Flexible Management, Subjectivity, and Paradoxical Work Experiences: The Case of Lean Management in Chilean Retail.

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a study that seeks to explore how im plementing Lean Management, a widely used form of flexible management, influences employees' subjective experiences at work. The study focuses on the changes and innovations by Lean Management in the technical and social aspects of work after its introduction in the Chilean retail industry. The study, which is both descriptive and analytical, is based on 26 interviews with industry consultants, managers, department heads, and union leaders. Using a work-clinic and socio-phenomenological framework, it illustrates how the industry's unique characteristics play a crucial role in understanding the process of work reorganization and the paradoxical realms of subjective experience it has created. The article also discusses how these contradictions are influenced by the broader social, labor, and business context of neoliberal modernization in Chilean society.