Lean principles reduces resistance to change in transforming a shipyard operations

Abstract

A Shipyard is trying to change but facing employee Resistance to Change (RTC). Resistance is attributed to the dysfunctional organisational context in the form of technical and political/structural discourse giving rise to non-conformance behaviour. An action research was conducted to identify the hidden underlying behaviour of the employees causing RTC and to implement change. The research found that RTC is due to incoherency of a person’s belief to establish standards, giving rise to cognitive dissonance. Lean production was used as an intervention to re-couple tasks to behavioural elements by reducing dissonance. Lean reduces dissonance, creates psychological flow, and momentum for change. As a result, the shipyard managed to recover the delay of a ship and delivered it on-time, with cost avoidance of millions of ringgits in liquidated damage. The Shipyard also managed to deliver subsequent ships on-time, compared to an average delay of 17 months, previously. The significance of this study is the realisation of how Lean principles challenge the underlying basic assumptions by creating self-awareness and improves self-efficacy. The study provides an exploratory model as to the workings of human behavioural elements in Lean production. The knowledge on how the researcher gained utility from resistance and mediate through the application of these techniques would be of considerable benefit to leaders of change management.