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Selected papers from the 2012 SERVSIG Conference
Edited by Maria Holmlund-Rytkönen, Anu Helkkula and Kristina Heinonen
1. Introduction
During the last decades, various lean approaches have received much attention and have been successful in improving productivity, especially in manufacturing (e.g. see [44] Ohno, 1988; [43] Womack et al. , 1990), but also other industries, perhaps most notably health care (e.g. [7] De Souza, 2009; [22] Landsbergis et al. , 1999; [34] Poksinska, 2010). [43] Womack et al. (1990) established the term "lean" in the 1980s, describing its main objective as increasing efficiency through minimizing costly non-value-adding activities while retaining customer-perceived value. According to lean, all types of non-value-adding activities are waste, and consequently, must be consistently and thoroughly eliminated ([16] Hines et al. , 2004; [42] Womack and Jones, 2003). For instance, Toyota is considered a prime example of a firm that successfully applies lean.
At the same time, increasing competition in services puts pressure on firms' profit margins, which actualizes the need to examine productivity in this sector ([1] Anderson et al. , 1997; [12] Grönroos, 2007; [37] Rust and Huang, 2012). How to work with productivity issues in services has long been challenging, and scant research exists in this area ([11] Geum et al. , 2011). In addition, services typically vary significantly in how they are produced (the production processes), which makes productivity challenging to manage. Scholars from various disciplines have called for more research on service productivity ([1] Anderson et al. , 1997; [10] Filiatrault et al. , 1996; [31] Parasuraman, 2002; [36] Rahikka et al. , 2011; [37] Rust and Huang, 2012; [38] Rust et al. , 2002). Exploring the applicability of a lean approach for improving productivity in services can be a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate and promises managerial insights regarding how to coordinate and manage productivity efforts in services.
The aim of this research is two-fold: to explore the applicability of lean in a service context, and to conceptualize how lean principles might impact service productivity. This paper begins with a description of lean principles and service production, and continues with an analysis of the application of lean principles to different service types. Six propositions examining the influence of each lean principle on service productivity are identified....