Global Lean for Higher Education : A Themed Anthology of Case Studies, Approaches, and Tools

Higher education (HE) is amongst the hardest sectors in which to apply lean. Universities resist change, their organizational cultures being far from the manufacturing environment where lean was born. The way HE organizations are structured, funded, and function globally is idiosyncratic; one size is unlikely to fit all. However, the sector is also dynamic and a mature understanding of lean, as a philosophy, led by principles, suggests there are many ways HE could grow through lean.

This collection of work reflects the state-of-the-art in the global practical application of lean for higher education. It aims to demonstrate the diverse applications of lean in universities inspiring others to deeply engage with lean thinking in their own unique context and to drive successful, sustainable, lean work.

Contributors are both well-known experts in lean HE and up-and-coming practitioners. Authors live globally, in countries such as Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Poland, the UK, and the USA. They represent higher education environments from applied teaching institutions to research-focused universities from 50 years old to more than 800 years old.

The collection focuses on lean applied across universities as a whole, often addressing the administrative support or professional services side of how these institutions work. The application of lean is not limited purely to the administration of such organizations but is applied to the primary purpose of universities: teaching and research.

This volume is not focused on lean theory. Instead, it discusses how HE institutions have taken lean forward and the lessons learned that others can share and learn from. It is composed of six sections: Starting out, People, Projects, Technology, Sustaining Lean, and Culture.

The rich and wide perspectives in this book will enable the reader to understand the many ways that lean thinking is applied in higher education globally. More importantly, this book will help the reader better understand and apply lean in the context of their own work.

Foreword : Bill Balzer, Bowling Green State University
Introduction
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements

Section I : Starting out
Chapter 1 : Establishing Process Improvement Capability
Chapter 2 : Tools to Get You Started
Chapter 3 : VSM as a Tool for Creating a Lean Culture in a University
Chapter 4 : "Lean" into your service model : An Institutional Case Study Using Library Systems
Chapter 5 : Developing a Continuous Improvement Service : From Inception to Reality in 18 months

Section II : People
Chapter 6 : Identity and Values to Drive Respect for People : A Case-study Based on Embedding Kindness as an Organizational Value
Chapter 7 : Inspiring Sustainable Higher Education and Lean through a Lean Ambassadors Network
Chapter 8 : Improving Performance through Engagement – the Impact of Daily Stand-ups in the University of Strathclyde
Chapter 9 : Readiness to Change Towards Lean Transformation Among Employee in Universiti Putra Malaysia

Section III : Projects
Chapter 10 : Applying Lean in Projects; from Visualisations to Process Engineering – It’s Covered!
Chapter 11 : BOSCARD A scoping tool for Lean continuous improvement projects and beyond
Chapter 12 : Six Sigma as a Method for Improving University Processes, the Case of the Academic Assessment Process
Chapter 13 : Lean Training to Lean Projects

Section IV : Technology
Chapter 14 : Machine Leaning : Integrating Lean into IT
Chapter 15 : Can Information Services Lead a Network of Change Agents in a HEI?
Chapter 16 : Lean, Kanban and Agile, A Story of Continuous Improvement in a University Software Team
Chapter 17 : Every Organisation Needs a Mole

Section V : Sustaining
Chapter 18 : Head, Heart, Hands : The three Essentials to Sustaining Lean
Chapter 19 : Lessons from implementing lean at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital
Chapter 20 : Lessons from Cardiff University's Lean Experience

Section VI : Culture
Chapter 21 : Developing a Culture – the Essentials for Continuous Improvement
Chapter 22 : Growing a Lean Approach in a Changing University
Chapter 23 : Making Sense of Learning, Practice and Theory
Chapter 24 : What if We Knew the Future could be different!

Index