Lean and Green: Analisi Empirica degli effetti diretti ed indiretti del Lean Manufacturing sulle Performance Ambientali

This master thesis presents an empirical examination of the relationship between Lean Manufacturing and Green Performance. Specifically, the study investigates the effects of four Lean Bundles – Just-in-Time, Total Quality Management, Humar Resource Management and Total Production Maintenance – on Green Performance and Green Practices bundles. Data from the Fourth Round of the High Performance Manufacturing Initiative were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis, and Mediation Analysis. CFA was employed to derive bundles of Lean Practice, along with bundles of Green Practices and Environmental Performance. Then a multiple regression and mediation analysis was performed. The result revealed a negative nonlinear (quadratic) relationship between JIT and Green Performance, and a positive linear relationship between TQM and Green Performance. Additionally, the mediating role of Green Practices was explored, revealing positive indirect effects on Environmental Performance from both JIT and HRM. This research brings advancement to the Sustainable Operations and Lean Manufacturing field being the first to analyze the Lean-Green relationship at the bundle level and to identify nonlinear effects of Lean Practices in this context.