Torbjørn Hekneby

• Hekneby, Torbjørn & Olsen, Trude Høgvold (2024). The role of leadership in organizational learning in multinational companies. Learning Organization. ISSN 0969-6474. 31(2), s. 141–162. doi: 10.1108/TLO-09-2022-0101. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Purpose - This paper aims to conceptualize the role of leadership in organizational learning processes in multinational companies (MNCs). The authors present a model describing how managers in an MNC facilitated transitions between sub-processes of organizational learning at several organizational levels.<p> <p>Design/methodology/approach - The authors collected data from the plants of a global process company in Norway, Brazil and China. Observation, in-depth interviews and archival material enabled one to reconstruct the organizational learning process over a period of 30 years as the company developed its own tailor-made improvement programme.<p> <p>Findings - Based on the data, the authors describe the role of leadership in linking the sub-processes of organizational learning as orchestration, sponsoring and persistence. Orchestration included creating faith and optimism and designing the organization to allow close cooperation between operators and managers in the sub-process of experimenting. This eased transferring and institutionalizing in the global organization. Sponsoring included structural changes to support transferring and the demonstration of dedication to improvement programme values. These factors were important for institutionalizing. Persistence involved the continuous focus on adjustment of the improvement programme, which then facilitated further experimenting.<p> <p>Originality/value - Firstly, this study suggests that activities and decisions in one sub-process have important implications for the following sub-processes. Secondly, this study indicates that leaders’ role in facilitating the transitions between sub-processes extend beyond their individual traits and behaviour, which previous research had focused on, and includes decisions concerning organizational structure and culture that help link social and organizational learning.

• Hekneby, Torbjørn & Powell, Daryl John (2023). The financial implications of XPS: an organizational learning perspective. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma. ISSN 2040-4166. 14(6), s. 1248–1263. doi: 10.1108/IJLSS-05-2022-0099. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of a company-specific lean program (a so-called company-specific production system [XPS]) on the company’s financial performance. This study analyzes data from the implementation of XPS in multiple plants of a multinational corporation and examines the results through an organizational learning lens. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a longitudinal single-case design to investigate a Norwegian multinational company in the process industry, producing silicon for the global market. The company has developed, implemented and institutionalized its own XPS since 1991. The program has directly contributed to extensive cost reduction and significantly strengthened the organization’s competitive position. Findings The findings of this study show a link between organizational learning and the improvement of financial results in the organization. This study presents a sand cone model that illustrates how the development and deployment of an XPS through individual- and orchestrated learning subsequently created a common platform for institutionalized learning within and across the multinational organization. This organizational learning capability managed to tie the company’s continuous improvement efforts directly to the improvement of cost levels throughout the value chain. Practical implications The practical implications of this work are significant, as this study uncovers the importance for managers to consider both individual-, orchestrated- and institutionalized learning (within and across a multinational network) when designing and implementing XPS to drive the improvement of an organization’s financial performance. Originality/value Documenting the financial impact of such programs is a common challenge. Therefore, the insights presented in this research are of value to both researchers and practitioners, in particular, managers and executives in large multinational organizations.

• Hekneby, Torbjørn; Ingvaldsen, Jonas A; Benders, Jos; Jenssen, Jan Inge & Lehland, Katja (2022). Orkestrert læring og global kulturbygging: Hvordan Elkem ASA skaper prosessforbedring i sin globale organisasjon. Magma forskning og viten. ISSN 1500-0788. 25(1), s. 121–129. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hekneby, Torbjørn & Powell, Daryl John (2021). The Learning Way to EBITDA Improvement. I Powell, Daryl; Alfnes, Erlend; Holmemo, Marte Daae-Qvale & Reke, Eivind (Red.), Learning in the Digital Era: 7th European Lean Educator Conference, ELEC 2021, Trondheim, Norway, October 25–27, 2021, Proceedings. Springer. ISSN 9783030929336. s. 21–31. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-92934-3_3. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Hekneby, Torbjørn; Benders, Jos & Ingvaldsen, Jonas A (2021). Not so different altogether: Putting lean and sociotechnical design into practice in a process industry. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management. ISSN 2013-8423. 14(2), s. 219–230. doi: 10.3926/JIEM.3263. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Purpose: The shop-floor organization under lean production (LP) has been hotly debated for about three decades. As this organization concept leaves considerable room for interpretation, the content of lean-inspired changes can vary widely. This paper pleads for a contingency view of how LP is implemented and how the outcomes of lean-inspired changes rely on users’ interpretations of the concept in particular production contexts. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was conducted in two large Norwegian chemical plants. Data from the observations and interviews were supplemented by interviews with top managers in 2017 and 2018. The first author also followed a management audit in one plant, assessing the plant’s overall implementation of the company-specific production system. Findings: The lean-inspired changes in the company had brought about a shop-floor organization typically associated with sociotechnical design (STD), including extensive employee choice autonomy and a broad span of control. Originality/value: Our findings demonstrate the importance of understanding how lean is interpreted in different contexts. Our contingency view may aid organizational designers in making more-informed choices by clarifying relevant issues and trade-offs in lean implementations

