The maturity model: questions and answers

Question 1

How is the DGL maturity model structured?

Accepted Answer

The published model has two parts. DGL Business Culture has three dimensions, ten subdimensions and 38 systems. DGL Leadership has four dimensions, 19 subdimensions and 43 skills. In the thesis these are presented as seven dimensions, 29 subdimensions and 81 culture and leadership capabilities, evaluated across five maturity levels.

Question 2

What are the five maturity levels?

Accepted Answer

The five levels are Reactive (Level 1), Formal (Level 2), Deployed (Level 3), Autonomous (Level 4) and Way of Life / Culture (Level 5). They trace the organisational learning trajectory from reactive to fully integrated DGL capability.

Question 3

Why five levels?

Accepted Answer

Five levels were judged sufficient to capture the behavioural and organisational trajectory from reactive to fully integrated DGL capability without introducing artificial differences between adjacent levels that would undermine practical usability.

Question 4

Is the DGL model descriptive, prescriptive or comparative?

Accepted Answer

The paper follows Becker and colleagues' classification of maturity models as descriptive, prescriptive or comparative. The DGL model is presented as the first prescriptive and comparative assessment for DGL leadership and culture, so that companies can assess, compare and develop action plans.

Question 5

What is the maturity model for?

Accepted Answer

The thesis recommends using the model at plant level not as a score to be maximised but as a diagnostic tool for structured conversation and baseline definition: where are we, where do we need to be, what is the specific gap holding us back, and what would it take to close it.

Question 6

Who should take part in a maturity assessment?

Accepted Answer

Assessments that engage multiple organisational levels expose the gap between management's perception of maturity and operational reality, and the thesis reports that they consistently produce more accurate baselines and more useful development plans than top-down assessments alone.

Question 7

How was the maturity model built?

Accepted Answer

The authors ran a systematic literature review in Web of Science and Scopus to check whether a maturity model already existed for Lean culture and leadership with Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy. Starting from 46 documents they ended with five relevant ones, none covering the combination, and designed the model in phases: scope, design, populate, test, deploy and maintain.

Question 8

Why did existing maturity models not work?

Accepted Answer

Existing models covered either Industry 4.0 in Lean companies, which is the most common, or sustainability in Lean companies. None focused on leadership and culture as primary drivers for Lean implementation, and none combined culture, leadership, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy, which the authors certified as a research gap as of December 2023.

Also asked as: What was missing in existing maturity models? · ¿Qué faltaba en los modelos de madurez existentes?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 7

Question 9

What are the culture dimensions of the model?

Accepted Answer

The culture part has three dimensions that follow the Lean culture characteristics: Lean Culture values and principles, Lean Culture customer-centric, and Lean Culture operational excellence. They contain the ten subdimensions that correspond to the ten Lean culture characteristics.

Question 10

What are the leadership dimensions of the model?

Accepted Answer

The leadership part has four dimensions: customer, personal development, Lean principles and performance-driven leadership. They contain 19 subdimensions and 43 skills.

Question 11

How does the model describe each level?

Accepted Answer

Each subdimension has descriptors that describe observable practices at each level. For example, C1 describes equal opportunities and employee care, C2 pride, loyalty and teamwork, C4 distributed authority and fact-based decisions, and L16 leaders constantly on the shop floor. Organisations compare what they actually do with the descriptors to place themselves.

Also asked as: What is a descriptor in the maturity model? · ¿Qué es un descriptor del modelo?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 10

Question 12

Is this the first DGL maturity assessment?

Accepted Answer

Per the authors, the paper includes the first development of a prescriptive and comparative maturity assessment for companies to assess, compare and develop action plans in their Lean journey in the context of Industry 4.0, Circular Economy and sustainability. That claim is as of their literature review at the time of writing.

Also asked as: Is there any other maturity model for DGL? · ¿Es el primer modelo de madurez de DGL?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 2

Question 13

What does Level 1 Reactive mean?

Accepted Answer

Reactive is the first of the five levels. Maturity models in the literature typically start from a firefighting or reactive stage. In the thesis, stability of basic conditions such as equipment reliability, material availability and quality consistency enables systematic problem solving rather than constant firefighting.

Question 14

What is Level 5 Way of Life?

Accepted Answer

Way of Life / Culture is the highest level, where DGL capabilities are fully integrated into how the organisation works. In the case study, the direction of travel to that kind of embedding appears when circular vocabulary and logic show up in procurement, equipment replacement, customer conversations and talent development.

Question 15

Was the maturity model validated?

Accepted Answer

The thesis is explicit about this: the model was developed through conceptual logic and expert validation rather than large-scale empirical testing of its structure and performance relationships. The thesis describes it as an empirically examined self-assessment tool, and the five levels as analytical constructs whose value is judged by whether they enable accurate organisational diagnosis.

Question 16

Can I assess my own company?

Accepted Answer

The thesis provides a self-assessment tool based on the maturity model for practitioners. For a structured baseline, DGL also offers a culture and leadership readiness assessment, and the initial conversation establishes which approach fits your problem.

Question 17

What do I do after the maturity assessment?

Accepted Answer

The thesis suggests making the DGL challenges visible through standard management systems, such as displaying operational, digital and circular metrics together in team performance boards, including DGL challenges in regular problem-solving routines, and documenting what works and what does not so that organisational learning accumulates.

Also asked as: How do I turn the assessment into an action plan? · ¿Qué hago después de la evaluación?

Sources: Doctoral thesis — Digital Green Lean (2026) · PDF page 229

Question 18

What does leadership at gemba look like at high maturity?

Accepted Answer

At high maturity leaders are constantly on the shop floor, gather data where it is needed rather than through central control, and run a daily management system supported by augmented reality, simulations and AI. Visual management and digital data visualisation are key facilitators.

Question 19

How do leaders use technology to develop their teams?

Accepted Answer

The descriptor for L10 says leaders use new technology developments and sustainability principles to teach and develop their teams, for example augmented reality, digital twins or robots, while following the servant model.

Question 20

What frameworks did the maturity model build on?

Accepted Answer

The model draws on maturity assessments from the literature such as Skalli and colleagues (2023), Treviño-Elizondo and colleagues (2023) and Duarte (2023), whose dimensions include technology, smart processes, leadership and strategy, people, product, customer, supplier and governance. The DGL model adds Lean culture and Lean leadership dimensions.

Also asked as: Which authors influenced the dimensions? · ¿En qué marcos se basa el modelo de madurez?

Sources: Gatell & Avella — DGL maturity model (2024) · PDF page 7