Lean Accounting Tool Packages and Firm Typologies: Evidence from an Exploratory Factor Analysis in Manufacturing

Abstract

This paper explores how Lean Accounting (LA) is implemented in manufacturing firms by identifying tool packages and the typologies of companies applying them. Despite growing interest in LA, prior research has focused primarily on individual tools or case studies, leaving the configuration of management accounting practices across organizations underexplored. The study aims to identify coherent packages of Lean Accounting tools used in practice and to determine how these packages correspond to different levels of implementation among manufacturing firms. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 128 enterprises. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to identify tool groupings, followed by clustering to classify firms by their LA adoption profiles. The analysis resulted in three tool packages and three types of firms that differ in the advancement of LA implementation. The results show that firms at higher stages of implementation report greater awareness of cultural and technical barriers to LA transformation. This paper contributes to the literature by empirically identifying Lean Accounting tool packages and by proposing a typology of firms based on their implementation profiles. The novelty of this study lies in combining factor- and cluster-based approaches to explore management accounting practice configurations within the Lean paradigm—an area previously dominated by case studies. The findings enrich current knowledge on how different firms adopt Lean Accounting and how they perceive the challenges of its implementation.