Framing and Managing Lean Organizations in the New Economy

This book examines the dominance and significance of lean organizing in the international economy. Scholars from each discipline see lean production as positive or negative; the book blends theory with practice by sorting out these different academic views and revealing how lean is implemented in different ways. The first part synthesizes academic research from a range of disciplines-including, engineering, sociology, and management-to present the reader with an integrated understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of lean management. The second part links this theory to practice, with a set of case studies from companies like Apple, Google, Nike, Toyota, and Walmart that demonstrate how lean is implemented in a variety of settings. The book concludes with three models, explaining how Toyotism, Nikefication with offshoring, and Waltonism provide full or less complete models of lean production. It clearly presents the positive and negative aspects of lean and insights into the culture of lean organizations. With its rich interdisciplinary approach, Framing and Managing Lean Organizations in the New Economy will benefit researchers and students across a range of classes from management, sociology, and public policy to engineering.

Darina Lepadatu is Professor of Sociology and International Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University in metro Atlanta, USA and the current President of the Georgia Sociological Association. Thomas Janoski is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kentucky, and has taught at the University of California-Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. in Sociology, and Duke University, where he helped create the highly successful Program in Management and Marketing Studies.

1: Introduction: The Old and New Divisions of Labor Part I: Framing Lean Organizations 2: The Management and Industrial Engineering Approaches to Lean Production 3: The Social Science, Critical and Socio-Technical Approaches to Lean Production 4: The Labor and Employee Relations and Human Resources Perspectives of Balancing Employer and Worker Interests 5: The Wider Sweep of Global Lean Production: Diversified Quality Production, Models of Production, and the State-led Capitalism Part II: Managing Lean OrganizationsChapter 6: The Leaders in the Field of Lean Production: Toyota and Honda from Japan to the World 7: The Emergence of Semi-Lean at the Ford Motor Company, the Nissan Corporation and McDonalds 8: Creative Teams at Home and Fordism Abroad: Design and Production at the Nike, Apple and the Google Corporations 9: High Powered Merchandizing as a Special Case of Lean: Walmart, Costco and Amazon.com Part III: Syntheses and Conclusions 10: synthesizing Lean Models and Exploring the Political Economy of the New Division of Labor 11: Conclusion: The Global Dominance and Complex Forms of Lean Production