Background: Since the coining of the phrase lean production by Womack, Jones and Roos in 1990, this mass production system of Japanese origin has been implemented in a multitude of organizations throughout the world, the results being predominantly positive from a financial point of view. The possibly negative effects of mass production on worker motivation have been discussed since quality of work life became an important political issue in Sweden in the 1970’s. As the popularity of lean service is now increasing, there are still unresolved issues regarding the transferability of a mass production system to the service industry, particularly with regards to the motivation of service employees. Purpose: The purpose of our thesis is to study the lean system of a Swedish bank, SEB Way, from a management- as well as an employee perspective in order to describe how lean may affect the work motivation of service employees. Research procedure: The study is empirically based on observations and interviews on multiple hierarchical levels at SEB. We have conducted a total of 13 interviews with front line employees at SEB, with the central SEB Way team as well as two external lean specialists. Results: The study indicates that SEB Way has little direct influence on the intrinsic work motivation of the SEB front line employees, as work motivation was present prior to the implementation of lean. However, there are some areas of indirect overlaps between SEB Way and employee motivation, mainly in terms of tools which encourage improved employee performance. This is in line with the short-term result orientation which characterizes SEB’s organizational culture. Furthermore, the study indicates that lean production may possibly exert more extensive direct influence on employee motivation than SEB Way.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-57885 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Eriksson, Emelie, Stockman, Malin |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0025 seconds