Background of the companies

Appendix 3 Background of the companies

In this section, backgrounds of the firms that were interviewed is provided. It aims to give a background understanding without revealing the interviewees.

Background 1 The farm consists of 400 hectares of land and operates 200 dairy cows. The company is a family-owned business. Six people are working at the farm, which corresponds to four full- time positions. By implementing Lean the company wanted to reduce waste and improve

orderliness. Leader 1 has worked with agriculture for 30 years and studied 20- weeks of operational

management. Approximately 55-65 years old. Employee 1 has earlier experience from running a dairy farm. Today his/her farm is leased

out and he/she has worked at the farm 2 for five years. The respondent has studied 20-weeks of operational management and went to an agricultural high school. Approximately 55-65 years old.

Background 2 The farm is specialized on piglet production and are producing 25 000 piglets a year. The company also operates 100 hectares of arable land and has an integrated production with

23 500 slaughter pigs a year. Eight people are working in the piglet production. Leader 2 has worked as a manager at the farm for two years. He/she has studies at an

agricultural high school and taken some university courses. Approximately 30-40 years old. Employee 2 was a farmer himself, but has leased out the farm since 1995. In 2005 he/she

became employee at farm 3. His/her main responsibility is to work with insemination and breeding.

Background 3 The firm is a family-owned business and is specialized in growing hardwood. The third generation is running the business and in total the company is cultivating 90 ha of arable land with approximately 100 000 trees. The company has 18 employees, which is corresponding to

16 full-time positions. Without too much knowledge about Lean, the company joined aiming to improve working structure.

Leader 3 has three years of university education and has worked in the company for 12 years. Approximately 35-45 years old. Leader 3 inherited the family business from his/her parents and made a generational change. The respondent is in charge of all employees and has responsibility for accounting and decision-making.

Employee 3 has worked 12 years in the company. Totally three years of university education. Approximately 35-45 years old. The interviewee is working with order entry, customer service and administration.

Background 4 Farm 4 is specialized in crop production and seed production. In total the company is cultivating 1 250 hectares of arable land and 800 hectares of forest. There are three full-time workers and one trainee. During peak season approximately twelve people are working and the firm is collaborating with two different farms with labour and machinery.

Leader 4 has a degree in agriculture and rural management programme. He/she started working full-time at the farm in 2012. Approximately 25-35 years old.

Employer 4 has worked at the company since 1976 and has the main responsibility of the crop production. He/she is working a lot with administration and is sharing a lot of responsibility with leader 4. Approximately 55-65 years old.

Background 5 Farm 5 is a family-owned business and it is the third generation who is running a poultry farm with 26 500 hens. At the farm 2,5 people are working full-time and in total 100 hectares of arable land is cultivated.

Leader 5 has been working at the farm since 1998 and three years ago he/she inherited the farm. He/she is an educated carpenter and has worked earlier in the construction industry. Approximately 30-40 years old.

Employee 5 has worked five years in the company. Studied three years at an agricultural high school and took some courses in agricultural and rural management program. Approximately 25-35 years old.

Background 6 The farm is a family-owned business which was inherited in 1991. Today the farm consists of 240 hectares of land, 110 dairy cows, 125 sows and 44 sheep. There are six owners in the company, who all own the same shares. There are six people working full-time and two people working part time.

Leader 6 went on an agricultural high school and has a degree in agricultural and rural management. Approximately 45-55 years old.

Employee 6 has been working at the farm for a year. She/he has a substantial interest in agriculture and went to an agricultural high school. He/she has earlier worked with pig production. Approximately 20-30 years old.