Lean management strategy and innovation: moderation effects of collective voluntary turnover and layoffs

Abstract

We investigated the impact of lean management strategy on organisational innovation. Integrating lean management and human resource management, we consider how and why different types of reductions in the workforce can influence the relationship between lean management strategy and organisational innovation in different ways. Specifically, we examined the moderating effects of collective voluntary turnover and layoffs in the relationship between lean management strategy and innovation. We tested our hypotheses using data from a large longitudinal dataset. We found that lean management strategy was significantly associated with organisational innovation. We also found that employee layoffs positively moderated the relationship between lean management strategy and innovation, whereas employee turnover negatively moderated the relationship between lean management strategy and innovation. Overall, we found that the effects of layoffs and collective voluntary turnover on the relationship between lean management strategy and organisational innovation.