The large German Companies Effect on the Lean Employment of Hungarian SME's

Aim: Recession and green thinking force manufacturers to reduce their losses. SME's successfully use lean to increase efficiency and performance. Despite the wide variety of literature, practical application is not widespread. The question arose: can the successful German lean method also be employed by Hungarian SME's? The purpose is to review international literature and to compare them with the lean knowledge of Hungarian SME's. It explores the impact of lean on the German parent company and the Hungarian SME, while conducts an asset research. Methodology: The literature review is followed by statistical and empirical elements to discover the relationship between the Hungarian and German markets. Hungarian SME's (processing and tourism industry) are the subjects of the primary research. Out of the potential 9683 SME's, 1315 were contacted online or personally, from the 223 questionnaire responses, 158 (12%) were filtered. The results obtained were supported by qualitative interviews. Findings: The results show that even though Hungarian SME's use lean elements, they are not lean businesses. It must be noted that this is not done consciously and a deeper analysis is required. The performance of supplier companies has a positive impact on the widespread of lean. Exploring lean practical knowledge is relevant from a scientific and practical point of view: it supports executives in the implementation of lean in order to maintain and develop their positions. In addition, it also shows the application of lean and achievement of efficiency. Furthermore the research suggests that lean could be the answer to labor shortage.