Lean cooperation: learning to be lean

Increasing cooperation trends force firms to roll out their strategic management approaches like lean management to their intra- and interorganizational network. Regarding lean management as a people-oriented management approach we argue that a successful roll-out constitutes a learning process comprising the level of individuals (i.e. managers and employees) as one of the most important factors. In this article we aim at recommendations for realizing competitive advantages by an efficient roll-out processes focussing the individual level. Therefore we look at cooperations as social networks. Combining the accepted relational view and social exchange theory we develop a framework for realizing relational rents regarding the individual level. We argue that the individual level acts as an enabler and has the potential to be managed depending on the stage of corporation development. Summing up we suggest the constructs of exchanged resources, individual assets and relationship structures and characteristica to be approaches for an effective management of exchange-relationships.