Space and Process the Organizational Importance of What We Leave Behind

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Space and Process the Organizational Importance of What We Leave Behind Space and process The organizational importance of what we leave behind A dissertation presented by Fabio James Petani Supervised by Prof. Jeanne Mengis Submitted to the Faculty of Communication Sciences Università della Svizzera italiana for the degree of Ph.D. in Communication Sciences July 2016 ii BOARD Supervisor: Prof. Jeanne Mengis (Università della Svizzera italiana) Reviewers: Prof. Laurent Thévenot (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris) Prof. Chris Steyaert (University of St.Gallen) Officially submitted to the Ph.D. committee of the Faculty of Communication Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana in July 2016. © 2016 Fabio James Petani, Università della Svizzera italiana. All rights reserved. iii This study was generously supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) under grant numbers 138105 and 152272 iv I. ABSTRACT Organizational research recently advocated an attention to space (Kornberger & Clegg, 2004), examining how space both produces and is produced by complex relationships of materiality, identity and power (Dale & Burrell, 2008). This literature widely turned to the founding book The Production of Space by Henri Lefebvre (1991/1974) to show how organizational practices resist (Wasserman & Frenkel, 2011), or are enchanted by (Hancock & Spicer, 2011) particular corporate architectures. Research on the role of spatial legacies (De Vaujany & Vaast, 2013), showed how corporate spaces of the past are differently remembered over time to signify the solidity of evolving intentions (Decker, 2014). These studies well capture how practices transform previously planned and already existing spaces, charging them with different meanings after construction. Less we know about how space is produced before and during the phases of organizational planning and construction. Tracing sacrificed planned spaces and missed compromises, I inquire into what is left behind in the discursive and material testing processes that excluded alternative possibilities. A first part of this dissertation focuses on the role of history and remembering in space planning practices. I empirically analyse the narratives surrounding the planning of an important culture centre. The introduction of the concept of lost space specifies how urban planning organizes sociomaterial and spatiotemporal narratives of loss to articulate the need to regain certain spaces (and not others) and design a continuity with a selected past that should not be left behind. Lost space allows planners to narratively “remember the future”. This section contributes a processual interpretation of the interplay between Lefebvre’s (1991/1974) three moments of conceived, perceived and lived space, through a processual focus on conceiving (i.e. planning). By reviewing Lefebvre’s work on everyday temporality (2004/1992, 2014a) and history (1970, 1975), I balance an organizational analysis of space with a sensitivity towards time and remembering. A second part of this dissertation engages in a theoretical discussion and empirical illustration of the representational problem of space and time, which pervades organizational literature and practices. I review longstanding debates on the spatialization of time (Bergson, 2001/1889) and on the principle of simple location, calling for a more space-balanced approach to phenomena in process organization studies. The attention process studies devote to temporality (Helin, Hernes, Hjorth & Holt, 2014; Langley & Tsoukas, 2010, 2016) risks not accounting adequately for space. I suggest space as a processual dimension inseparable from time, and while calling for spatiotemporal representations of space’s plural simultaneity of durations (Massey, 2005), I warn on the need to address the performativity of conflicting organizational representations of space. Space-time integrated representations can account for the complex web of multiple lived organizational dimensions, and process organizational analysis is well positioned to analyze the performativity of all spatial representations. This section addresses different assumptions of time and space by illustrating, through empirical examples, how opposed (dynamic or static) representations of space performed change in construction management practices. The third paper of this dissertation addresses the topic of how values pragmatically justify spaces under construction. Coordination practices and conventions in construction management involve the skillful trade-off process of testing and compromising, with a retrospective reasoning on the sacrifices incurred to grasp how costs could have been (and could still be) avoided. By analysing the composition of values through a new methodology that traces in various data sources the abstract and pragmatic construct of what could have been, the study contributes a processual interpretation of the economies of worth (EW) framework (Boltanski & Thévenot, 2006/1987). Challenging the equilibrium assumptions of sacrifice underlying the value-based action framings of the EW, the core organizational and managerial sacrifice of compromising extends the model’s horizon of critique and uncertainty. I review the growing organizational literature on EW compromises. The analyzed interplay of tests and compromises in everyday building site controversies shows how coordination conventions act together and relationally over time, across different situations, shaping the actors’ critical awareness of the possibilities unduly left behind. Keywords: space, time, process, representation, coordination, economies of worth, compromise v vi To Manuela and Emiliana