مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

 مجله تحقیقات بازاریابی – Journal of Business Research

With intense competition as the new norm, productivity improvement activities are extremely important. Lean production (LP) is an example of a business system innovation intended to increase productivity. This study examines specific management communication practices that are present in LP, and conversely, specific practices that are absent from LP, but that are present in traditional non-LP contexts.

LP consists largely of improvement work and is dependent on a set of collective activities (e.g., Quality Circles, and Just-In-Time) to benefit the organization. Transferring new knowledge, such as LP, is a challenging task, and increased competition makes mastering that challenge important (Lindlöf, Söderberg, and Persson, 2013). According to Daniel, Myers, and Dixon (2012), adoption of innovations involves making them part of everyday routines. Mol and Birkinshaw (2009) argue for further research on adopting management innovations; while Liukkonen (1992) shows that high work productivity requires high engagement from workers and managers alike.

In the LP context, Worley and Doolen (2006) argue that management communication and support play an important role in LP implementation. Even though management communication practices are part of the innovations, limited research focuses on the granular level of communication practices. To address this lack of research, this study develops an understanding of management communication practices employed in the LP context.