Abstract
Increasing competitive pressure in all business sectors (e.g. private, public SME) is reflected in the continuing quest for business improvement philosophies and methodologies to address this challenge. Recent developments have included increased organisational and academic interest in the six sigma approach to business improvement. There are many organisational examples (mainly USA and UK based) of large scale improvements in defect and process measures attributed to this approach However, there is a paucity of critical studies on six sigma beyond that of "how to" and that of descriptive accounts, with a focus on measures and results rather than employee involvement and motivation. The aim of this paper is to explore the development of six sigma in a multilevel case analysis, from both a process perspective and a people perspective. The findings show that the case organisation had to widen its conception and application of six sigma to include people and organisational criteria to enable the approach to become embedded in the organisation.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 530-549 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | International Journal of Operations and Production Management |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 5-6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 2004 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright:Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Business enterprise
- Business improvement
- Private sector organizations
- Statistical process control