Lean Human Resource Management and Production Performance: A Quantitative Study Using Multivariate Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling

Amina Chandad (), Mohamed Benchekroun and Abakouy Mostafa
Additional contact information
Amina Chandad: ENCGT - Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion de Tanger - UAE - Abdelmalek Essaadi University [Tétouan] = Université Abdelmalek Essaadi [Tétouan]
Mohamed Benchekroun: ENSIT - Ecole des Nouvelles Sciences d’ingenierie, Le Laboratoire Systemes, Controle et Decision (LSCD), Tanger, Morocco.
Abakouy Mostafa: ENCGT - Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion de Tanger - UAE - Abdelmalek Essaadi University [Tétouan] = Université Abdelmalek Essaadi [Tétouan]

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Lean production systems are widely recognized for their potential to improve operational efficiency and product quality. Nevertheless, empirical findings remain heterogeneous, suggesting that technical lean practices alone do not fully explain performance differences across organizations. Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV), this study conceptualizes Lean Human Resource Management (Lean HRM) as an organizational capability that contributes to production performance through the development of operational discipline. Using a quantitative modeling approach combining confirmatory factor analysis, multivariate regression, and structural equation modeling, the study examines the direct and indirect relationships between Lean HRM, operational discipline, and production performance. Data were collected from 247 manufacturing firms through a structured questionnaire administered to operations managers and HR directors. The results provide strong support for the proposed theoretical framework and highlight the central role of disciplined execution in translating HR systems into operational outcomes. Operational discipline fully mediates the relationship between Lean HRM and production quality (β = 0.48, p < 0.001) and partially mediates its relationship with operational efficiency (β = 0.36, p < 0.001). The findings extend RBV theory by demonstrating how HR capabilities translate into operational outcomes through intermediate organizational mechanisms. The findings demonstrate that Lean HRM does not improve performance directly, but creates value primarily by building operational discipline as a critical organizational capability, thereby confirming the central role of execution discipline in sustainable lean performance.

Keywords: Lean HRM Lean production Resource-Based View Operational discipline Structural equation modeling Production performance African Scientific Journal; Lean HRM; Lean production; Resource-Based View; Operational discipline; Structural equation modeling; Production performance African Scientific Journal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01-27
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05482804v1
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in African Scientific Journal, In press, 03 (34), pp.23. ⟨10.5281/zenodo.18391930⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-05482804v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05482804

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18391930

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().