An increasing competitive market in service businesses is driving multinational corporations (MNCs) to implement business improvement philosophies and methodologies in order to address customer requirements for better quality service and organizational demands for rising profit margins through cost reduction.
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has been implemented by various MNCs, in full or as per business requirements, in order to manage and control their processes more effectively. However, due to dynamic economic influences in recent year’s these companies require to step up in their ability to become more agile and continuously improve their processes in order to react in an agile way to shifting market demands.
Although ITIL stands for a framework of best practices, it neglects a clear customer value proposition and provides only limited significance towards change. Lean, on the other hand, is a management methodology that has been suggested as a means to resolve these problems, by reducing costs, increase productivity and becoming more agile within daily business routines.
Lean’s application within ITIL is becoming progressively popular among researchers, but despite the application of Lean approaches to different contexts within manufacturing industries, the specifics of Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) in the services industries remains largely untested.
Focus of this study is worldwide the service delivery industry of MNCs, which present complex process driven industries. The aim is to determine in which relation or what kind of potential there is for a hybrid ITIL seven-step improvement process and Lean model, in order to accomplish a more agile continual service improvement approach.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Current market situation
- Problem statement
- Research Question
- Structure of this paper
- Frameworks and methodologies
- Why an emphasis on ITIL?
- Continual Service Improvement
- ITIL´s Seven-step improvement process
- Incident management process
- CSI Risks and challenges
- Japanese process improvement
- The Kaizen strategy
- Lean methodology
- TPS principles
- PDCA and Lean
- Lean barriers and potentials
- Synopsis of the research
- Case studies on Lean application
- Fujitsu
- 3M
- Goodyear
- General Electric
- Cognitive interest
- Literature investigation
- Classification of and trends of literature
- Assembling required literature
- Experimental hypotheses and literature framework
- Hypothesis H1 (competitive advantage)
- Hypothesis H2 (supportive)
- Hypothesis H3 (acceleration and culture)
- Research method
- Qualitative research analysis
- Deductive category application
- Data quality
- Collecting primary data
- Validity of data
- Interview approach
- Recruitment of participants
- Data analysis
- Data preparation and sampling
- Qualitative analysis processes
- Alternative empirical approaches
- Empirical validation of the results
- Statistical data
- Global distribution
- Gender
- Career stage
- Keyword distribution
- Return rate
- Hypothesis validation
- Validation H₁
- Validation H2
- Validation H3
- Summary of the validation
- H₁ Conclusion
- H2 Conclusion
- H3 Conclusion
- Conclusion
- Further research
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This study aims to investigate the potential benefits of combining ITIL's seven-step improvement process with Lean principles for achieving a more agile and continuously improving service delivery approach in multinational corporations (MNCs). The research focuses on the service delivery industry of MNCs, which represent complex process-driven industries.- The influence of dynamic economic forces on service businesses and the need for agility and continuous improvement.
- The limitations of ITIL in addressing customer value propositions and facilitating change.
- The application of Lean as a management methodology for cost reduction, productivity enhancement, and increased agility in daily business routines.
- The increasing popularity of Lean within ITIL, particularly in the context of manufacturing industries.
- The potential for a hybrid ITIL-Lean model to enhance service delivery processes in MNCs.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: This chapter introduces the study's context, including the competitive market situation in service businesses and the challenges faced by MNCs in meeting customer demands for enhanced service quality and organizational demands for cost reduction. The problem statement outlines the limitations of ITIL in addressing customer value propositions and facilitating change, highlighting the need for a more agile and continuously improving approach. The research question explores the potential of integrating ITIL and Lean principles for achieving a more agile and continuously improving service delivery approach in MNCs. The chapter concludes by outlining the structure of the paper.
- Frameworks and methodologies: This chapter delves into the theoretical foundations of ITIL and Lean. It examines the concept of Continual Service Improvement (CSI) within ITIL, including the seven-step improvement process and the incident management process. The chapter discusses the challenges and risks associated with CSI within ITIL, particularly in the context of dynamic economic influences. It then explores Japanese process improvement methodologies, focusing on the Kaizen strategy, the Lean methodology, Toyota Production System (TPS) principles, the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, and the potential and barriers of Lean implementation.
- Synopsis of the research: This chapter provides an overview of existing research on the application of Lean principles in different contexts. It examines case studies of Lean implementation in companies like Fujitsu, 3M, Goodyear, and General Electric, highlighting the benefits and challenges of applying Lean in various industries. The chapter then explores the cognitive interest in integrating ITIL and Lean, followed by a literature investigation that classifies existing literature and identifies relevant sources for the study. The chapter concludes by defining the experimental hypotheses and outlining the literature framework that will guide the study.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
This study focuses on the intersection of ITIL and Lean principles in the context of service delivery within multinational corporations (MNCs). Key terms and concepts include: Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), Lean management, Continual Service Improvement (CSI), service delivery, agility, process optimization, customer value proposition, Kaizen, Toyota Production System (TPS), PDCA cycle, hybrid model, and qualitative research. The study examines the potential benefits of a hybrid ITIL-Lean model for enhancing process efficiency, customer satisfaction, and organizational agility in a competitive market environment.- Quote paper
- Alexandra Arbter (Author), 2015, Combining ITIL and Lean. The pursuit of perfection through continuous improvement, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1297097
