This paper addresses the question of how just‐in‐time can be implemented within high variety manufacture. To illustrate some of the principles in relation to the high variety‐low volume situation the case of a computer manufacturer is considered in detail. For contrast the paper also...

Links the concept of market‐driven business strategies with the design of production systems. It draws upon the case of a firm which, during the last decade, changed its strategy from being “technology led” to “market driven”. The research, based on interdisciplinary fieldwork...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of lean within two contrasting UK-based organizations; a food manufacturer and a healthcare organization. The different contexts provide insight to the strategic desire for efficiency gains and tactical issues and challenges...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges that face leaders when implementing business excellence programmes in the Jordanian public sector. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a content analysis approach to analyse the excellence assessment reports that...

New evidence from a British electronics plant on the experience of a harmonisation programme is presented and questions the generally accepted favourable image of moves towards single status working. The presentation is novel in that instead of offering a traditional literature review followed...