The role of motivation in the results of total productive maintenance

Paper aims  The aim is to analyze the role of motivation of work teams in production lines in the operational results obtained with the implementation of a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program in a single company.

Originality  The areas of industrial production and maintenance require that human factors influencing performance be continuously investigated and cannot focus exclusively on the reliability of equipment and systems. Studies that contemplate these factors are relatively scarce but of great value for companies and society.

Research method  This is an exploratory case study that used a measurement of motivation with two teams of employees who participated in the implementation of TPM, comparing it to measures of operational performance. Unstructured interviews and nonparticipant observation were also used for data collection.

Main findings  The level of motivation of the team was positively associated with a change in operational performance, and the implementation of TPM had a positive impact on performance.

Implications for theory and practice  This study contributes to the behavioral operations management literature by showing empirical evidence that operational results may depend on motivated workers during TPM implementation. Managers must pay attention to the factors that determine the motivation of work teams when implementing improvement programs.

Keywords:
Total productive maintenance; Work motivation; Operational performance; Behavioral operations management