Behind closed doors: the potential of lean management in safety audit services

The purpose of this study is to investigate the alignment of lean management with professional services such as safety auditing. Despite the importance of the management and employee commitment for the application of lean principles, there is no empirical evidence of the need for change in this distinct type of services. Professional services are different from regular services due to the type of the work and the nature of employees themselves. Our study provides the first systematic and comprehensive insight into the relevance of lean management in the business logic of big safety audit firms. Results indicate that big safety audit firms are doing well to implement lean management principles. The implications of these results in relation to service operations management theory and practice are discussed.