Research on the impact of human capital on the lean production implementation

Abstract

The study is devoted to the actual problem of using new resources for human capital growth, particularly the implementation of Lean. The study aims to identify the dependence of the implementation results at Russian enterprises on the level of human capital development and other factors. The subject of the study is the dependence of the results of Lean implementation on the main groups of aggregated indicators characterising the production system. The primary research methods used written surveys of experts and regression analysis of survey results. The dependence of the results of the implementation of lean production (R) on the aggregated indicators of human capital (H), corporate culture (C) and the Lean implementation process (P) is investigated. The dependences of the results of lean production on the corresponding optimal predictors have relatively high coefficients of determination: R(H) = 0.69; R(C) = 0.78 and R(P) = 0.80 for regression models in the form of 4th-degree polynomials. The indicators that have the most significant impact on the results of Lean implementation have been identified. For the predictor of human capital, this is staff educational level (weight – 0.29), staff willingness to study (0.25), the satisfaction of age characteristics (0.24) and discipline (0.22); for the predictor of corporate culture the culture of cooperation (0.35), the culture of appearance (0.24), work according to the rules (0.24); for the Lean implementation process consolidation of the changes made (0.83). For the generalised optimal predictor, the dominant factors are the consolidation of the changes made (0.79), the speed of changes implementation (0.11) and the willingness of staff to learn (0.10). All surveyed organisations are divided into three clusters according to the dependence of Lean implementation results on the generalised aggregated predictor. The share of companies that have most successfully implemented Lean is 26%, the average rating of their success on a five-point scale is 3.8. The study results can be used in developing lean production implementation programs at enterprises and in strategic planning to increase the efficiency of human capital.