Lean thinking and strategy deployment: adapting Hoshin Kanri and A3-based project prioritization in police services

PurposeThis paper aims to propose a methodology to support public managers' adaptation of the Hoshin Kanri (HK) strategy deployment approach in the context of lean thinking (LT), considering strategic alignment and consensus reaching when prioritizing a vital few of the organization's continuous improvement (CI) projects.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology incorporates the A3 problem-solving report into the HK approach to identify and outline CI projects. The priority and deployment of the projects are weighted by a composite score for impact and innovation using the Delphi method. The proposed methodology was applied in one Norwegian police district as part of action research.FindingsThe obtained results indicate that the proposed methodology provides an intuitive and systematic approach to weigh the importance and ensure alignment of CI projects with the organization's strategy and goals. Consequently, this minimizes the possibility of strategy deployment priorities being weighted by decision bias and siloed decision-making.Originality/valueThe literature on strategy deployment in the context of LT in police services is significantly limited and this study aids in fixing this gap. The adapted HK approach can support the implementation of LT as an integral part of a comprehensive strategic management system, thereby enabling knowledge sharing and exploration of the extendibility of implemented best practices and improvement ideas to problems arising across the organization.