"This article addresses the implementation of lean production techniques in the Romanian subsidiary of a second-tier automotive supplier. Given the liberal institutional environment of the host country, the company anticipated a smooth transfer of lean production practices. However, the findings show that a host country's economic dependence can be detrimental to the transfer of practices from the home country. The combination of low-complexity production and work intensification led to depressed employee motivation and frequent conflicts. These can be attributed to a mismatch between work organization and national economic profile, which suggests incompatibility between low-wage, low-complexity strategies and Japanese organizational models."

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