We developed a questionnaire and then pretested it
with several academic colleagues, as well as four manufacturing managers working in firms implementing lean. We
made changes in response to their feedback. We drew
our sample from the 1389 participants who registered for
at least one of the annual Lean Accounting Summits from
2005 to 2008. The first annual Lean Accounting Summit
(i.e., a conference focused on how accounting could better
support lean operations) was held in 2005 attracting
approximately 250 attendees. By 2008, it had grown to just
over 500 attendees.
12
We eliminated over one-third of the
registrants who had either attended more than one Summit
or were from the same plant.
13
We also eliminated potential respondents with incorrect contact information or who were
employees of non-manufacturing entities or international
firms.