Abstract

Lean has become a popular management concept in the last decade, especially in the management consultant industry in Sweden. However, regardless of the popularity, it has been criticized in academia for its inconsistency. Researchers have questioned the validity for Lean as a concept. The lack of consistency in the management literature also makes Lean a target for misinterpretation by practitioners, which also influences the success rate for implementing the concept. Success in the implementation stage is critical and management consultants are often the change agents in this process. The management consultant industry has therefore an important role in how the management concept is set into practice. This thesis explores how Swedish management consultants perceive and implement the concept Lean. Interviews with management consultants were conducted in order to retrieve this information. The findings indicated that the inconsistency in the literature of the field affects how management consultants perceive the content of the Lean concept. It was discovered that all the participating consultants had their own unique version of what Lean is and how it should be implement