The diffusion and popularity of Lean in Norway: An exploratory survey

Abstract

Although commentators have noted that Lean currently is receiving a great deal of attention in Norway, little is known about how and to what extent Lean is used by Norwegian organizations. The overall purpose of this paper is to present the results of an explorative survey that attempts to map the diffusion and popularity of Lean in Norway. The results indicate that the adoption rate is still quite low, but that Lean is relatively more widely used in industries such as manufacturing and accounting, auditing and finance. Furthermore, the results indicate that Norwegian organizations are relatively recent adopters of Lean. Among users there is a general consensus that Lean has positive effects on organizational performance. At the same time, a wide range of implementation challenges are reported. These findings are discussed in relation to the extant literature on Lean.

Keywords

• lean
• norway
• diffusion
• adoption
• implementation
• management concept
• management fashion