clusters, for example, maturity levels, national culture, and previous experiences, influence the design of the implementation approaches embedding knowledge management principles in various ways. Three types of implementation approaches (horizontal, parallel, and delegated) are identified, which highlights the strategically different pathways to realise new frameworks for knowledge management. This study shows how adjustments to contextual situations influence the implementation process and identifies various hallenges with various approaches that may hinder the execution of lean strategy. This paper puts forward five identified implementation parameters that could guide future research and knowledge management practitioners in opex, HR, and learning and development functions.

Purpose: This study explores how industrial production companies adjust implementation strategies to deliver value with their company-specific production system (XPS) in a multi-site setting. Implementing an XPS is part of operations management and is supposed to mobilise employees resource-efficiently to increase operational performance. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a multiple-case study, this study qualitatively explores the patterns of implementation decisions within and between five multi-site production companies. Conclusions were drawn on a mix of timely and retrospective data gathered through individual interviews with senior managers and joint workshops where they interacted and shared experiences. Findings: This study identifies the fact that companies respond differently to non-unique implementation challenges, constituting various decision patterns when implementing their XPS. This paper identifies four implementation strategies (Education, Tool, Pragmatic and Culture Strategy) that explain various implementation setups. More experienced companies frequently shifted between strategies to return to previously de-prioritised implementation aspects. Originality/value: This paper offers a dynamic model for XPS implementation in contrast to a simplified tool–system–culture sequence in literature today. Companies that deliberately shift implementation strategy by understanding the benefits and challenges of their decisions are more likely to keep momentum in the XPS implementation.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore and describe how companies manage the level of standardisation of improvement practices in a multisite context. It seeks to explain the managerial strategies applied to change the standardisation level in manufacturing companies with multiple production sites worldwide. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reports from a case based on data collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observations and company documents from a large multinational producing company and, specifically, from of the largest production sites in the company. The research design resembles a grounded theory approach by being reflexive and open to emerging themes. The standardisation strategy was analysed at a company that strived to increase the standardisation of problem-solving practices within about 20 production sites as part of their corporate lean programme. Findings: Several managerial tools were applied at the corporate level to increase the standardisation level of problem-solving practices, such as developing standards and a company-specific toolbox aligned with an in-house maturity model. In addition, deploying change leaders and global implementation targets enabled audits and progress. However, consequences at the production-site level became minor adaptations of standards, the design of training models as a “roll-out”, and a resource-demanding implementation process. Originality/value: This paper empirically demonstrates strategic tools that corporate management teams apply to influence the company’s standardisation level of practices. The study describes the purpose and consequences of the design of the toolbox, maturity model, training model, and implementation targets, which aims to simplify the complex task of managing standardisation in a corporate group. By applying a knowledge-based view, four processes (i.e. adaptation, integration, upskilling, and learning) were identified to improve the management strategies in multisite contexts.

In view of major social changes, such as the growing climate crisis, increased external expectations on the production sector demand an industrial transformation. Since transformations call for innovation, new lean practices will emerge locally at sites in production networks to cope with new challenges. But, how can new local lean practices be deployed for utilization by other parts of the company? Global production companies strive for broad over-all improvements within the network. This is often approached through a top-down deployment of a global lean framework, using various mechanisms. Lean standard development is a central mechanism for transferring best practices and lean knowledge within a corporate group. Anchored to well-established theories, such as innovation diffusion and plant network theory, prior lean transfer studies often take a cascading top-down perspective. In contrast, this study aims to explore lean practice diffusion through a bottom-up perspective. It explores the process of deploying new local lean practices to the corporate network. The empirical findings are based on a single case study at the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The findings indicate that the bottom-up deployment process can be explained by four phases, ‘Piloting’, ‘Branding’, ‘Codifying Knowledge’ and ‘Making a Product’ that varies in degree of practice adaptation. The lean practice incorporation to a global lean framework is discussed around three conceptual deployment approaches called, ‘template’, ‘standard’ and ‘product’ deployment. The empirical insight contributes to the body of global lean literature by providing a more dynamic view of global lean frameworks, of which development depends on the underlying processes such as bottom-up practice incorporation. It also provides practitioners in global lean settings with valuable insight and a possibility to review internal global-local deployment processes within a corporate group to increase intra-organizational learning.

Global production companies spend a noticeable amount of resources on developing lean subprograms deployed within the corporate group. Despite the objective of achieving overall improvements, the expected performance might default due to inefficient deployment processes. Unforeseen lag or resistance to centralized programs has in previous studies shown to be influenced by contextual characteristics of the recipient, such as absorptive capacity, national culture, and factory size. How should deployment plans be designed while considering the characteristics within the corporate group? The research purpose here, is to explore the intentions and reasoning behind the designed deployment plan within a corporate group. Based on insights from a real case, this paper presents three various tactical deployment approaches of possible eight theoretical configurations, here called ‘horizontal,’ ‘parallel,’ and ‘delegated’ deployment. They differ principally by cascading approach, degree of freedom, and centralization of targets. The concept of ‘deployment tactics’ is introduced as a way to understand how the deployment plans are arranged given the contextual characteristics, and shows that the context dependency in lean subprogram deployment can be managed in various ways within a company.

The ways of coping with the complexity of implementing lean production in Multinational Corporation diverge. Successful knowledge transfer within corporations’ network of production plants is of major importance. One way to roll out programs with changes rapidly is through top management commitment. The paper reports from an industrial case study exploring the characteristics, as well as issues and success factors, of a roll-out program to implement a standard. Important factors were identified, such as early involvement of stakeholders, type of knowledge transferred, involvement at both group and individual level, and to secure external deliveries prior to initiation of the program.

Scholarly literature on corporate-wide lean implementation has grown in the last decade. The focus on lean knowledge transfer within multinational corporations and the complexity to transfer soft lean practices has gained momentum. However, yet the literature is fragmented. This qualitative paper explores deployment strategies of company-specific production systems (XPS). The industrial embedded case study is a global implementation of an improvement project in three regional contexts within a large multinational corporation. This paper describes the contextual influence when planning a transfer process. The path-dependent issues in three different approaches (horizontal, parallel, and delegated) are discussed as a proxy for the quality measure of the transfer process. The main contribution of this research is to propose a conceptualisation of XPS deployment based on existing literature and empirical findings. This exploratory study builds on a single detailed case company limiting theoretical generalisability. However, the rich details and cross-case analysis of the embedded regional contexts provided valuable insights to draw the six propositions that need further validation.