An empirical examination of lean production, agile production and supply chain collaboration on manufacturing sustainability in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The contemporary constantly changing environment is a significant challenge that affects all organisations including manufacturing firms while implementing concepts underpinning a drive for sustainability, with government regulations, customer demands and supplier issues impacting these firms. Literature on sustainability performance has suggested that the combined influence of lean manufacturing and agile manufacturing can help organisations to overcome those challenges, yet this relationship has received little empirical attention to date. Furthermore, the extant literature has suggested that supply chain collaboration (SCC) at the customer and supplier level can affect sustainability performance in general in firms including those that have adopted lean production or agile production or both. Likewise, however, little empirical attention has been applied to date. A major area of concern in this context is the importance of the implementation of economic, environmental and social sustainability factors in firms and the complications that could arise while doing so. This research thus examines the complex situation created in manufacturing firms that adopt lean production and agile production, and how SCC intervenes. The nature and extent of the combined influence of lean production and agile production on sustainability performance were investigated alongside the impact of SCC as an intervention. Lean production and agile production were conceived as independent variables in a single model influencing economic, environmental and social sustainability performance factors as individually distinct constracuts and directly. SCC was conceived as a moderating variable to ascertain the extent of its effect on the direct individual relationship posited between lean production and agile production respectively and the three sustainability performance factors respectively. The research was conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Medium and large enterprises were chosen for study. A survey instrument was developed and administered online. A total of 700 manufacturers were identified to whom the survey instrument was sent in the form of a weblink, and 181valid responses were received. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the hypothesised relationships in the theoretical model. The findings revealed that lean production and agile production in combination cannot influence the individual sustainability performance factors in a single model. Lean production dominated and influenced the three sustainability performance factors positively while agile production only acted as the covariant when the two production methods were used in combination. However, both lean production and agile production were found to individually and independently influence the three sustainability factors. SCC not only moderated the relationship between lean production and economic sustainability performance factors positively but moderated all the three relationships between agile production and the three sustainability performance factors negatively. This research contributes to the body of knowledge concerning the implementation of interventions to achieve the three sustainability performance factors in firms, namely lean production and agile production, and contributes important guidance for managers in manufacturing firms seeking to enhance these sustainability performance factors through lean and and agile production and when SCC intervenes.