Abstract—There is considerable evidence of the difficulties companies faced their effort to adopt the lean production system. Various studies have identified various causes of these barriers in the adoption of the lean production system. This article presents Szulanski’s notion of stickiness of knowledge as a framework in understanding these barriers. It is argued that the adoption of the lean production system is an exercise in knowledge transfer. Various variables create stickiness that impedes this knowledge transfer. This paper presents various forms of stickiness that may be impeding success in lean production system initiatives.

Index Terms—lean production system, stickiness of knowledge, change management, leadership, Toyota production system, TQM

Cite: Rozhan Othman, "Barriers to Adoption of the Lean Production System," Journal of Advanced Management Science, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 77-81, January 2016. doi: 10.12720/joams.4.1.77-81