Title: Lean management in hospitality: methods, applications and future directions

Authors: Erwin Rauch; Dominik T. Matt; Christian Linder

Addresses: Industrial Engineering and Automation (IEA), Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bolzano, Piazza Università 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy ' Industrial Engineering and Automation (IEA), Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bolzano, Piazza Università 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy; Innovation Engineering Centre (IEC), Fraunhofer Italia Research s.c.a.r.l., A.-Volta Strasse 13a, 39100 Bolzano, Italy ' Management Department, ESCP Europe Business School, 527 Finchley Road, London NW3 7BG, United Kingdom

Abstract: The hospitality industry is under constant pressure to optimise internal processes, while at the same time extending services to the customer. The purpose of this study is to outline the potential of lean management as a successful approach to increase efficiency and productivity in operational processes in the hospitality industry. We demonstrate that the proven potential of lean methods in fields like manufacturing can be successfully transferred to the needs of the hospitality industry. As a result, the research shows a selection of lean methods which are particularly suitable for application in the hotel sector. This study is based on a real case study in order to test the practical application of lean methods in hospitality. Our research contributes to process optimisation in hospitality and can be directly implemented by practitioners. Further it provides future directions in the transformation of lean methods through digitisation.

Keywords: lean management; lean hospitality; lean hotel; digitisation; Industry 4.0; smart hospitality; service industry; hospitality industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2020.108115

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2020 Vol.36 No.3, pp.303 - 326

Received: 17 Sep 2017
Accepted: 31 Mar 2018
Published online: 03 Jul 2020 *

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