• Hekneby, Torbjørn; Ingvaldsen, Jonas A & Benders, Jos (2021). Orchestrated learning: creating a company-specific production system (XPS). International Journal of Lean Six Sigma. ISSN 2040-4166. 13(2), s. 361–381. doi: 10.1108/IJLSS-09-2020-0139. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Purpose: Companies create company-specific production systems (XPS) by tailoring generic concepts to fit their unique situation. However, little is known about how an XPS is created. This paper aims to provide insights into the creation of an XPS. Design/methodology/approach: A retrospective case study was conducted in a Norwegian multinational company over the period 1991–2006, using archival data and interviews. Findings: The development of the XPS did not start with a master plan. Instead, dispersed existing initiatives were built upon, along with an external search for novel ideas. Widespread experimentation took place, only later to be combined into a coherent approach. Once established, the XPS was disseminated internally and further refined. The CEO orchestrated the experimentation by facilitating the adaptation and combination of different concepts and by allocating resources to institutionalize the XPS in the global network. Originality/value: This paper is the first to study how an XPS is created. This study contributes with novel empirical insights, and it highlights the role of top management in facilitating experimentation and step-by-step organizational learning.

• Hekneby, Torbjørn; Ingvaldsen, Jonas A & Benders, Jos (2020). Managing Adoption by Cultural Development: Exploring the Plant-Level Effect of a Company-Specific Production System in a Norwegian Multinational Company. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management. ISSN 2013-8423. 13(2), s. 402–416. doi: 10.3926/jiem.3119. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Purpose: ‘Company Specific Production Systems’ (XPS) aim to adopt ‘best practice’ across plants within a company. A pertinent issue in the literature involves the constraints in the possibilities of realising such an adoption. This paper addresses to what extent and how a Norwegian multinational succeeded in adopting the XPS in its local plants. Design/methodology/approach: A Brazilian, Chinese and Norwegian plant of a Norwegian electro-chemical company were studied from 2017 to 2019. Our data consist of the results of the plant’s assessment performance program, combined with interviews and observations at different organizational levels. Findings: The MNC had largely managed to adopt the XPS in these plants. This was made possible by creating a strong corporate culture, shaping the managers’ basic assumptions, and persuading lower-level management and operators to adopt the improvement programme. The corporate culture was the result of several initiatives including the deployment of different HRM practices, supported by top management teams and by using the Norwegian plant as a laboratory visited by global operators and managers. Originality/value: This paper is, to our knowledge, the first to study the actual use of an XPS intra-organizationally. It highlights the role of culture development and basic assumptions for achieving global adoption. Global improvement programmes require constant managerial attention and actions at several levels in order to be adopted globally.

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• Hekneby, Torbjørn (2021). The learning way to production performance : An evolutionary perspective on company-specific production systems (XPS). Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788284270371. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Manufacturing companies (MCs) implement “best-practice” concepts such as Lean and the Toyota Production System (TPS) for enhanced production improvement. However, 30 years of research have shown that very few succeed in this implementation, which is often related to the challenge of copying Lean and TPS in various technological, political, and social contexts. As a reaction to this, MCs have explored new strategies for implementing bestpractice concepts. Instead of copying a concept, the company tailors its own “self-adjusted” concept that is built on one or more standard concepts. This phenomenon goes by the name of “company-specific production systems” (XPS) and seems to be an important trend among (global) MCs. A key point of an XPS is its strategic importance to the company. The selection of concepts and the adaptation and adjustment to the company’s uniqueness take place at a corporate level, and they are strongly supported by the top management of the company. After the creation phase, the XPS is distributed to the MC’s (global) network. Hence, the initial adjustment and tailoring process is supposed to secure adoption and standardization across the company’s network. Despite the increased interest and strategic importance of the XPS phenomenon, knowledge of how an XPS is developed and implemented is limited. For example, we know little about how standard concepts are adapted to the company’s uniqueness, or about whether an XPS helps to ensure standardization in a (global) network. Furthermore, we have little knowledge about how an XPS is institutionalized and established as continuous improvement in a network. Understanding the XPS phenomenon is, therefore, of both theoretical and practical interest.

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