Inclusive innovation : lean implementation with shop-floor employees at the base-of-the-pyramid

Abstract

Building on the literature on inclusive innovation, we identify shop-floor employees, who are at the basc-of-thepyramid of the organisational hierarchy in industrial firms as the target of concern for inclusive innovation. In this paper, we presents results of three empirical studies conducted in the implementation of lean manufacturing systems in Sri Lanka, where lean implementation is conceived as an active inclusion of shop-floor employees in the mainstream organisational decisionmaking process. For the study, quantitative research methodology was used and data were collected from shop-floor employees engaged full-time in export-apparel manufacturing firms that have implemented lean manufacturing systems in Sri Lanka.