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Introduction
Over the years, the body of knowledge on lean management has obtained several examples of evidence about the benefits of this approach for manufacturing (Stone, 2012). In the past decade, practitioners and academics have been implementing Lean outside manufacturing, achieving also excellent results. Lean higher education (Comm and Mathaisel, 2005), Lean HR (Higgins, 2007), Lean StartUp (Ries, 2011) and others are just examples of the Lean thinking possibilities. Moreover, there are still several sectors outside the Lean literature with potential to implement and develop Lean thinking.
The European Commission (EC) considers the personal and household services (PHS) as a strategic sector for the economy (Carbonnier, 2015; European Commission, 2012; European Commission, 1993). Underemployment, social inclusion and job potential are frequent topics on the PHS agenda. Lately, the agenda includes productivity and quality as a tool to improve the sector’s image and price reduction (Lebrun, 2017). The process improvement methodology of Lean management enhances both productivity and quality (Womack and Jones, 1996). Therefore, this paper aims to propose Lean thinking as a specific methodology to improve productivity and quality of the PHS sector. Specifically, the research targets home services (HS). This includes electricians, plumbers, painters, housework, gardening, small repair work and other services for households. The research follows three objectives. First, it aims to determine the leanness level (Lean index – LI) of the HS sector. Then, it compares LI of the HS sector and the automotive suppliers (AS) sector. Finally, the research findings provide information about the possibilities to introduce Lean management in the HS sector.
Czech Republic is technically advanced and the fastest growing economy in the EU (CZSO, 2017). The distribution of gross domestic product (GDP) across economic sectors in Czech Republic shows industry as the highest share of GDP within the EU countries. The automobile industry in the Czech Republic has the largest exports of the country (Growth Lab, 2017). There are well-known worldwide automobile manufactures with several operations in the country. This evidences Czech Republic as an important part of the automobile sector in the world. The HS sector is also an important part of the Czech economy. It provides the economy with other source of employment but still needs further development (RILSA, 2013).
This research contributes with the dissemination...