Gillian vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I know this is the place of any thesis that gets read the most. It is quite simply what you cannot forget, part of what I just could not leave behind. This work is the result of an intense intellectual and human journey that could never have taken place without my supervisor Jeanne Mengis. Over the years, her passion for time has definitely spoken to my interest in space in a complementary way. As our endless discussions keep going on, I appreciate that her patience has proven no less than prodigious. Jeanne’s tolerance of my ramblings and often purposeless digressions was simply beyond words, except perhaps just the two: thank you. I thank architects Claudia Scholz and Louise Brand Realini, and economists Prof. Rico Maggi and Dr. Marco Scagnolari of the Urban Relation research project. I learnt a lot from our interactions. I wish to thank a number of scholars from whom I greatly profited during my exchange year in Paris: these include Laurent Thévenot and Luc Boltanski, Laurence Créton-Cazanave, Laura Centemeri, Giovanni Matera, Olivier Coutard, Pascal Ughetto and Valérie November. I thank also all the great colleagues from my Institute: Alessandra and Simone, Marta and Ana, Antonella, Federica and Nicola, Roland, Lisa and Lakshmi, and all the rest of the crowd. Amongst IMCA professors, I owe special gratitude to Ivan Snehota and Francesco Lurati for their friendly support and reading advice (the former especially for suggesting authors like Harry G. Frankfurt and Arthur Koestler). From outside my institute, I thank Prof. Balbi for indulging my routine “off-duty Negroni-intake” (and verbose table football deadly challenges at Oops), and our friendly debates on literary fiction (leading notably to the discovery of Berto’s novel Il Male Oscuro). I cannot omit a mention to colleagues and friends of other faculties and institutes like Gloria, Marta, Chiara and Elena, Enrico the Milanese and Claudio (gcp), Paolo and Philip, Eleonora and Colin. I thank all of my informants from the city council and general contractor, all the architects, engineers, lawyers, politicians and construction professionals that greatly helped my ethnographical effort. A colleague that deserves special thanks is a friend so close to me, to have been dubbed (very inappropriately) “my husband”. Yes, that would be loud GIGI. Thanks, pal. Finally, thanks to all of “my women”. My mother and sister provided innumerous services, assistance and affectionate support connected with this work. My mother-in-law has to be thanked for many reasons, but particularly for a lucky closer participant observation of the Casino of Lugano, a space I had more theorized about than actively practiced until lately. Last but by no means least, thanks to my wife Manuela, who endured over these PhD years many sacrifices as I have been perhaps unduly married to ethnographical fieldwork, and engaged in untimely readings, writings and largely unjustified anxieties. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS I. ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... v II. PRELUDE................................................................................................................... xiii III. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... xviii 1. PAPER 1 In search of lost space: The process of space planning through remembering and history ....... 1 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Lefebvre’s Spatial Triad and its Translation in Organization Studies ................................. 3 1.3 The Temporality of Space in Lefebvre: The Role of Remembering ................................... 5 1.5 Findings.............................................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • The Role and Position of Information Technology in Strategic Buyer-Supplier Relationships
    THE ROLE AND POSITION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN STRATEGIC BUYER-SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS Competitive Paper Abstract One driver for the emergence of a network society comprises the exponential rise of the ubiquity and reach of information technology (IT) that enables effective value co-creation between organizations. Despite the importance of IT in inter-organizational relationships, the major part of the extant research has presented one sided and partial approaches to the topic. For this reason, the current article adopts a holistic qualitative case study approach in aiming to define how IT posits to the various elements of the strategic buyer-supplier relationship. This study provides a conceptual and empirical based analysis, defines the role and position of IT regarding the defined three layers of a relationship, and discusses the implications for theory and practice. The study prepare the ground for further qualitative and quantitative research in order to enhance a holistic understanding of IT in relation to the various structures and processes in organizational and inter-organizational contexts. Keywords: inter-organizational information systems, information technology, business relationships, business networks, qualitative case study 1 The role and position of information technology in strategic buyer-supplier relationships 1. INTRODUCTION The business operating environment has become increasingly complex over recent decades. Instead of single transactions, most inter-organizational exchanges are enacted within inter-organizational relationships, nets and networks (e.g., Coviello et al., 2002; Möller & Rajala, 2007; Powell, 1990). Companies are embedded in these complex and dynamic constellations that steer resource integration and value creation activities, and thus have a fundamental impact on various levels of society as a whole (e.g., Castells, 1996).
