European Journal of Business Science and Technology 2021, 7(1):59-73 | DOI: 10.11118/ejobsat.2021.008

The People Side of Successful Business Transformations

Metin Begecarslan1
1 Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

Business transformations are critical to making a giant leap to create an outstanding customer experience and dominate the market. This study explores how companies with different Continuous Improvement Maturities manage the people side of a business transformation, focusing on establishing a Continuous Improvement culture. A semi-structured interview with 28 different companies and 30 interview partners from 21 different industries will explore the People Excellence approach’s differences in People Engagement, People Enablement, and People Empowerment. The study also investigates the different views on Continuous Improvement Systems and their impact on the organization. The focus on people, culture, and Leadership to achieve significant and sustainable business results from companies with a strong Continuous Improvement System will be evident, compared to companies with no structured Continuous Improvement System or a fragile Continuous Improvement System.

Keywords: leadership, business transformation, engagement, empowerment, enablement
JEL classification: L16, M10

Received: January 22, 2021; Revised: June 20, 2021; Accepted: June 27, 2021; Published: August 9, 2021  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Begecarslan, M. (2021). The People Side of Successful Business Transformations. European Journal of Business Science and Technology, 7(1), 59-73. doi: 10.11118/ejobsat.2021.008
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Asefeso, A. 2013. Lean Implementation: Why Lean Fails and How to Prevent Failure. Swindon, UK: AA Global Sourcing.
    2. Begecarslan, M. 2017. Why Leadership Matters in Lean Transformations. IfM Impulse, 22-31.
    3. Blanchard, K. H., Carlos, J. P. & Randolph, W. A. 1999. The 3 Keys to Empowerment: Release the Power Within People for Astonishing Results. 1st ed. San Fransisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
    4. Byrne, A. & Womack, J. P. 2013. The Lean Turnaround: How Business Leaders Use Lean Principles to Create Value and Transform Their Company. New York: McGraw-Hill.
    5. de la Boutetière, H., Montagner, A. & Reich, A. 2018. Unlocking Success in Digital Transformations. McKinsey & Co.
    6. DeLuzio, M. C. 2020. Flatlined: Why Lean Transformations Fail and What to Do About It. New York, NY: Routledge. Go to original source...
    7. DePoy, E. & Gitlin, L. N. 2011. Introduction to Research: Understanding and Applying Multiple Strategies. 4th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier/Mosby.
    8. Donovan, R. M. 2015. Lean Manufacturing: Performance Evaluation Audit. R. Michael Donovan & Co.
    9. Edgeman, R. 2019. Complex Management Systems and the Shingo Model: Foundations of Operational Excellence and Supporting Tools. New York, NY: Routledge. Go to original source...
    10. Hiatt, J. M. & Creasey, T. J. 2012. Change Management: the People Side of Change; an Introduction to Change Management from the Editors of the Change Management Learning Center. 2nd ed. Loveland, CO: Prosci Learning Center Publications.
    11. King, N. & Horrocks, C. 2010. Interviews in Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications.
    12. Kremer, R. & Tapping, D. 2007. The Lean Assessment for Job Shops and Small Manufacturers. Chelsea, MI: MCS Media.
    13. Leuschel, S. 2019. Why Lean Transformation Fails: Common Challenges to Adopting New Leadership and Management Systems. Align Kaizen.
    14. Liker, J. K. 2020. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
    15. Liker, J. K. & Convis, G. L. 2012. The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: Achieving and Sustaining Excellence Through Leadership Development. New York: McGraw-Hill.
    16. Liker, J. K. & Meier, D. 2006. The Toyota Way Fieldbook: A Practical Guide for Implementing Toyota's 4Ps. New York: McGraw-Hill.
    17. Magnusson, E. & Marecek, J. 2015. Doing Interview-Based Qualitative Research: A Learner's Guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Go to original source...
    18. Maier, S. 2019. 'People Enablement' is the Human-Resources Trend You Can't Ignore. Entrepreneur [online]. Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/337228.
    19. Mann, D. 2015. Creating a Lean Culture: Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions. 3rd ed. CRC Press.
    20. Mayring, P., 2010. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse: Grundlagen und Techniken, 11th ed. Beltz Pädagogik. Weinheim: Beltz. Go to original source...
    21. McPhie, N. A. G. 2008. The Power of Federal Employee Engagement. U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board Report.
    22. Mertens, D. M. 2005. Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity with Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
    23. Mortson, M. 2020. 10 Signs You Should Reboot Your Lean Program! [online]. Available at: https://supplychaingamechanger.com/global-process-excellence-part-7-10-signs-reboot-lean-program/. [Accessed 2020, November 1].
    24. MPI Census. 2007. North America Manufacturing Benchmarks & Outlook for 2007. The MPI Group.
    25. Müller, M. 2018. The 5 Types of Business Transformation [online]. Available at: https://www.insideboard.com/blog/the-5-types-of-business-transformations/. [Accessed 2020, December 14].
    26. Nesensohn, C., Bryde, D., Ochieng, E., Fearon, D. & Hackett, V. 2014. Assessing Lean Construction Maturity. In Proceedings IGLC-22, People, Culture and Change, 1157-1168.
    27. Netland, T. H. & Ferdows, K. 2016. The S-Curve Effect of Lean Implementation. Production and Operations Management, 25 (6), 1106-1120. DOI: 10.1111/poms.12539. Go to original source...
    28. Nightingale, D. J. & Mize, J. H. 2002. Development of a Lean Enterprise Transformation Maturity Model. Information Knowledge Systems Management, 3 (1), 15-30.
    29. Panneman, T. 2017. Lean Transformations: When and How to Use Lean Tools and Climb the Four Steps of Lean Maturity. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
    30. Permana, I., Tjakraatmadja, J. H., Larso, D. & Wicaksono, A. 2015. Exploring Potential Drivers of Employee Engagement, Enablement, and Empowerment: A Quest Toward Developing a Framework for Building Sustainable Employee Excellence for Manufacturing Environment in Indonesia. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6 (2), 577-587. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s1p577. Go to original source...
    31. Plenert, G. J. 2018. Discover Excellence: An Overview of the Shingo Model and Its Guiding Principles. The Shingo Model Series. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Go to original source...
    32. Purkey, W. W. & Siegel, B. L. 2003. Becoming an Invitational Leader: A New Approach to Professional and Personal Success. Atlanta, GA: Humanix Books.
    33. Saunders, M. N. K., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. 2019. Research Methods for Business Students. 8th ed. New York: Pearson.
    34. Shinohara, I. 1988. NPS, New Production System: JIT Crossing Industry Boundaries. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press.
    35. Shishkov, B. (ed.). 2016. Business Modeling and Software Design. Selected papers from 5th International Symposium, BMSD 2015, Milan, Italy. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-40512-4. Go to original source...
    36. Tasler, N. 2017. Stop Using the Excuse "Organizational Change Is Hard". Harvard Business Review.
    37. Womack, J. P., Jones, D. T. & Roos, D. 1990. The Machine that Changed the World: Based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5-Million Dollar 5-Year Study on the Future of the Automobile. New York: Harper Perennial.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content