Purpose – The purpose of the study is to Explore how the lean philosophy can affect the value flow of a manufacturing company’s goods receiving. To answer the purpose two research questions has been asked:1. Which lean tools or methods could be applied on a manufacturing company’s goods receiving?2. How can lean-orientated goods receiving lead to improved value flow?Method – To achieve the purpose a literature review and a case study has been conducted. The case study has had a deductive approach and used the both quantitative and qualitative data. The authors chose the data collection methods interviews, observations and document studies to collect empirical data which have then been analyzed against the theoretical framework with pattern matching to reach a result.Findings – The study has showed that Lean philosophy affects the value stream performance in various ways depending on which tools or approaches the managers have. The authors explored different Lean tools and methods both separately and combined and noticed that to gain as much as possible from Lean tools and methods are most effective when combined to an approach. Although some Lean tools in goods receiving affect the value flow in a positive matter some would probably not. Due to the uneven flow of incoming shipments JIT was not seen appropriate to implement unless shipments could be assured to arrive as planned, when needed and with correct amount of goods.Conclusions & recommendations – By the study findings the authors were able to base two conclusions:1. To take full advantage of Lean tools and methods in goods receiving, these are best to be bundled together to an approach that is in accordance with the Lean philosophy at the organization.2. Good and competent leadership in the Lean philosophy is crucial to ensure continuous improvements in the organization.3. A Lean philosophy adapted in goods receiving is likely to ensure stability and reliability across the value stream which makes improvements possible and might lead to improved value stream performance.Based on these conclusions the authors recommend that when implementing or working with Lean managers should practice participatory leadership to ensure the commitment of workers, to lead by example and to get the correct current state view. It is also recommended that when implementing Lean tools in to the goods receiving process the holistic view is of high importance.

Syfte – Syftet är att undersöka hur ledarskapet påverkar Leanarbetet. För att besvara detta syfte har två frågeställningar formulerats:   [1]    Vilka ledarskapsaspekter är viktiga för Leanarbetet?   [2]    Hur påverkar ledarskapsaspekterna Leanarbetet? Metod – För att uppnå syftet med studien har en litteraturgenomgång genomförts samt en fallstudie på tre producerande företag. Studien är deduktiv i sin vetenskapliga ansatts med såväl kvalitativ som kvantitativ metodansats. Fallstudien har bestått av enkätundersökningar och intervjuer och detta har resulterat i studiens empiri. Empirin har sedan jämförts och analyserats mot det teoretiska ramverket vilket har lett till studiens resultat. Resultat – Studien har visat att det finns 14 olika ledarskapsaspekter som påverkar Leanarbetes utgång. Sedan har 6 principer från Likers 14 principer valts ut utifrån studiens avgränsningar. Ledarskapsaspekterna som påverkar respektive princip har identifierats. Det går att urskilja att principerna med mest antal ledarskapsaspekter som påverkar har ett lägre medelvärde jämfört med principerna som har ett mindre antal ledarskapsaspekter som påverkar. Begränsningar – Studien har genomförts på ett komplext område där det finns många faktorer som spelar in. Detta gör att studiens resultat bör ses som en liten pusselbit i ett relativt okänt forskningsområde. Studien har genomförts i en svensk kontext där vissa aspekter premieras av kulturella orsaker. De kulturella orsakerna har inte ingått i denna studie, men ges som förslag som ett framtida forskningsområde. Rekommendationer – Studien ger rekommendationer baserat på studiens slutsatser: Utifrån första slutsatsen är rekommendationerna enligt följande: -          Ledarskapet måste tro på Lean och agera som ett föredöme. Detta för att det ska spegla av sig på medarbetarna och skapa en positiv inställning till Lean. -          Skapa en förståelse för hur företagets långsiktiga mål och Leanarbetet är integrerat. -          Använd Likers 14 principer som ett ramverk för att förstå och hantera Leanarbetet. Göra kontinuerliga utvärderingar utifrån detta ramverk. Utifrån andra slutsatsen är rekommendationerna enligt följande: -          Identifiera vilka ledarskapsaspekter som är viktiga för berörd organisation. Involvera medarbetarna för att skapa förståelse för vilka aspekter som är viktiga utifrån deras synvinkel. -          Skapa en standard/styrdokument för vad ledarskap innebär på företaget. -          Gör kontinuerliga uppföljningar av standarden och utbilda ledare i vad detta ledarskap innebär. Utifrån tredje slutsatsen är rekommendationerna enligt följande: -          Involvera och respektera medarbetarens tankar och åsikter i Leanarbetet. Detta för att utnyttja den viktigaste resursen inom företaget. -          Ge medarbetarna mandat till att påverka Leanarbetet och informera medarbetarna om vad det leder till. Ge till exempel en ”före och efter”-bild, vilka resultat det har lett till uttryckt i nyckeltal som medarbetaren i fråga kan relatera till och påverka. Nyckelord – Lean, Ledarskap, Ledarskapsaspekter, Likers 14 principer / Purpose – The purpose is to investigate how Leadership influences Lean work. To answer this purpose, two research questions have been formulated:   [1]    What leadership aspects are important for Lean work?   [2]    How does leadership affect Lean work? Method – To achieve the purpose of the study, a literature review has been conducted as well as a case study of three producing companies. The study is deductive in its scientific staff with qualitative and quantitative methodology. The case study consisted of questionnaires and interviews, and this has generated the empirical data. The empirical findings have been compared and analysed together with the theoretical framework which has led to the result of the study. Findings – The study has shown that there are 14 different leadership aspects that affect the outcome of Lean work. Then 6 principles from Liker's 14 principles have been selected based on the limitations of the study. Leadership aspects that affect their respective principles have been identified. It is possible to discern that the principles with the most number of leadership aspects that affect have a lower average value of the case companies compared to the principles that have a small number of leadership aspects that affect. Limitations – The study has been conducted in a complex area where there are many factors that capture. This means that the results of the study should be seen as a small puzzle piece in a relatively unknown field of research. The study has been conducted in a Swedish context where some aspects are premised for cultural reasons. The cultural reasons have not been included in this study, but are presented as proposals as a future research area. Recommendations – Based on the study’s conclusions a number of recommendations are made: Based on the first conclusion these recommendations are made: -          The leadership must believe in Lean and act as a role model to inspire and create a positive attitude towards Lean. -          Create an understanding of how the organisations long-term goals and the Lean work is integrated. -          Use Likers 14 principles of Lean as a framework to understand and handle Lean work. Do continuous evaluations based on this framework. Based on the second conclusion these recommendations are made: -          Identify which aspects of leadership are important for the affected organisation. Involve employees to create an understanding of which aspects are important from their point of view. -          Create a standard of what leadership means to the company. -          Do continuous follow-ups of the standard and educate leaders by it. Based on the third conclusion these recommendations are made: -          Involve and respect the employee’s thoughts and opinions to use the most valuable asset within the company. -          Give the employees mandate to affect the Lean work and inform them of what it leads to. Give information about the Lean work based on KPI and ratio-numbers which the employee understands. Keywords – Lean, Leadership, Leadership aspects, Likers 14 principles