What is Lean Thinking?
Lean thinking can be considered a process best called one in which a higher value is developed without the waste associated with manufacturing. The whole notion of lean thinking combined with manufacturing was a theory started by the Toyota Corporation.
Lean thinking was designed to increase and improve the end user value while lowering the price and eliminating the waste involved. Toyota identified seven waste areas in their manufacturing and worked to lower the waste and thus to offer a higher value at a lower price. THe process is also commonly called Toyotismas well as lean thinking.
The high degree of success that was involved in the lean thinking process and the level of growth that Toyota achieved using it has called lean thinking to mind and many companies and even institutions of higher learning have adapted the lean thinking process to their own industry or organization.
Lean Thinking as Seen in the World of Education
Lean thinking in the realm of higher education can be considered taking lean thinking in its manufacturing process form that has been revamped for colleges and universities to give the student maximum value for a lowered price. Lean management and lean thinking have become a bit more common in areas related to college administration. In facets such as admission, budgeting, hiring, and facilities management, leaning thinking contributes to huge improvements. Although you will not see it widely used in universities, several have become pioneers in lean thinking, leading to its integration in other areas of university life. Even variants and applications of lean thinking have been used with the procurement of feedback from students, structures of teaching methods, and various unique academic processes. The universities that have utilized lean thinking the most and use it to the greatest degree are pioneering venues such as the St Andrews in Scotland, Cardiff University in Wales and University of Oklahoma in the United States. Various other universities have also joined the club here and these would be Winona State University and Rensselaer, which are both in the USA.
There are several differences in lean thinking as applied to higher education as opposed to lean thinking when used in the manufacturing or the business sector. In higher education, lean thinking follows along the same lines as it does in lean management in a corporation. It takes into account the differences as well by looking at all the many different structures and the means of governing that is in place in the higher education.
At numerous different times, universities have resisted the employment of lean education thanks to defining n the the student, teacher, and the college from the perspective of an employee, while forcing the universities to prove a sense of worth to the student who is the end user. Administrators and teachers would be a match for the administration of a corporations, but differences do exist as seen in government regulation. A few changes to the teaching process are necessary. All these varied components will be taken into consideration although university learning will be made up of processes that have been repeated time and time again.
For this reason, lean education is able to be used with great success. In some areas, the student is being termed as a customer which terminology has been met with some resistance by the schools in question. For the most part the term student-customer is being accepted. This is because the term customer is a very important part of the lean management or lean education methodology. There must be a customer in order to define the end user value.
The value that can be added and the shaved costs that may be passed along to the end user, the student-customer are one reason why lean education is being seen as more acceptable by many universities as well as the primary reason why it is being resisted by other universities.
Read more contribution posts by Lean Frog byclicking here – Integrated learning about Lean education and Lean manufacturing.