Title: Measuring the lean readiness of Kuwaiti manufacturing industries

Authors: Mohamad Alnajem; Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes; Ahmed ElMelegy

Addresses: Business Administration Department, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Block 5, Building 1, Mubarak Al-Abdullah Area/West Mishref, Kuwait ' Centre for Supply Chain Improvement, Kedleston Road Campus, The University of Derby, Derby, DE22 1GB, UK ' Business Administration Department, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Block 5, Building 1, Mubarak Al-Abdullah Area/West Mishref, Kuwait

Abstract: This paper measures the readiness of the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries to implement the lean system through an evaluation of their existing quality practices, and compare such readiness among different product sectors and ownership types. The study adopts the measurement framework developed by Al-Najem et al. (2013), which establishes six constructs related to lean quality practices, namely: process, planning and control, customer relations, suppliers relations, HR, and top management and leadership. Data were collected from a survey of 50 Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing companies. One research question and two hypotheses were developed and tested using t-test and Levene's test, descriptive statistics, and one-way ANOVA. The results demonstrate that the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries are far from being ready to implement lean. In addition, the study found that product sector and ownership type have no significant impact on the lean readiness in the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries.

Keywords: Kuwaiti small and medium sized industries; lean system; lean readiness; manufacturing industries.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPM.2019.096467

International Journal of Business Performance Management, 2019 Vol.20 No.1, pp.70 - 92

Received: 08 Jan 2018
Accepted: 08 Mar 2018
Published online: 04 Dec 2018 *

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