Implementation of Lean Production Principles and Its Relationship with Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Food Industry Enterprises in Khuzestan Province, Iran

Lean production system is a new management approach and a business strategy that results in the elimination of waste (costs and time) and improvement of the performance and overall value of an organization. The main objective of this study was to investigate factors influencing implementation of Lean Production Principle (LPP) and its relation with the performance of Small and Medium-sized Food Industry Enterprises (SMFIEs) in Khuzestan Province. This study was a kind of descriptive-correlation and causal-relation that was conducted through a survey technique. Statistical population of the study consisted of all managers in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Khuzestan food industry (N = 307). By using Krejcie and Morgan's tables and stratified random sampling method, 170 person were selected as sample, of which 161 person completed the research questionnaires (return rate 94.7%). The results show that among the eight factors that influence the implementation of LPP, three variables of "customer relationship management", "human resource management", and "employees' empowerment" have the most direct effects on LPP and, ultimately, the highest total effect on SMFIEs performance. The implementation of LPP could explain about 31 percent of variances in SMFIEs performance. Conducting justification and education workshops not only enhances the knowledge of SMFIEs managers, but also helps implement the LPP and, subsequently, improves the performance of SMFIEs.