The impact of lean practices on the operational performance of SMEs in India

Purpose: Although lean thinking is deemed to be a gold standard of modern production management, a lot of scepticism still remains regarding its applicability in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to understand the perception of lean in SMEs and establish the relationship between lean adoption and operational performance. Design/methodology/approach: With the help of a survey, data were collected from 425 SMEs in India and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings: Operational performance of the firms was found to be positively related to lean implementation. Originality/value: This study also furnishes practitioners with a better understanding of lean thinking in SMEs and its impact on performance.