Impact of Lean Manufacturing Practices on Firms’ Sustainable Performance: Lean Culture as a Moderator

Mohammad Iranmanesh, Suhaiza Zailani, Sunghyup Sean Hyun, Mohd Helmi Ali and Kwangyong Kim
Additional contact information
Mohammad Iranmanesh: Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
Suhaiza Zailani: Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Sunghyup Sean Hyun: School of Tourism, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea
Mohd Helmi Ali: Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor 43600, Malaysia
Kwangyong Kim: Korean Standards Association, Seoul 08056, Korea

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Nowadays, manufacturing firms are pressured by governments, non-governmental organizations and customers to operate in a sustainable manner. Although lean practices may provide environmental, social, and financial benefits to firms, their effect on sustainable performance is ambiguous. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of lean manufacturing practices on firms’ environmental performance by considering lean culture as a moderator. Data were gathered through a survey of 187 manufacturing firms in Malaysia and were analyzed using the partial least squares technique. The results indicate that process and equipment, product design, supplier relationships, and customer relationships have a positive and significant effect on sustainable performance. It is also interesting to observe that lean culture positively moderated the effects of process and equipment and supplier relationships on sustainable performance. These results have important implications for enhancing the sustainable performance of manufacturing firms through lean manufacturing practices.

Keywords: lean practices; lean culture; sustainable performance; Malaysia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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