Impact of lean supply chain management on business performanceThe role of the context

Abstract

In recent decades, organizations have witnessed great changes in the environment that have led to an increase in the demands required to maintain a competitive position in the market, including the achievement of higher quality, reliability, flexibility, and customer satisfaction. The extension of lean principles and practices along the supply chain (Lean Supply Chain Management – LSCM) can provide a competitive advantage in this changeable context. This doctoral thesis aims to contribute to the research on the impact of LSCM implementation on business performance. To achieve this purpose, this dissertation has mapped the literature on LSCM from a general perspective using bibliometric- and network-based analyses. Additionally, it has characterized the extant research on LSCM-performance relationships through a systematic literature review. From an empirical perspective, this dissertation proposes a LSCM performance assessment framework and empirically study different aspects of the environment that may motivate the spreading of lean management from the focal firm to the entire supply chain using structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression.