Lean management practices in the pharmaceutical industry

Increasing market rivalry and an expected decrease in growth rates are putting ever greater pressure on operational performance in the pharmaceutical industry. As a consequence, lean manufacturing practices such as Total Preventive Maintenance (TPM), Just-in-Time (JIT), Total Quality Management (TQM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) seem to be attracting an increasing level of managerial attention. To the best of our knowledge, the existing literature remains sparse on the effect of lean manufacturing practices on operational performance in the pharmaceutical industry. To close this research gap, this article explores the effects of lean practices on operational performance in the pharmaceutical industry. Our results indicate that typical contextual factors such as plant size and company type have an influence on the degree of implementation of lean practices. We also provide evidence that, even in an industry with so many regulatory requirements, lean practices positively affect operational performance. Finally, the results suggest that operational performance is positively associated with overall company performance.