American International Journal of Social Science

Executive Attitudes to Lean Management at the National University Hospital of Iceland
Eydís Ýr Rosenkjær, Eðvald Möller

Abstract
According to definition, the term ‘lean management’ involves increasing value for a client at minimum cost. In order to reach that goal, companies and institutions must realise that the flow of the products and/or service needs to be increased throughout the whole value chain. All waste taking place during the procedure must be prevented, from the beginning to the end, as it is not enough to eliminate it only in isolated areas. It is therefore important to create processes that require less labour, space, money, are less likely to cause mistakes or flaws, and require less time when handling and dealing with products and/or services. The application of lean management is a different approach to labour efficiency, involving a diverse and lean journey towards improved operations, and is thus not solely a process. Lean management can be applied to any form of activity, and after implementing the methodology, new and goal-oriented work begins. The objective of this research is to examine the attitudes of executives to lean management and to answer the research questions: ? Do executives find that they have received satisfactory instruction and training in the methodology of lean management? ? Is the implementation of lean management showing results, in the view of executives?

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