The impacts of lean production on the complexity of socio-technical systems

Although lean production (LP) is widely deemed as a means for influencing the complexity of socio-technical systems, empirical evaluations of this impact have not adopted an explicit complexity theory perspective, nor have they accounted for the multidimensional nature of complexity. This paper presents an investigation of the lean impacts on attributes of complex socio-technical systems (CSS) from several sectors. The assessment was based on a survey with 326 respondents. LP impacts on five bundles of complexity attributes were evaluated, namely: number of elements; interactions; diversity; unexpected variability; and resilience. The analyzed systems were firstly classified into manufacturing and services. Then, a cluster analysis divided each group into high and low lean adopters, based on their adherence to lean principles. Next, ANOVA tests were performed to check for differences in the intensity of complexity attributes between high and low lean adopters. Results indicated that LP in CSS tends to: (i) reduce the number of employees; (ii) reduce diversity of behaviors and beliefs; (iii) reduce disruptions due to information and human-related problems; (iv) increase richness and frequency of interactions; (v) increase functional diversity of elements; and (vi) increase resilience. While impacts (i), (ii) and (iii) reduce complexity, the others imply in its increase, suggesting that LP can be an effective way of balancing complexity attributes. Also, the framework for data analysis can be used for assessing lean impacts on the structure and functioning of socio-technical systems of different natures, thus supporting the understanding of lean systems from a complexity perspective.