LEAN PHILOSOPHY: THE LEAN TOOLS ENHANCEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Lean philosophy and methodology is accomplished in the organisation process improvement by using lean tools . The research is focusing in several systematic reviews carried out on lean tools and the impacts of the lean tools benefits in the Higher Education Sector around the world. The present study sets out to analyse the existing literature on lean tools’ adaptation practices towards the impacts of lean management in higher education. The benefit of this paper is that it condenses previous research in identifying the research gap.  Guided by the PRISMA Statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) review method, a systematic review of the Scopus and Web of Science databases identified 23 related studies. Further review of these articles resulted in 24 main themes – 5S, Kaizen, Value Stream mapping, Gemba Walk, Root cause analysis, pull system, Kanban, A3, Standardization, Hoshin Kanri policy, OEE, SMED, Bottle Neck, and others. These 24 themes further produced a total of 15 sub-themes of lean benefits. Several recommendations are highlighted for the purpose of conducting more quantitative studies, to propose a specific and a standard systematic review method for guiding research synthesis in the context of lean tools’ usage benefits, and to practice complimentary searching techniques such as citation tracking, reference searching, snowballing, and contacting experts.