15. Potential Issues with Lean

Lean not only has proponents, but also has critics who should be deliberated in any discussion in reference to Lean. Critics allege Lean to be a throwback to the group piecework systems of the 1920s where supervisors engage in full-time monitoring and disciplining underperforming workers, a return to Taylor’s scientific management approach from the more advanced behavioural approach to managing workers. The purpose of this chapter is to offer the reader a structured overview of the various commentators who have objected to Lean over the years. The purpose is not only to offer opinion as to the validity or otherwise of these objections but also to raise awareness. The Lean movement is strong on both sides of “the water”. In fact, the practitioner community was barely impacted by the polemics within the academic community. This is in spite of the fact that the academic origins of Lean are frequently cited by practitioners is being key to their belief in the effectiveness of Lean. It is the author’s hope that this brief overview will augment the readers’ knowledge and understanding of the some of the dissent and debate that has taken and continues to take place in a world that often seems irrelevant and even alien to Lean practitioners. Equally, in an investigation of this kind, it is important to initially explore the potential pitfalls of Lean before highlighting possible solutions to the issues raised by the critics of Lean.