Traditional Value Stream Mapping (VSM) effectively visualizes operational waste but offers limited support for explaining how interdependent inefficiencies reinforce one another and for sequencing improvement actions when multiple wastes co-occur. To address this diagnostic gap, this study develops a structural diagnostic and prioritization artifact that complements VSM by integrating Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and Fuzzy MICMAC into its workflow, enabling the structural analysis of interdependent wastes and supporting prioritization under uncertainty. The artifact was developed and refined through Design Science Research (DSR), then instantiated and evaluated at a Brazilian pharmaceutical distribution center. ISM produced a hierarchical ordering of ten waste mechanisms identified through VSM, while Fuzzy MICMAC classified them into driving, linkage, and dependent roles. These findings were consolidated into a three-step intervention roadmap that incorporates short-term operational feasibility into the sequencing logic. Theoretically, the study extends VSM with a structural reasoning layer that operationalizes causal prioritization without altering its descriptive premise, advancing Lean diagnosis from performance-based prioritization toward systemically grounded prioritization based on influence-dependence relationships. Practically, the artifact offers managers a structured procedure for distinguishing foundational drivers of inefficiency from linkage and dependent manifestations, supporting more transparent and defensible sequencing of improvement actions.
This paper examines the leadership approach of a Shingo exemplar leader, focusing on principles and practices that address contemporary organizational challenges and the evolving expectations of Generation Z. Using a qualitative multi-method design, the study integrates interviews, surveys, participant observation, and narrative analysis to explore both verbal and nonverbal leadership behaviors. Triangulation strengthens reliability, while non-parametric analysis and descriptive statistics support interpretation. Findings suggest that traditional, tool-focused Lean models are insufficient for long-term organizational sustainability, as they often overlook the human and psychological foundations of performance. The study emphasizes the importance of language, nonverbal communication, and micro-behaviors in shaping leadership effectiveness. It further demonstrates how integrating psychological constructs - such as proactive personality, growth mindset, outward mindset, intrinsic motivation, learned optimism, and meaning - enables a more holistic, human-centered approach to operational excellence. This perspective aligns closely with the Shingo Model and resonates strongly with Generation Z's emphasis on purpose, development, and meaningful work. The originality of the research lies in its interdisciplinary integration of storytelling with insights from psychology, neuroscience, and sociology, contributing to a mid-range theory that explains how leadership behaviors and psychological factors enhance the sustainable impact of Lean in engaging the emerging workforce.
Sustaining a quality advantage while continuously innovating remains a central challenge for organizations operating in turbulent environments. This study advances the literature through a meta-analysis of 82 effect sizes drawn from 47 independent studies (N = 20,589) examining the relationship between leadership for quality (LfQ) and innovation. The findings reveal a strong, positive association between LfQ and all types of innovation, with particularly pronounced associations for administrative and green innovation. Moreover, LfQ is positively associated with both incremental and radical innovation, as well as with innovation capabilities and innovation performance. Meta-regression analysis further demonstrates that national cultural dimensions systematically moderate the LfQ-innovation relationship: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation strengthen this relationship, whereas individualism weakens it. Collectively, the results position LfQ as a critical organizational capability for reconciling exploitation and exploration, highlighting a culturally contingent pathway through which quality management fosters innovation.
The research focuses on the role of perceived organizational support in workers' green innovative behavior in Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and explains the roles of green self-efficacy and green transformational leadership in this behavior. The article contributes to the green innovation literature by focusing on SMEs, an area under-researched despite their growing significance for sustainable development. Data were collected from 394 employees working in Chinese SMEs using a structured survey, with participants selected using purposive sampling. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed relationships, and importance-performance analysis was conducted to provide additional managerial information. The results reveal that perceived organizational support directly facilitates green innovative behavior and enhances the self-efficacy of employees to be green. Green self-efficacy, in turn, significantly promotes green innovative behavior and partially mediates the influence of perceived organizational support. Besides, green transformational leadership supports the beneficial impact of green self-efficacy on green innovative behavior. These findings demonstrate that green innovation in the workplace is fostered when supportive organizations, confident employees, and environmentally oriented leaders collaborate to advance it. The research expands knowledge of employee-based green innovation among SMEs and provides managerial advice on enhancing sustainable innovation through supportive practices and leadership development.
Recognizing knowledge management (KM) culture as a critical enabler of competitive sustainability, this study examines how different dimensions of KM culture shape an organization's competence in using standards, and how this competence, in turn, drives the organization's experience with standards and ultimately its intensity of using standards. To assess these relationships, we proposed and validated the conceptual model on a sample of 845 European owners, managers, and employees involved in or responsible for standardization in their organizations using structural equation modelling (SEM). Drawing upon the resource-based view and the dynamic capability view theories, our study suggests that using standards might be seen as an organizational capability. Our study contributes to the KM theory by showing that the KM culture shapes how organizations move beyond viewing standards as externally embedded technical tools towards internally embedded organizational capabilities. These findings suggest that owners and managers of European companies fostering a collaborative KM culture are more likely to develop both competence and experience in using standards. Accordingly, policymakers should consider raising awareness among beneficiaries of support programs about the strategic importance of cultivating a collaborative organizational KM culture.
