ABSTRACT
Many industry sectors-manufacturing, service, healthcare, governmenthave used Lean principles and practices with great success. Its ongoing extension to other domains-law, architecture, construction, and, now, higher education-attests to its broad applicability in virtually all work settings. Skeptical audiences within higher education, however, may prefer or even demand direct evidence that Lean Higher Education (LHE) principles and practices can be successfully applied at colleges and universities before pursuing and embracing their implementation:
Senior administrators may question whether it delivers on its promises, ◾ given the significant opportunity costs (time and energy) required to introduce this institution-wide intervention. Faculty members may question Lean’s applicability to higher education, ◾ given their perceptions of the unique qualities of the work done by colleges and universities. Administrators and staff may be concerned with how LHE will impact ◾ their job responsibilities or employment security. All university employees may question whether this proposed program ◾ will follow the life cycle of other “flavor-of-the-month” improvement initiatives (i.e., introduced with great fanfare only to wither away over time), squandering limited university resources with no significant benefits for those served.
