@inproceedings{KobusWestner, author = {Kobus, J{\"o}rn and Westner, Markus}, title = {Lean Management of IT Organizations}, series = {Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference in Information Systems (PACIS 2015), Singapore, Jul 5-9}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference in Information Systems (PACIS 2015), Singapore, Jul 5-9}, pages = {16}, abstract = {Lean Management has been successfully applied by companies around the world, mainly in production/manufacturing functions. Recently, the interest to investigate a wider application of Lean Management especially in service functions increased. However, it is not clear how Lean Management can be applied to IT organizations. Therefore, this study aims to provide an overview on common characteristics and future research directions. A literature review on existing scholarly research from January 2004 to June 2014 is conducted. Using a database-driven search approach, a total of 1,206 research contributions are found of which 49 were identified as relevant. Results indicate a low theory grounding of mostly formulative and interpretative research items. This implies that research on Lean Management of IT organizations is still at its nascent state. Content-wise, five research themes emerge. The majority of research investigates IT organizations in a role to support Lean Management in production/manufacturing functions (determining "what to work on"), therefore more research on how Lean Management can be applied to IT organizations themselves (determining "how to work") could be beneficial. Future research could also try to build on Change Management theories, as the implementation of Lean Management is of transformational character.}, subject = {Lean Management}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KobusWestner, author = {Kobus, J{\"o}rn and Westner, Markus}, title = {Lean Management of IT Organizations}, series = {Proceedings of the 21th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2015), Puerto Rico, August 13-15}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 21th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2015), Puerto Rico, August 13-15}, pages = {1 -- 17}, abstract = {Lean Management has been successfully applied in production/manufacturing functions since more than four decades. Recently, the interest to investigate Lean Management also in service functions increased. Therefore, this study aims to (1) Consolidate critical success factors (CSFs) for the implementation of Lean Management of IT organizations; and (2) Describe a theoretical foundation for these CSFs. With respect to (1) a database-driven search was conducted. CSFs then were extracted and categorized. In total 13 CSF groups were assigned to three dimensions: Mindset and behavior; Organization and skills; and Process facilitation and performance management. To understand underlying mechanisms better, and with respect to (2) we related existing (IS) theory to identified groups of CSFs. Especially, five theoretical concepts are discussed: Absorptive capacity, Agency theory, Cognitive dissonance, Dynamic capabilities, and System dynamics. Future research needs to validate the results of (1) and (2) empirically in IT functions.}, subject = {Lean Management}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KobusWestnerStrahringer, author = {Kobus, J{\"o}rn and Westner, Markus and Strahringer, Susanne}, title = {Lean Management of IT Organizations}, series = {Proceedings of the 37th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2016), Dublin,}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 37th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2016), Dublin,}, pages = {1 -- 12}, abstract = {Lean Management has been successfully implemented in production organizations since several decades. The study at hand investigates the implementation of Lean Management to IT organizations (Lean IT). The study offers three contributions: First, it explains on a conceptual level how Lean Management can be transferred from production to IT organizations (philosophy, principles, tools). Second, it provides a theoretical perspective on why Lean IT can be beneficial for IT organizations (IT Slack theory). Third, it provides insights to the stated research questions (three benefits and three propositions) from an initial case study of an internal IT service provider for a large international insurance company (> US\$25 Billion revenue; >20,000 employees; active in >120 countries) and lays out the research methodology and potential focus areas for further studies.}, subject = {Lean Management}, language = {en} } @article{KobusWestnerStrahringer, author = {Kobus, J{\"o}rn and Westner, Markus and Strahringer, Susanne}, title = {Change management lessons learned for Lean IT implementations}, series = {International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management}, volume = {5}, journal = {International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management}, number = {1}, pages = {47 -- 60}, abstract = {Lean Management is a standard production mode that has been familiar to production organizations for several decades. To date, however, academic literature has presented surprisingly little information about the application of Lean Management in Information Technology (IT) organizations, or what is called Lean IT. Drawing upon an empirical qualitative case study of the IT departments of two multinational companies, in this paper we identify change management lessons learned for Lean IT implementations, as well as seven characteristics of a corresponding change management approach. As an extension of our work, researchers should validate and expand our initial findings, preferably in a quantitative setting.}, subject = {Betriebliches Informationssystem}, language = {en} } @article{KobusWestnerStrahringeretal., author = {Kobus, J{\"o}rn and Westner, Markus and Strahringer, Susanne and Strode, Diane}, title = {Lean Management in IT Organizations}, series = {Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application (JITTA)}, volume = {19}, journal = {Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application (JITTA)}, number = {1}, publisher = {Association for Information Systems (AIS)}, issn = {1532-3416}, pages = {55 -- 85}, abstract = {Lean management (LM) is well established in manufacturing organizations, and LM adoption in service organizations has recently increased. However, we lack research that focuses on the success of lean management implementations in IT organizations (lean IT). This paper contributes to knowledge of the success factors of lean IT implementation and the relative importance of each factor based on the insights of field experts. The experts identified, agreed on, and ranked 12 implementation success factors for lean IT in a Delphi study using the best/worst scaling technique. The most important factors were leadership involvement, change culture and work ethic, employee involvement, and performance management. Factors of intermediate importance were implementation facilitation, training and education, clear vision and direction, long-term focus, communication, and a holistic approach. Least important factors were existing skills, organizational changes/standardization, and financial resources. This paper contributes a more nuanced understanding of the relative importance of lean IT success factors, proposes relationships between them, and comprehensively explains how to use the rigorous best/worst scaling method in a traditional ranking-type Delphi study.}, subject = {Lean Management}, language = {en} } @article{KobusWestnerStrahringer, author = {Kobus, J{\"o}rn and Westner, Markus and Strahringer, Susanne}, title = {Enabling digitization by implementing Lean IT}, series = {The TQM Journal}, volume = {30}, journal = {The TQM Journal}, number = {6}, publisher = {Emerald insight}, pages = {764 -- 778}, abstract = {Purpose With the rise of digitization, IT organizations are challenged to provide efficient service delivery and offer innovative digital solutions while maintaining a constant resource capacity. To address this challenge, some IT organizations have adopted Lean Management (LM). Although LM is a standard production mode in manufacturing, it is less familiar to IT organizations. The purpose of this paper is to identify 12 lessons learned from companies who implemented LM in their IT organization (Lean IT) to free up their IT resource capacity from existing day-to-day operations so they could use it to enable their digitization strategy. Design/methodology/approach A case study of two major international companies from different industries. Data were collected from 25 structured interviews. Findings The lessons learned provide insights into how these companies implemented Lean IT, the potential outcomes they aimed for, what they did to achieve those outcomes, how they facilitated the implementation of Lean IT, and restrictions they encountered during the implementation. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on a limited range of IT organizations. Practical implications The lessons learned inform those implementing Lean IT because they explain how companies have implemented Lean IT to facilitate digitization and the benefits and pitfalls they encountered. A comparison of Lean IT and Lean Production shows that LM is transferable to IT organizations if domain specific requirements are respected. Originality/value This paper reports the unique experience of companies implementing Lean IT, which can inform other companies in a similar situation.}, subject = {Unternehmen}, language = {en} }