Managing Change towards Lean Enterprises

Encouraging experiences from a case study show that when lean manufacturing is implemented as an innovation process, and social stimulation games are applied, the resulting new systems are both economic and organizational successes. The lead time of change is short and resistance to change is avoided. The lean principles can spill over to other business processes, which ultimately creates a “lean” enterprise. To guide this development, top‐down change management should be replaced by “lean” visions and guidelines. Under this umbrella, the individual development projects should unfold as consciously managed innovation processes that encourage bottom‐up creativity and learning.