Purpose: – Lean business ideology has been one of the recent dominant research areas in operations management. However, there is a dearth of research focusing on Lean in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by systematically reviewing the literature in relation to the implementation of Lean in SMEs.Design/methodology/approach: – Tranfieldet al.’s (2003) systematic review methodology was employed covering three stages: planning, conducting and reporting/dissemination.Findings: – A descriptive analysis of the papers reviewed is provided. From the thematic analysis of the literature four main themes are identified: the scope/type of Lean being adopted by SMEs, how Lean is used in SMEs, the impact of Lean implementation on SMEs and the critical success factors for Lean implementation in SMEs. Key inhibitors and enablers related to firm size when implementing Lean are also identified in the concluding discussion.Research limitations/implications: – Nine recommendations for future research are developed associated with Lean implementation in SMEs.Practical implications: – The authors suggest SMEs to integrate organisational factors such as employee empowerment and the development of a supportive strategy into their Lean implementation plans. A preliminary “Staircase Road Map” to guide SMEs in implementing Lean is also developed.Originality/value: – This paper goes beyond previous literature reviews of Lean by systematically and critically evaluating key themes of Lean implementation within an SME environment. It not only provides a road map for SME owners/managers who intend to implement Lean, but also provides the academic community with an agenda for future research.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to take a critical, analytical approach to explore the growth and spread of Lean through the academic and practitioner community over the last 25 years to understand the impact of the bookThe Machine that Changed the Worldon management thinking.Design/methodology/approach: – A comprehensive and systematic review of the extant literature of lean was undertaken and analysed critically to observe patterns and trends that could explain the acceptance of Lean as an operations management philosophy. The review spans from 1987 to 2013. To enable us to effectively manage and understand the diffusion of this literature a database, the Lean Publications Database, was constructed. The number of publications has been adjusted to compensate for growth in the total number of articles published in the same period.Findings: – Lean has evolved to be one of the best-known, yet fiercely debated, process improvement methodologies. It emerged during a proliferation of such methodologies in the business and management literature. Lean has developed from a generic description of Toyota Production System (TPS) to a particular type of organisational and management intervention focused on best practice and process improvement methodologies.Research limitations/implications: – This paper provides the first comprehensive review of the Lean literature, from the perspective of Lean as the unit of analysis. It covers both sides of the academic debate and categorises the progression of Lean from its origins as a generic description of TPS to a movement that has changed management systems in many and diverse sectors.Practical implications: – This paper demonstrates how Lean research, application and thinking has evolved over 25 years from its origins in Japanese auto-manufacturing to a holistic value system that is applicable to all business sectors, both private and public.Originality/value: – In most empirical studies on Lean, the unit of analysis is the organisation. In this study, the unit of analysis is the Lean phenomenon itself. This paper examines the impact ofThe Machine that Changed the Worldon management thinking. In addition, it presents a step to developing an underpinning theory by linking Lean to theTheory of Swift, Even Flow. As such it is of interest to academics in the field of operations management and offers a contribution to knowledge. It is also likely to be of interest to policy makers. Considerable amounts of public money have been spent, and continue to be spent, on promoting Lean. Taxpayers and policymakers are likely to be interested in whether that expenditure is justifiable. 25 years of publications have been analysed to provide clarity around this popular approach to organisational improvement.

Integrated care has been identified as being fundamental to health and social care reforms. How this interprofessional working impacts on professional identity is unclear. There is a lack of reviews synthesising this growing body of literature. It is therefore timely to conduct a scoping study of the literature which explores the intersection between interprofessional care and professional identity. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that impact on professional identity when working in interprofessional teams. A scoping review was conducted; Business Source Complete (EBSCO); CINAHL; Proquest; Medline; Scopus; and Cochrane Reviews (January 1980 to July 2018) were systematically searched for studies focusing on professional identity and interprofessional teams. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified and applied, data were charted, and a synthesis of the narrative was conducted. Sixteen papers are identified as central to this scoping review. Analysis of the papers highlights three key areas of interest: the creation of professional identity; challenges and barriers to professional identity; and implications for leadership and management. The significance of this review is considered along with an agenda for future research. Expanding the research to include more empirical studies to consider areas such as the value of interprofessional education programmes and to include the voice of those professionals no longer working or choosing not to work in an interprofessional care setting should also feature within future research.

The term Operational Excellence is widely applied to businesses but the meaning is ill-defined and is often used as a desired goal. This paper provides a comprehensive review of Operational Excellence and starts to address the criticism of its lack of theoretical foundation. The aim of this conceptual paper is to clarify the meaning of Operational Excellent and to identify the underpinning theories and laws, or rules that guide it. Based on the synthesis of the literature using the term ‘Operational Excellence’ writings are reviewed against five criteria for a good theory. Our findings show there has been considerable research into identifying common practices and regularities of Operational Excellence but currently there is no single underlying theory of Operational Excellence that meets the criteria for a good theory. From our analysis of the literature we provide some recommendations to address the gaps found. Further research is required to develop a more robust theory of Operational Excellence that will serve to facilitate learning and innovation in next-generation management thinking. Future study is also required to identify research that has been carried out that has tested the laws identified in this study. Ideas and input from practitioners would also be required to develop the theory and underpinning laws.

The concept value chain has been promoted by Porter for more than three decades. A value chain represents a chain of activities that an organisation performs to deliver a valuable product for the market. Porter's value chain assumes that an organisation is a system composed of inputs, transformation processes, and outputs. Each activity in the system involves the acquisition and consumption of resources. How the organisation carries out value chain activities determines costs and profits. One enhances the competitiveness of a company by improving its value chain structure. However, little attention has been given to developing value chain thinking. This paper examines the emergence of value chain thinking and proposes new value chain thinking that involves a chain of activities linked to one another in order to sustain value. A conceptual model is presented which consists of four steps: value discovery, value design, value delivery, and value capture. A methodology is also proposed in which to operationalise the value chain thinking.