    [Show full text]
  • Instructional Technology and Organization Development: a Still Valid Case for Collaboration
    Instructional Technology and Organization Development: A Still Valid Case for Collaboration Instructional Technology and Organization Development A Still Valid Case for Collaboration by Frederick W. Nickols and Raymond L. Forbes, Jr., Ph.D. © Fred Nickols & Ray Forbes 2001 All rights reserved 1 Instructional Technology and Organization Development: A Still Valid Case for Collaboration Foreword Back in the early 1970s, the authors were part of a small team of Navy men that was presented with a major challenge by the leadership of the human resources management consulting organization where we both were stationed. We were much younger then and far less wise in the ways and wiles of organizations. One of us was a dyed-in-the-wool instructional technologist and the other was a self-declared “humanistic psychologist” with a Ph.D. in leadership and human behavior. Both of us were well-trained internal organization development (OD) specialists. The stakes were high; some thought the future of our consulting organization depended on meeting the challenge, which was described to us as urgent, important and more than a little risky. Indeed, the senior officers presenting the challenge did so with all the gravity of a high-stakes wartime mission. The charge was to create and then test the operational feasibility of a short-term, high impact, “canned” change program, one that would be flexible, tactically oriented and focused on organizational improvement. The program was to be “exportable” and usable with any type of Navy unit with equal effect. This “holy grail” of the Navy’s Human Resource Management Program (HRMP) had never before been realized and was a desperately wished for capability on the part of the Human Resource Management Center (HRMC) in San Diego, California, where the authors were stationed, and on the part of the program headquarters organization at the Navy Department in Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]
  • Sociomaterial Features of Interorganizational Workplaces. Affordances of a Coworking Space
    XXVIe Conférence Internationale de Management Stratégique Sociomaterial features of interorganizational workplaces. Affordances of a coworking space Julie FABBRI emlyon business school & i3-CRG Ecole polytechnique, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay [email protected] Florence CHARUE-DUBOC i3-CRG, Ecole polytechnique, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay [email protected] Paper under review. Please do not cite without authors’ permissions. Résumé : Our theoretical concern centers upon the way workplaces afford the development of business relationships in an interorganizational work environment. We adopt a sociomaterial perspective of a coworking space to better understand new organizational contexts of work. In a case study, we elaborate on Fayard and Weeks’ concept of affordance (2007) at two levels: place and space. We identify six affordances that are rooted in social and spatial properties of some bounded places and of the coworking space as a whole that may support interorganizational interactions on a regular basis. We highlight the importance of taking into account the temporal dimension in the affordance approach. We conclude on the role of the management team that operates the coworking space in nurturing these affordances. Mots-clés : coworking; affordance; proxemics; space; place; interorganizational 1 Lyon, 7-9 juin 2017 XXVIe Conférence Internationale de Management Stratégique Sociomaterial features of interorganizational workplaces. Affordances of a coworking space The literature on spatiality in organizations (Dale & Burrell, 2008; Hernes, 2004; Kornberger & Clegg, 2004; Warf & Arias, 2009) has grown significantly in the last 15 years in management and organization studies (MOS), to the point where researchers are speaking of a spatial turn in MOS. It is unanimously recognized then that the material and social dimensions of organizational spaces are mutually constituted and experienced within a work context.
