Overcoming barriers of green transformation through the adoption of lean manufacturing: A case study

Environmental sustainability is gaining more and more importance all over the world. To cope with this trend, companies are working to align their production models implementing green management practices. However, this implementation involves several challenges and calls for appropriate actions to overcome internal and external barriers. Even though lean manufacturing has been considered by researchers a suitable organisational approach to support environmental transformation, how and to what extent lean components integrate into green transformation remains an unexplored topic. On these premises, this paper tries to bridge the existing gap by performing an indepth inductive analysis developed in a manufacturing textile company, that, while operating in accordance with lean manufacturing principles, has recently started a green transformation project. The achieved results confirm that green transformation is a continuous process that takes place with the gradual adoption of green management practices. Moreover, the study suggests that distinctive features of lean manufacturing can help organisations overcome specific barriers that emerge at different stages of the green transformation process.sEnvironmental sustainability, lean manufacturing, green management, cases study, textile industry.