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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for successful implementation of Operational Excellence (OE) by the organisations in the Sudanese aviation industry, as well as to determine the resulted impacts in the improved organisational performance and competitive advantage, and to quantify the benefits. Design/methodology/approach: The Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of OE were provided and dissected to reveal its integrated components and their importance levels. These factors include leadership, people management, continuous improvement, operational strategy, and asset optimisation. Also, the impacts (outcomes) further categorised in the four financial results, quality of products or services, efficiency, and satisfaction groups were presented, while the weight of each outcome was highlighted. Findings: With the OE's conceptual framework, the critical success factors to achieve OE were identified. Hence, from the five main factors, the expert panel members suggested the leadership factor to be the most important to achieve OE in the Sudanese aviation industry. Ranking of the five critical success factors and the forty sub factors provided a better understanding of the Sudan situation, specifically concerning the effective implementation of OE philosophy. Research limitations/implications: The findings of the sub-factors reported in this study were not enough. As a result, the future studies must focus on the detailed descriptions of sub-factors that are related to each of the critical factor identified. Practical implications: Efficiency in the organisations is generated and enhanced when the organisations become efficient in reducing the waste of time, raw materials, unnecessary processing, in addition to the energy used in transportation, storing, and operating plant. Besides, the state of effectiveness is achieved when the organisation achieves its long-term goals through increased customer satisfaction and is able to prove its reason for being. OE is critical as it assures both the efficiency and effectiveness of organisations. Originality/value: The past research activities have relatively over-emphasised in the unilateral \"result-driven\" perspective of OE that corresponds with the limited concern for enablers, the critical forms and focus of OE. Thus, this issue is a shortcoming that this paper attempts to address.

PurposeLean remains popular in a wide range of private and public sectors and continues to attract a significant amount of research. However, most of this research is not grounded in theory. This paper presents and discusses different expert viewpoints on the role of theory in lean research and practice and provides guidelines for future research.Design/methodology/approachSeven experienced lean authors independently provide their views to the question “is Lean a theory?” before Rachna Shah summarizes the viewpoints and provides a holistic outlook for lean research.FindingsAuthors agree, disagree and sometimes agree to disagree. However, a close look reveals agreement on several key points. The paper concludes that Lean is not a theory but has plenty of theoretical underpinnings. Many lean-related theories provide promising opportunities for future research.Originality/valueAs researchers, we are asked to justify our research drawing on “theory,” but what does that mean for a practice-driven phenomenon such as lean? This paper provides answers and directions for future research.

Purpose: Knowledge work productivity is a key area of improvement for many organizations. Lean approach is a sustainable way to achieve operational excellence and can be applied in many areas. The purpose of this novel study is to examine the potential of using lean approach for improving knowledge work practices. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review has been carried out to study how lean approach is realized in knowledge work. The research is conceptual in nature and draws upon earlier research findings. Findings: This study shows that lean studies’ in knowledge work is an emerging research area. This study documents the methods and practices implemented in knowledge work to date, and presents a knowledge work continuum, which is an essential framework for effective lean approach deployment and to frame future research focus in knowledge work productivity. Research limitations/implications: This study structures the concept of knowledge work and outlines a concrete concept derived from earlier literature. The study summarizes the literature on lean in knowledge work and highlights, which methods are used. More research is needed to understand how lean can be implemented in complex knowledge work environment and not only on the repetitive knowledge work. The limitations of this research are due to the limited availability of previous research. Practical implications: To analyze the nature of knowledge work, we implicate the areas where lean methods especially apply to improving knowledge work productivity. When applying lean in knowledge work context the focus should be using the people better and improving information flow. Originality/value: This study focuses on adapting lean methods into a knowledge work context and summarizes earlier research done in this field. The study discusses the potential to improve knowledge work productivity by implementing lean methods and presents a unique knowledge work continuum to frame previous research and give focus for future research.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences and perspectives of three practitioners from two continents on the subject of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) from both academic and industrial viewpoints. The authors of the paper have each been working on the topic of LSS over the past 15 years and have contributed over 150 journal and conference papers to the topics of lean and Six Sigma. Design/methodology/approach The approach is to synthesize the practical experiences and research conducted by three authorities on the topic of LSS. In addition, relevant secondary data have also been used in the sections where and when appropriate. Findings The authors initially present the history of LSS emphasizing the importance of integration of the two most effective process excellence methodologies over the past 30 years. The authors also report the current trends of LSS in organizations as well as the emerging future trends. They argue that LSS will continue to grow and evolve across the globe for several years. Practical implications The paper is intended to be equally useful to both academics and practitioners who are interested on the topic of LSS. From a pure practical standpoint, the paper provides an overview of the past, present and future trends of LSS as a powerful business strategy and problem-solving methodology for all industrial sectors, irrespective of their size and nature. The documentation of the history and recent developments in LSS should be useful to researchers in academia. Originality/value In authors’ best knowledge, there are no recent journal articles which cover all the three of these aspects; the past, the present and the future of LSS. This paper presents the above three aspects in a unique manner and addresses the gap between the current state and future directions of LSS.

