aboelmaged 2010 six sigma quality

Six Sigma quality: a structuredreview and implications for future

researchMohamed Gamal Aboelmaged

Management Department, College of Business Administration,Ajman University of Science and Technology, Ajman, United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to clarify emerging aspects and trends of Six Sigma literature over 17years, from 1992 to 2008.

Design/methodology/approach – The literature on Six Sigma from 417 referred journal articles inbusiness and management disciplines, information systems and computer science, engineering,healthcare, etc. were systematically analyzed based on a scheme that consists of four distinctdimensions: publication year and journal, major themes, research type, and application sector (i.e.manufacturing vs service).

Findings – A number of key findings emerged: Six Sigma research is growing rapidly, coveringvarious disciplines and domains with a great focus on Six Sigma tools and techniques; empiricalresearch is dominant with more emphasis on case study approach; and the growing gap betweenmanufacturing- and service-focused articles implies the return of Six Sigma to manufacturing as itsinitial base. Although a large volume of literature is available on Six Sigma, the topic is still underdevelopment and offers potential opportunities for further research and applications.

Originality/value – The paper provides both academics and practitioners with a useful frameworkfor pursuing rigorous Six Sigma research through explaining the chronological growth of Six Sigma,challenging themes of Six Sigma research, dominating research types and application areas in SixSigma, and the major sources of Six Sigma information.

Keywords Six Sigma, Total quality management, Lean production, Supply chain management

Paper type Literature review

IntroductionSix Sigma has evolved from scientific management and continuous improvementtheories by combining the finest elements of many former quality initiatives.Originally, Motorola was the first to launch a Six Sigma program in the 1980s. In 1988,Motorola was the first company awarded the Baldrige Award, which led otherorganizations to show an increased interest in adopting and modifying Six Sigmamethodology. Companies such as Allied Signal, IBM, and General Electric adopted SixSigma as a corporate requirement for strategic and tactical operations to producehigh-level results, improve work processes, expand employees’ skills and change theculture. Now, Six Sigma is well established in almost every industry and manyorganizations worldwide have modified Six Sigma methodology and tools to fit theirown operations.

For the term “Six Sigma” there appears to be little consensus on its definition.Proposing an emergent definition of Six Sigma based on a grounded theory approach,Schroeder et al. (2008) concluded that Six Sigma offers a new structure that promotes

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0265-671X.htm

IJQRM27,3

268

Received March 2009Revised September 2009Accepted September 2009

International Journal of Quality &Reliability ManagementVol. 27 No. 3, 2010pp. 268-317q Emerald Group Publishing Limited0265-671XDOI 10.1108/02656711011023294

both control and exploration in improvement efforts. They asserted that academicsneed to develop a deeper and richer knowledge of Six Sigma so that they do not overhype or quickly dismiss it. Table I shows examples of Six Sigma definitions that reflectdifferent perspectives. From a statistical perspective, Six Sigma is a metric of processmeasurement symbolized by the Greek letter s that represents the amount of variationwith a normal data distribution. Fundamentally, Six Sigma quality level relates to 3.4defects per million opportunities (DPMO). The focus of Six Sigma is not on countingthe defects in processes, but the number of opportunities within a process that couldresult in defects so that causes of quality problems can be eliminated before they aretransformed into defects (Antony, 2006). From a business perspective, Six Sigma couldbe described as a process that allows companies to drastically focus on continuous andbreakthrough improvements in everyday business activities to increase customersatisfaction (Andersson et al., 2006).

In this paper, we classify the literature on Six Sigma research and present acomprehensive review of these studies. The review covers 417 journal articles

Andersson et al. (2006) Improvement program for reducing variation, whichfocuses on continuous and breakthroughimprovements

Antony (2002) A business performance improvement strategy thataims to reduce the number of mistakes/defects – toas low as 3.4 occasions per million opportunities

Banuelas and Antony (2002) A philosophy that employs a well-structuredcontinuous improvement methodology to reduceprocess variability and drive out waste within thebusiness processes using statistical tools andtechniques

Behara et al. (1995) The rating that signifies “best in class”, with only 3.4defects per million units or operations

