Adapting Lean to Academia: The LeanUnivers Model for Continuous Quality Enhancement in Moroccan Higher Education

Background This article explores the application of Lean management in higher education in Morocco, within a context that is both restrictive and promising for implementing an efficient quality culture. It aims to achieve two objectives: studying the state of lean management in education and proposing a unique Lean-inspired model, specifically designed for Moroccan universities LeanUnivers. Methods To support this approach, we adopted a qualitative methodology, consisting of a literature review on the subject and an analysis of key reference documents related to higher education pedagogical reform. Based on the insights gained, we propose the development of a Lean-inspired intervention model, referred to as LeanUnivers. Results The findings of this study reveal while lean management has long been practiced in industry, its transposition to higher education remains recent, under-studied, and still in its infancy in Morocco. To ensure optimal implementation, stakeholders must exercise vigilance and caution. We developed the LeanUnivers model as a progressive intervention framework, structured around five key phases: strategic listening, identification and analysis of waste, action prioritization, and collaborative anchoring. Although practitioners have not yet applied it in the field, the model provides a robust and contextualized methodological basis with strong potential to improve academic and administrative processes and enrich the student experience once implemented. Conclusions We propose the LeanUnivers model to improve higher education by reducing waste and optimising processes. While lean management is common in industry, it remains underdeveloped in the academic sector in Morocco. LeanUnivers offers a concrete response to this shortcoming.