    [Show full text]
  • Space Utilization Optimization
    Space Utilization Optimization An Esri® White Paper June 2009 Copyright © 2012 Esri All rights reserved. Source: NASA. Portions of this work have been obtained from public domain sources and are freely redistributable. Printed in the United States of America. The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of Esri. This work is protected under United States copyright law and other international copyright treaties and conventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by Esri. All requests should be sent to Attention: Contracts and Legal Services Manager, Esri, 380 New York Street, Redlands, CA 92373-8100 USA. The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners. J-9780 Space Utilization Optimization An Esri White Paper Contents Page Overview............................................................................................... 1 Background........................................................................................... 1 Building Interior Data..........................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Examination of Relation Between Organizational Space and Organizational Patronage
    International Journal of Security, Privacy and Trust Management (IJSPTM) Vol 3, No 2, April 2014 The Examination of Relation Between Organizational Space and Organizational Patronage Fariba Azizzadeh Islamic Azad University, Department of Management, Science and Research Branch, Isfahan, Iran ABSTRACT The organizational space defines what the method of work is and that which kind of behaviors are supported. The target of this examination is to knowing of the existence of relation between organizational spaces (structure of organizational, organizational responsibility, Productivity of managers, organizational identity) and the organizational patronage of the leaders in administrations of West Azerbaijan. Generally 150 episodes of standard questioning in statistical society were done and 100 questioning for scrutiny hypothesis were done. According to the normal data of Pearson’s coefficient to identify of the kind of the quantity of relations between shifty was used. The result of this examination shows a direct relation between organizational responsibility, manager’s productivity and organizational identity with organizational patronage. But there is not any relation between organizational structure dimension and organizational patronage. So it is suggested to do important activities in order to improve the organizational patronage by using efficient organization. KEYWORDS Organizational Space, Organizational Structure, Organizational Responsibility, Organizational Identity, Organizational Patronage. 1. INTRODUCTION Today's world is human's world and humans are the trustees of deferent offices. Organizations and to conduct them is not be possible without humans. On the other hand our lives need to contribution of all of people. So we should divide duties, different skills and to improve the quality and quantity of them. Organization space is the collection of countable navigation.
    [Show full text]
  • Age-Generations in the Workplace: an Organization System Type and Space Use Preference Systems Analysis
    AGE-GENERATIONS IN THE WORKPLACE: AN ORGANIZATION SYSTEM TYPE AND SPACE USE PREFERENCE SYSTEMS ANALYSIS _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by BEVERLY A. COBERLY Dr. Ronald Phillips, Dissertation Supervisor July 2017 © Copyright by Beverly Coberly June 2017 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, have examined the thesis entitled AGE-GENERATIONS IN THE WORKPLACE: AN ORGANIZATION SYSTEM TYPE AND SPACE USE PREFERENCE SYSTEMS ANALYSIS Presented by Beverly A. Coberly A candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy And hereby certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. _______________________________ Ronald Phillips, ArchD _______________________________ Thomas Henderson, PhD _______________________________ Stephen Jeanetta, PhD _______________________________ Deanna L. Sharpe, PhD _______________________________ Ruth (Brent) Tofle, PhD DEDICATION Doran, thank you for your unwavering support, encouragement and love. It’s been a journey to get to this point with this dreamed about degree. You have been supportive every step of the way and I thank you. I will always appreciate your love, friendship and for being the wonderful husband and father that you are. Jared, Emily, Jeff, Eve, Jena, Alijah, Jacob, Savanna, Benjamin, Wyatt and Christopher, (my children and grandchildren) I thank you for your unconditional love and for believing that Mom and Grandma could really do this at this point in my life. Thank you to my extended family at home and in Extension and at eXtension for your encouragement. There have been many people who have encouraged me on this journey, but specifically four supervisors have given me time or great encouragement to continue.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Overcoming Dichotomies Through Space: the Contribution of Dialectical Materialism to Organization Studies