Bendell (2006) A strategic, company-wide, approach . . . focusing onvariation reduction, projects have the potential ofsimultaneously reducing cost and increasingcustomer satisfaction

Black and Revere (2006) A quality movement, a methodology, and ameasurement. As a quality movement, Six Sigma is amajor player in both manufacturing and serviceindustries throughout the world. As a methodology,it is used to evaluate the capability of a process toperform defect-free, where a defect is defined asanything that results in customer dissatisfaction

Chakrabarty and Tan (2007) A quality improvement program with a goal ofreducing the number of defects to as low as 3.4 partsper million opportunities or 0.0003 per cent

Kwak and Anbari (2006) A business strategy used to improve businessprofitability, to improve the effectiveness andefficiency of all operations to meet or exceedcustomer needs and expectations

Table I.Examples of Six Sigma

definitions

Six Sigmaquality

269

published between 1992 and 2008. The paper is divided into four remaining sections.First, the research methodology used in the study is described. This is followed by theclassification framework in the second section. Third, Six Sigma articles are analyzedand the classification results are reported. Fourth, conclusions are presented and theimplications of the study are discussed.

Research methodologyThe research targeted peer-reviewed journal papers having more than two pages, asacademics and practitioners alike most often use journals to obtain information anddisseminate the highest level of research findings, both in width and breadth researchfindings. Therefore, editorials, news reports, book reviews, viewpoints, conferencepapers, masters and doctoral dissertations, textbooks, and unpublished workingpapers were excluded. The survey focused only on papers with “Six Sigma” as a part oftheir titles. The exceptions are those articles that are explicitly dealing with “SixSigma” but for some reasons the authors decided to use one of Six Sigmamethodologies, “DMAIC” or DFSS, in the title. Finally, to avoid never ending revisionof the article, the end of 2008 was selected as the cut-off date. These criteria shouldallow a quality and comprehensive set of papers on Six Sigma by different fields. Thecompiling effort has been carried out over 19 months through extensive databasesearch, internet search, reference checking, etc. However, it is possible that there existan article that is not surveyed in this paper.

Considering the nature of the research on Six Sigma, it would be difficult to groupthe literature under any specific disciplines. As a result, various online journaldatabases shown were selected and searched to provide a comprehensive bibliographyon Six Sigma literature. The literature contributions were primarily of articles fromresearch databases including Emerald, Science Direct (Elsevier), ProQuest Global,Interscience, Inderscience, ASQ, Springer and IEEE-Xplore. These databases provideonline delivery systems with full text access to thousands of high quality articles andjournals that cover a wide range of social and applied science titles including businessand management disciplines, engineering, healthcare and computer science. Thesearch yielded 417 Six Sigma articles from 147 journals. Each article was carefullyreviewed and then the data was organized to produce a classification from severalperspectives. Although this research is not exhaustive, it serves as a comprehensivebase for an understanding of Six Sigma research.

Classification frameworkThe classification framework was based on the literature review, the nature of SixSigma research, and the work of Nonthaleerak and Hendry (2006) and Brady and Allen(2006). The articles were reviewed, analyzed and classified based on four dimensions asfollows:

(1) Publication year and journal.

(2) Major theme and subject.

(3) Research type.

(4) Application sector: manufacturing vs service.

IJQRM27,3

270

This framework will provide guidelines for pursuing rigorous Six Sigma research byexplaining the chronological growth of Six Sigma, challenging themes of Six Sigmaresearch, dominating research types and application areas in Six Sigma and the majorsources of Six Sigma information.

Results and analysis of the classificationsDistribution by year of publicationFigure 1 shows the distribution of 417 Six Sigma articles published over the periodfrom 1992 to 2008. There appears to be limited research outputs before 2000. Theblooming years for Six Sigma research were between 2000 and 2006 since the numberof journal articles has increased significantly over this period, and started to decline in2007. However, the escalation in number of Six Sigma articles in 2008 is noteworthy.