PurposeThis article offers a novel approach that brings together management, engineering and organizational behavior. It focuses on the understanding of organizational dynamics in an era of technological change, upholding the importance of organizational agility and of the cultural paradigm in the management of organizations.Design/methodology/approachIn this work, the authors present the conclusions from a set of studies carried out in organizations operating in technical and technological industries. The authors assessed the capabilities of these organizations in terms of operational excellence maturity and its impact on the organizational culture and organizational agility.FindingsResults show the importance of operational excellence either in developing or expanding organizational agility capabilities while reinforcing the cruciality of an excellence-oriented culture to sustain these efforts over time.Originality/valueIncreasingly unstable business environments have led to a growing interest in how to develop and maintain operational excellence in the face of continued and disruptive change. However, this interest has, so far, been advanced with little empirical evidence to support the corresponding predictions. This work offers the first practical evidence that continued focus and optimization of operations, with the right cultural alignment, helps organizations survive and thrive in increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the potential of blockchain technology (BT) to support the operational excellence in perishable food supply chain (PFSC) during outbreaks, by doing use-case analysis.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review is performed to determine the dimensions of operational excellence in the food supply chain (FSC), then a single use-case analysis is conducted to explore the potential of blockchain in order to achieve operational excellence for PFSC during the pandemics by applying context, interventions, mechanism and outcomes (CIMO) logic.FindingsThe findings of this study reveal that blockchain capabilities such as immutability and transparency, visibility, traceability, integration and interoperability, disintermediation and decentralisation, smart contracts and consensus mechanism provide better sustainable operational excellence outcomes for PFSCs to be more responsive, flexible, efficient and collaborative to cope with the impacts of COVID-19.Research limitations/implicationsThis research employs only one real case with multiple PFSC participants. Statistical generalisation is not possible at this stage of the research. However, the findings are not restricted to this single use-case.Practical implicationsThis study provides a research direction to explore the potential of BT to achieve operational excellence in the PFSC during outbreaks and generates prescriptive knowledge for better managerial decision-making across the PFSC during outbreaks.Originality/valueThis research conducts semi-structured interviews with different participants in one blockchain ecosystem to understand multiple participants' perspectives of operational excellence within PFSC.

PurposeCollaboration is an important emerging dimension of sustainable supply chain management. How to improve supply chain collaboration (SCC) by means of operational excellence approaches has become an important research topic. The Internet of things (IoT), an important means of operational excellence, has also received increased attention. For better collaboration by the IoT, this study proposes a novel methodology to evaluate the measures of IoT adoption in SCC.Design/methodology/approachBased on the six-domain model and the common classification of collaboration, the measures of the IoT and the criteria of SCC are developed, respectively. A hybrid multi-step methodology that combines neutrosophic set theory, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technology for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) is proposed to complete the evaluation.FindingsThe results show that improving information transparency, strengthening the integration of management information systems and improving large data processing abilities are the most important measures of the IoT in improving SCC. Measures such as introducing sensing technology and laser scanning technology rank at the bottom and are relatively unimportant.Practical implicationsThe research results provide insights and references for firms to improve SCC by adopting appropriate IoT measures.Originality/valueMost of existing studies indicate the significance of technology in SCC. But this study shows a different conclusion that technologies rank the bottom, while information transparency is more important. And a suitable explanation is given. It further enriches the theoretical studies in SCC field.

PurposeThe study proposes to determine the impending challenges to lean integration with Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in manufacturing that aims at achieving desired operational performance. Integrating lean and Industry 4.0 as the two industrial approaches is synergetic in providing operational benefits such as increasing flexibility, improving productivity, reducing cost, reducing delivery time, improving quality and value stream mapping (VSM). There is an urgent need to understand the integrated potential of OPEX strategies like lean manufacturing and also to determine the challenges for manufacturing SMEs and further suggest a strategic roadmap for the future.Design/methodology/approachThe current work has used a combined approach on interpretative structural modeling (ISM) and fuzzy Matrice d'impacts croisés multiplication appliquée á un classment (MICMAC) approach to structure the multiple level analysis for the implementation challenges to integrate OPEX strategies with Industry 4.0.FindingsThe research has found that the indulgence of various implementation issues like lack of standardization, lack of vision and lack of trained support, all are the major challenges that inhibit the integration of OPEX strategies with I4.0 technologies in manufacturing.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has investigated the internal factors acting as a roadblock to lean and Industry 4.0 adoption. Further studies may consider external factors to lean and Industry 4.0 implementation. Also, further research may consider other operational excellence approaches and extend further to relevant sectors.Practical implicationsThis study provides the analysis of barriers that is useful for the managers to take strategic actions for implementing OPEX strategies with I4.0 in smart manufacturing.Originality/valueThe research determines the adoption challenges towards the integrated framework. This is the first study to explore challenges in integrating OPEX strategies with I4.0 technologies in manufacturing SMEs.

PurposeOperational excellence (OPEX) initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and Agile have some common characteristics that can be understood through their adoption in organizations. The objective of this research is to present the results of an online survey highlighting the most critical reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThis study presents the results of a survey from 106 experts from different countries who have been involved in OPEX implementation. The experts were Six Sigma Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Champions from different manufacturing and service organizations. The developed questionnaire was initially tested with the help of seven experts to ensure their technical validity and soundness.FindingsThe study found 15% of companies surveyed have not adopted any form of OPEX methodology. The top three reasons for non-adoption of OPEX were also found. In terms of the use of various OPEX methodologies, more than 75% of companies were employing Six Sigma and less than 50% were engaged in Lean initiatives. Another surprising result was that less than 5% of the companies were utilizing Kaizen and other continuous improvement methodologies for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes. The study further finds top five failure factors for sustaining OPEX initiatives in manufacturing, service, large and small organizations.Research limitations/implicationsThe study reports the outcomes based on an online survey with limited sample size. Moreover, the number of samples from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was less than 25, and therefore it was difficult to make any robust conclusions in the comparison of failure factors between large enterprises and SMEs.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study that has attempted to explore the reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives. The authors argue that a greater understanding of the reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives can provide an input to develop a framework that can mitigate the failures and costs associated with such failures.