    Organizações & Sociedade ISSN: 1413-585X [email protected] Universidade Federal da Bahia Brasil Lacerda, Daniel S. Overcoming dichotomies through space: the contribution of dialectical materialism to organization studies Organizações & Sociedade, vol. 22, núm. 73, abril-junio, 2015, pp. 223-235 Universidade Federal da Bahia Salvador, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=400638363003 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative DOI: 10.1590/1984-9230732 OVERCOMING DICHOTOMIES THROUGH SPACE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM TO ORGANIZATION STUDIES SUPERANDO DICOTOMIAS ATRAVÉS DO ESPAÇO: A CONTRIBUIÇÃO DO MATERIALISMO DIALÉTICO AOS ESTUDOS ORGANIZACIONAIS Daniel S. Lacerda* Abstract ne of the most debated choices in every social research design is the adoption of either a realist (objective) or an idealist (subjective) worldview of sociological problems. As argued in this paper, this dichotomy can be bridged by the dialectical approach of historical space production according to Marxist traditionsO in human geography. Therefore, this paper explores the philosophical grounds of this debate and previous attempts to conciliate the dichotomy and finally proposes a rejection of this dichotomy by adopting the categories of ‘space’ and ‘time’ as central in organizational analysis. Space is a historical production of social relations, and the same relations are defined in terms of their surrounding space. Thus, organization studies can benefit from a spatial view of organizations to overcome epistemological constraints by interpreting organizations as historically produced and producers of their spatial context.
    [Show full text]
  • Management Accounting and Supply Chain Strategy
    Management Accounting and Supply Chain Strategy Hald, Kim Sundtoft; Thrane, Sof Document Version Final published version Publication date: 2015 License CC BY-NC-ND Citation for published version (APA): Hald, K. S., & Thrane, S. (2015). Management Accounting and Supply Chain Strategy. Paper presented at 1st International Competitiveness Management Conference, Frederiksberg, Denmark. Link to publication in CBS Research Portal General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us ([email protected]) providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 Management Accounting and Supply Chain Strategy Kim S. Hald and Sof Thrane Copenhagen Business School Department of Operations Management [email protected], [email protected] Abstract Research positioned in the intersection between management accounting and supply chain management is increasing. However, the relationship between management accounting and supply chain strategies has been neglected in extant research. This research adds to literature on management accounting and supply chain management through exploring how supply chain strategy and management accounting is related, and how supply chain relationship structure modifies this relation. Building on a contingency theoretical lens as well as literature within management accounting and supply chain management, a research model is developed. The research model highlights two basic forms of fit.
    [Show full text]
  • Organisational Space And
    Organisational Space and Multi-locational Workers: A case study of the Forum Building at the University of Exeter Submitted by Polina Nikolaou to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Studies In April 2015 I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Page 1 of 293 Abstract As businesses are becoming increasingly aware of their ever changing market environments; constraints and opportunities arise which result in organisations evolving and re-structuring accordingly. Therefore, their organisational spaces are evolving to follow suit. A theoretical shift has occurred in OT, from considerations of space as an ‘organisation’ to ‘organising’ viewing space as processual which involves an understanding of space as something which is continually produced and re-produced through social relations (Dale & Burrell, 2008). While in the past organisational space often referred to the interior space of an organisation, consideration of recent literature demonstrates that organisational space is not limited to the internal, but also includes the external space of an organisational building. The key points of the literature review are centred on the users in the space, as well as the materialisation of power through spatial design and space as an experience.
