Are all aspects of lean production bad for workers? An analysis of how problem-solving demands affect employee well-being

This study is concerned with the debate around employee well-being in the environment of lean production. It applies the job demands-resources model to examine the effects of problem-solving demands and job resources (training, participation in decision-making, and line manager support) on employee engagement and exhaustion in a Chinese manufacturer. It examines previously untested interactions and shows that these job resources created a buffering effect in the relationship between problem-solving demands and exhaustion. It also shows a coping effect because the relationship between resources and engagement was strengthened as problem-solving demands increased. Rather than being uniformly positive or negative, the results suggest that the overall impact of lean production on worker well-being is likely to depend on the ways in which managers create scope for worker involvement in decision-making, target resources to the specific job demands, and adjust resource levels to the degree of these demands.