Influence of National Culture on Lean Manufacturing Effectiveness: A Multi-Group Analysis

Although numerous studies have explored the technical aspects of lean manufacturing, few have specifically examined the impact of national culture on its effectiveness. Furthermore, the relationship between national culture and operational performance resulting from the practice of lean manufacturing is likely non-linear, leading to inconsistent findings in previous research. To address this gap, this study employs multi-group invariance analyses, which do not rely on strict assumptions of linearity, to investigate how lean manufacturing practices affect operational performance across groups with varying national cultural dimensions.
The author developed and tested seven models associated with five cultural dimensions, along with two control variables (type of ownership and enterprise size), using data from 271 global manufacturing plants located in Vietnam. The findings indicate that lean manufacturing is more effective in plants with the following characteristics: 1/ Small size: Smaller plants tend to benefit more from lean practices; 2/ Low power distance: Organizations valuing a flatter hierarchy and reduced power distance experience greater effectiveness; 3/ Low uncertainty avoidance: Cultures that embrace ambiguity and change are better suited for lean implementation; 4/ Feminine culture: Lean practices align well with cultures emphasizing collaboration, empathy, and work-life balance. These results partially support the practice-culture congruence perspective.
The dataset below includes processed information from the 271 global manufacturing plants in Vietnam, covering details such as type of ownership, industries of operation, average years of operation, number of employees, and the Cultural Values Scale (CVSCALE), which assesses Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions.

尽管众多研究探讨了精益生产的技术层面，但鲜有研究具体探讨民族文化对其有效性的影响。此外，民族文化与精益生产实践产生的运营绩效之间的关系可能呈非线性，导致先前研究中的发现不一致。为填补这一空白，本研究采用多组方差不变分析，该分析不依赖于严格的线性假设，以探究精益生产实践如何影响具有不同民族文化维度的群体的运营绩效。作者开发了七个与五个文化维度相关的模型，并使用来自越南271家全球制造工厂的数据，测试了两个控制变量（所有权类型和企业规模）。研究发现，精益生产在以下特征的工厂中更为有效：1/ 规模较小：较小的工厂更倾向于从精益实践中获益；2/ 权力距离较低：重视扁平化等级和降低权力距离的组织体验到了更高的有效性；3/ 不确定性规避较低：接纳模糊性和变革的文化更适合精益实施；4/ 女性化文化：精益实践与强调协作、同理心和平衡工作与生活的文化相契合。这些结果部分支持了实践-文化一致性观点。以下数据集包含了来自越南271家全球制造工厂的经过处理的信息，涵盖了所有者类型、运营行业、平均运营年限、员工数量以及文化价值观量表（CVSCALE），该量表评估了霍夫斯泰德五项文化维度。