    [Show full text]
  • Your Place Or Mine? Organizational Identification and Comfort As Mediators of Relationships Between the Managerial Control of Wo
    British Journal of Management, Vol. 21, 717–735 (2010) DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2009.00683.x Your Place or Mine? Organizational Identification and Comfort as Mediators of Relationships Between the Managerial Control of Workspace and Employees’ Satisfaction and Well-being Craig Knight and S. Alexander Haslam School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK Email: [email protected]; [email protected] A large body of management and design literature argues that organizational outcomes can be enhanced either by strict managerial control or by managerial enrichment of office space. An alternative model, derived from the social identity approach to organizational life, argues that because they fail to empower workers both strategies are likely to compromise employees’ organizational identification and should therefore be associated with sub-optimal workplace experiences. Two studies (n 5 288, 1643) were conducted to compare these models. Both indicated that managerial control of space was associated with feelings of physical and psychological discomfort in the office and with lower levels of organizational identification. Discomfort and identification were also found to mediate relationships between managerial control and job satisfaction and well-being. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Organizational research has examined many of tional outcomes (in particular, satisfaction and the social and personal issues that impact upon well-being). people’s working lives (e.g. Mayo, 1933; Organ, 1988; Schein, 1990). Yet despite being central to several classic studies in the first half of the Dominant approaches to space management and last century (e.g. Roethlisberger and Dickson, design 1939), and being a prominent feature of people’s working lives (Vischer, 2005; Zeisel, 2006), the We can begin by examining the question what is question of how office space should be designed meant by the term management.
    [Show full text]
  • Belred Arts District Project Belred Arts
    FULL REPORT BELREDBELRED ARTSARTS DISTRICTDISTRICT PROJECTPROJECT Nails, by Christian Moeller 4Culture Creative Consultancies Collaborative Project between the City of Bellevue and Katie Miller 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 120th Lightrail Station construction Pacific Norwest Ballet Francia Russell Center Introduction The BelRed Arts District was first designated as an Arts Village as part of the 2009 BelRed Land Use Code Update that transformed the vision for BelRed from a light- industrial and commercial area into a mixed-use dense urban district. The original Even though a large designation was a point on a map near 136th Ave NE and Spring Boulevard that portion of Bellevue’s represented the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Francia Russell Center’s original location, arts activity occurs which has since relocated next door. Currently, BelRed has a wide array of arts organizations, businesses, artists, and makers working across the district, although in BelRed, the arts more are congregated in the areas adjacent to and within a few blocks of the future lack the visibility 130th Light Rail Station at 130th Ave NE and NE Spring Boulevard. Even though a large portion of Bellevue’s arts activity occurs in BelRed, the arts lack the visibility that would work to that would work to define it as an Arts District in the broader community and even define it as an Arts within some of the artists and organizations working in the area. District... Following BelRed’s designation as an Arts Village and now more commonly referred to as an Arts District, the City has done little to cement the Arts District in the community.
    [Show full text]
  • Lean Strategy Applied in the Organizational Change Process Management
    LEAN STRATEGY APPLIED IN THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PROCESS MANAGEMENT Elena DOVAL1 Abstract: In terms of a complex and volatile external environment, generally characterized by speed in innovation of technology and products, and by increasing market competition, the clients and customers’ demands grow continuously, which require changes in the organizations. Nevertheless, these changes are designed to maintain or increase the performance of the organizations. Besides, the changes that have proven to be successful used the lean concept, developed by Toyota since 1990. In this context, the paper is aiming to present a brief review of the basic concepts on change management and lean management as the foundation stone for a lean strategy model design. Finally, a model of the lean strategy for the managers of any organization is proposed. Keywords: change management, change process, lean, lean management, lean strategy JEL Classification: D02, D03, L15, L21, L22, L25, M21, O21 1. Introduction The speed of new technologies applied in production is in the pace with the more and more sophisticated desire of the clients and customers, who are requiring better quality and cheaper products and the just-in-time delivery of the products. The change process involves a lot of challenges and its goal is usually to improve the activities‘ results (effectiveness or efficiency). In this respect, the first action a manager is willing to apply is the cutting the costs of the auxiliary and administrative activities or through downsizing. But, nevertheless this options are leading mostly to the decreasing in the quality, the employees fear for not loosing their jobs and the customers‘ dissatisfaction.
    [Show full text]