Abstract
Lean
is
a
management
principle
that
originated
in
the
company
Toyota
in
the
1980s
and
since
then,
has
been
used
by
manufacturing
companies
throughout
the
world.
It
has
had
positive
effects
on
the
manufacturing
industry:
reduced
costs
and
increased
the
speed
of
production.
This
Thesis
aims
to
derive
whether
lean
can
also
have
similar
positive
effects
on
the
IT
industry,
specifically
software
delivery.
The
study
uses
the
philosophy
of
positivism
and
a
deductive
approach
in
order
to
conclude
whether
lean
principles
make
software
delivery
efficient.
Data
has
been
collected
using
a
case
study
as
well
as
surveys
and
a
quantitative
method
has
been
applied
to
analyse
the
data.
In
order
to
quantify
efficiency,
the
parameters
being
studied
are
cost
of
the
projects
and
time
taken
to
deliver.
The
research
findings
have
drawn
a
correlation
between
the
use
of
lean
principles
and
the
cost
and
speed
of
projects.
The
results
show
that
the
use
of
lean
principles
decreases
the
cost
of
projects
and
enables
teams
to
ship
their
software
faster. Author keywords: Lean principles, IT management