Chapter 5: Adopting Then Adapting Lean: A Case Study of Three Universities

This chapter examines the introduction of Lean into higher education institutions (HEIs) through the experience of the University of St Andrews, Scotland (St Andrews) and then through two first-person accounts concerning the University of North Alabama (UNA) and the University of West Alabama (UWA).

The three universities are linked by their approach to Lean. St Andrews was engaged to train staff and deliver rapid improvement events (RIEs) at UNA. A staff member from UNA later moved to UWA and introduced Lean at that institution.

The chapter covers nearly 20 years, from establishing the Lean Team (the Team) at St Andrews in 2006 to the present. In this period, there have been significant international and national developments, and these have impacted higher education (HE) in the UK and the USA to varying degrees. There have been changes of governments, changes in government policies, economic crises, COVID-19, international disagreements, and in the UK, Brexit. More recently, there has been the development of AI.