Lean without machines: A study of the applicability of lean principles to an operation with HR-functions

Abstract: Lean principles have proven very successful within the domains of manufacturing. This has spurred research into the applicability of the principles to other types of operations, and initial results from the service industry have yielded promising results. Nevertheless the applicability of lean principles to many other types of operations is still unexplored. This thesis aims to remedy this by studying one such operation, namely an operation with HR-functions. The empirical results of this thesis indicates that lean principles can indeed be applied to one such operation, however many latent organizational and managerial factors have been identified that serve to impede this implementation.