Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institution
This study aims to utilise Lean and basic digitalisation methods in a family-run Irish microenterprise and educational institution to improve customer service and reduce non-value added activities. This case study within an Irish educational provider and micro-enterprise utilised the structured Defi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2199853125000721 |
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| author | John O’Shanahan José Carlos Sá M. Thenarasu Manjeet Kharub Olivia McDermott |
| author_facet | John O’Shanahan José Carlos Sá M. Thenarasu Manjeet Kharub Olivia McDermott |
| author_sort | John O’Shanahan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study aims to utilise Lean and basic digitalisation methods in a family-run Irish microenterprise and educational institution to improve customer service and reduce non-value added activities. This case study within an Irish educational provider and micro-enterprise utilised the structured Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control methodology to highlight areas of the educational institution's processes and services to improve. The project led to the use of Lean and basic digitalisation methods to identify non-value add activities in online exam delivery, attendance tracking, tutor contract setup and course scheduling, which resulted in reducing or eliminating over-processing and some automation of processes. The study, while only conducted in one educational institution and micro-enterprise, is an example of Lean implementation in an Irish second-level educational provider, and the learnings can be leveraged. The wider educational sector can benchmark how the improvement aided not only course delivery and scheduling but also attendance checking and payment scheduling. Educational organisations and micro enterprises can use this study to understand the benefits of adopting Lean, particularly in administration processes, to improve process efficiency and reduce non-value added activity. This is the first practical case study on Lean and digitisation deployment in an Irish second-level educational service provider, if not the first globally and one of few studies on Lean application in micro-enterprises. The study can be used to benchmark how Lean and digitisation can benefit microenterprises in particular and showcase innovation via the aforementioned areas. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-19412aa77c724a84a6cc1e44a7b521e8 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2199-8531 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity |
| spelling | doaj-art-19412aa77c724a84a6cc1e44a7b521e82025-08-20T02:17:28ZengElsevierJournal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity2199-85312025-06-0111210053710.1016/j.joitmc.2025.100537Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institutionJohn O’Shanahan0José Carlos Sá1M. Thenarasu2Manjeet Kharub3Olivia McDermott4Lean BPI Consultants, Limerick, IrelandSchool of Engineering, Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP), Porto, PortugalDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, IndiaDepartment of Operations Management, Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, Delhi, IndiaCollege of Science & Engineering, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland; Corresponding author.This study aims to utilise Lean and basic digitalisation methods in a family-run Irish microenterprise and educational institution to improve customer service and reduce non-value added activities. This case study within an Irish educational provider and micro-enterprise utilised the structured Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control methodology to highlight areas of the educational institution's processes and services to improve. The project led to the use of Lean and basic digitalisation methods to identify non-value add activities in online exam delivery, attendance tracking, tutor contract setup and course scheduling, which resulted in reducing or eliminating over-processing and some automation of processes. The study, while only conducted in one educational institution and micro-enterprise, is an example of Lean implementation in an Irish second-level educational provider, and the learnings can be leveraged. The wider educational sector can benchmark how the improvement aided not only course delivery and scheduling but also attendance checking and payment scheduling. Educational organisations and micro enterprises can use this study to understand the benefits of adopting Lean, particularly in administration processes, to improve process efficiency and reduce non-value added activity. This is the first practical case study on Lean and digitisation deployment in an Irish second-level educational service provider, if not the first globally and one of few studies on Lean application in micro-enterprises. The study can be used to benchmark how Lean and digitisation can benefit microenterprises in particular and showcase innovation via the aforementioned areas.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2199853125000721LeanEducational providerMicro-enterpriseDigitalisationIndustry 4.0 |
| spellingShingle | John O’Shanahan José Carlos Sá M. Thenarasu Manjeet Kharub Olivia McDermott Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institution Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity Lean Educational provider Micro-enterprise Digitalisation Industry 4.0 |
| title | Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institution |
| title_full | Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institution |
| title_fullStr | Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institution |
| title_short | Lean and digitalisation application in a micro-enterprise educational institution |
| title_sort | lean and digitalisation application in a micro enterprise educational institution |
| topic | Lean Educational provider Micro-enterprise Digitalisation Industry 4.0 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2199853125000721 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johnoshanahan leananddigitalisationapplicationinamicroenterpriseeducationalinstitution AT josecarlossa leananddigitalisationapplicationinamicroenterpriseeducationalinstitution AT mthenarasu leananddigitalisationapplicationinamicroenterpriseeducationalinstitution AT manjeetkharub leananddigitalisationapplicationinamicroenterpriseeducationalinstitution AT oliviamcdermott leananddigitalisationapplicationinamicroenterpriseeducationalinstitution |