The Limits of Lean Management Thinking:: Multiple Retailers and Food and Farming Supply Chains

Andrew Cox and Dan Chicksand

European Management Journal, 2005, vol. 23, issue 6, 648-662

Abstract: This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of lean management thinking in the food and farming industry in the UK. Based on a case study of red meat supply it is argued that the adoption of lean practices internally may be appropriate for all participants in the industry, but the inter-organisational aspects of lean may not be easy to apply in practice, nor appropriate, for many participants. For some participants -- especially the multiple retailers -- the adoption of lean principles may lead to a positive outcome with stable and/or increasing profitability. For the majority of participants in these industry supply chains, however, the adoption of lean principles may result in a high level of dependency on buyers and to low or declining levels of profitability.

Keywords: Lean; thinking; Power; analysis; Supply; chain; management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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