20.500.12556/RUL-138372 Importance of first-line employees in lean implementation in SMEs a systematic literature review Purpose – Existing research evidence shows a fragmented understanding of the roles of first-line employees (FLEs) as essential factors for successful lean implementation in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), provoking recent calls for additional research on the identification of enablers and barriers for lean acceptance among workers. Therefore, this paper aims to identify related enablers and barriers to lean implementation among FLEs and determine future research avenues for improving the understanding of lean methodology implementation in SMEs. Design/methodology/approach – Relying on a systematic literature review methodology, the authors aimed to synthesize and evaluate available peer-reviewed papers on the role of FLEs in lean implementation in SMEs. General descriptive and thematic analysis comprehensively depicted the selected research topic and identified the main themes within collected papers and potential future research questions. Findings – The authors identified four main themes related to FLEs’ role in lean implementation: cultural change factors, employee characteristics, management involvement and lean job design. Within each theme, the authors present a comprehensive overview of FLE-related factors and associated enablers and barriers that should be considered for a successful lean implementation in SMEs. Practical implications – The research outcomes are important to practicing managers in SMEs, helping them facilitate lean acceptance and enhance the likelihood of successful lean implementation. Originality/value – The insights from this study present building blocks in developing a lean implementation model for SMEs that considers the FLEs’ role more comprehensively. entrepreneurship SMEs leadership enablers and barriers first-line employees lean implementation small- and medium-sized enterprises podjetništvo mala in srednja podjetja vodenje true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2022-07-18 13:19:25 2022-07-18 13:24:36 2023-03-02 03:39:29 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2023 0 0 Str. 277-308 no. 2 Vol. 14 2023 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 658 2040-4166 10.1108/IJLSS-08-2021-0141 112112899 10-1108_IJLSS-08-2021-0141.pdf 10-1108_IJLSS-08-2021-0141.pdf 1 18C2B3825B20F36D768D9B51FC4FF4AE 0b0cbf68078420e93fc418e225eac1665158089ffb9097cb14b541f0af076fa3 114043e4-b81d-11ed-a314-00155dcfd717 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=166960 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJLSS-08-2021-0141/full/html 0 d9fd120d-068b-11ed-8aca-00155dcfd717 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=158662 Ekonomska fakulteta 0 0 0