Lean thinking and its implications for public procurement: moving forward with assessment and implementation

Abstract

Over the last several decades, lean thinking has been credited with several advancements in the practices of private sector organizations. Only recently have researchers begun to report on lean thinking as it applies to the public sector. For public procurement research, the concept remains largely unexamined. This research used the extant literature to identify preconditions that are required to successfully deploy lean thinking principles, tools, and techniques. Salient preconditions were organized into key categories. These categories provided the basis for a framework designed to assess public procurement's ability to adopt lean thinking, and aid in its implementation within this public sector environment. Questions suggested to guide future research, along with an approach intended to facilitate this work, are also presented.