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Abstract
Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is a part of the construct validation process most commonly used for data reduction in social science research. In published studies, EFA was used for a variety of applications, including developing an instrument for the evaluation of school principals (Lovett, Zeiss and Heinemann 2002), assessing the motivation of Puerto Rican high school students (Morris, 2001), and determining what types of services should be offered to college students (Majors and Sedlacek 2001). Factor analysis assumes that underlying dimensions or factors can be used to explain complex phenomena. The goal of factor analysis is to identify not-directly-observable factors based on a larger set of observable or measurable indicators (variables) (Lingard and Rowlinson 2006). This paper explains a stepwise method to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the results of the EFA technique. To realize a factor structure that can be explained and justified. A lean implementation assessment survey was used in this study. The survey, which had five factors with 29 questions, was distributed electronically and received 120 responses which were analyzed using EFA. There is a great deal of subjectivity regarding the criteria for determining the number of latent variables that are extracted for an EFA analysis (Hair Jr., et al. 1992). The method used in this paper helps explain how EFA could be used to help validate surveys.
1. Introduction
Ever since the publishing of the book "Machine that Changed the World" (Womack, Jones and Roos 1990), manufacturing has seen overall improvement. This book described studies that had been compiled from 5 years of industry research that showed methods and approaches that could be used to eliminate waste and help in continuous improvement. Many studies have followed since, but there has been little research done on how to measure the success of Lean implementation. The few tools that are available for public use are used by a third-party agency that usually is involved in the training as well. This has led to few researchers studying and presenting ideas by which Lean assessment could be accomplished. None of the assessments are simple to use and usually are expensive to implement. To fulfill this need, an assessment tool was created that uses the Lean
principles presented by Womack and Jones, which was elaborated...