Cellular manufacturing for small businesses: key cultural factors that impact the conversion process

Companies converting to cellular manufacturing (CM) often struggle with implementation and achieve results that are less than anticipated. The existing body of CM research, with its strong emphasis on technical aspects, does not provide practitioners with the assistance needed for successful implementation. Since organizational culture is a strong barrier to change, this research aimed to reveal how culture impacts the CM conversion process. Two exploratory case studies were conducted at small manufacturing companies leading to the identification of eight key cultural factors that impact CM conversion.