Distribution of articles by journalThere were a total of 147 different journals from various business, engineering, statistics,information systems/technology and healthcare disciplines that published Six Sigmaarticles. Figure 2 demonstrates that the vast number of articles (122 articles, 53 percent)is published in 14 journals, while 196 articles (47 percent) were published in 133 journals,among them 91 journals published one article only and 42 journals published 2 to 4articles each. Among the leading journals, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage had by far the largest number of articles per journal (72 articles,17.3 percent). Since 2004, the journal is devoted to advancing the understanding andpractice of Six Sigma research. To reflect the close relationship between total qualitymanagement and Six Sigma research, total quality management journals had the secondlargest percentages of Six Sigma articles. This includes Total Quality Management andBusiness Excellence and The TQM Journal (previously, The TQMMagazine which sharethe second position (27 articles, 6.5 percent each). Besides, the engineering perspective to

Figure 1.Distribution of Six Sigma

articles by year(1992-2008)

Six Sigmaquality

271

quality deployment is noticeable in Six Sigma articles since the third and fourth largestpercentages of Six Sigma articles are in Quality Engineering (23 articles, 5.5 percent) andQuality and Reliability Engineering International (18 articles, 4.3 percent). InternationalJournal of Product Development (eight articles, 1.9 percent) had the fifth position.International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management and International Journal ofProduction Research share the sixth position (seven articles, 1.67 percent each). Theseventh position is shared by The Quality Management Journal and The Journal of

Figure 2.Distribution of Six Sigmaarticles by journals

IJQRM27,3

272

Validation Technology (six articles, 1.43 each). Four journals including MeasuringBusiness Excellence, Journal of Organizational Excellence, Journal of ManufacturingTechnology Management, and Journal of Healthcare Management share the eighthlargest percentages of Six Sigma articles (five articles, 1.2 percent each). Surprisingly,these 14 journals represent the main disciplines that construct Six Sigma research;business, engineering, and healthcare. A comprehensive list of all contributing journalsis illustrated in the Appendix.

Distribution of articles by themesTable II provides a comprehensive list containing the themes and their classifiedreferences for each theme. It is unavoidable to have an article that is relevant to morethan one theme, so listing an article under more than one theme was allowed. Forexample, an article may address critical success factors for Six Sigma implementationbut provide information on Six Sigma tools and techniques. In such a case, a moreweighted theme is chosen to classify the article according to the author’s judgment. Atotal of 13 themes were identified in Six Sigma articles. The most heavily publishedtheme is in Six Sigma tools and techniques (169 articles). The two major Six Sigmamethodologies, DMAIC and DFSS, made up the second largest proportion within SixSigma themes (87 articles). DAMIC (54 articles) and DFSS, design for Six Sigma (33articles). The conventional relationship between Six Sigma and other qualityapproaches, TQM and continuous improvement in particular, had the third largestnumber of articles (48 articles), while the human structure of Six Sigma in terms of theBelt system had the fourth position (37 articles) (Figure 3).

This is followed by the relationship between Six Sigma and lean production in thefifth position (34 articles). Success factors for Six Sigma implementation is the sixthlargest proportion within Six Sigma themes (33 articles). Evaluating Six Sigma interms of challenges and benefits is in the seventh and eighth positions with 31 and 29articles continuously. Selection of Six Sigma project is in the ninth position (16 articles).Themes that link Six Sigma with management disciplines are also present. Thisinvolves organizational change in the tenth position (14 articles), supply chain in the11th position (13 articles) and organizational learning in the 13th position (sevenarticles). Surprisingly, there are relatively fewer articles on Six Sigma education in the12th position (11 articles). An elaboration of the cited themes is presented in thefollowing subsections.

Six Sigma tools and techniques. The great deal of Six Sigma literature has focused onSix Sigma tools and techniques. They can be described as practical methods and skillsemployed by Six Sigma project teams to tackle quality related problems for fosteringperformance improvement. While Six Sigma tool has a specific role and is often narrowin focus, Six Sigma technique has a wider application and requires specific skills,creativity and training (Antony, 2006). Examples of Six Sigma tools include Paretoanalysis, root cause analysis, process mapping or process flow chart, Gantt chart,affinity diagrams, run charts, histograms, quality function deployment (QFD), Kanomodel, brainstorming, etc. Examples of Six Sigma techniques include statistical processcontrol (SPC), process capability analysis, suppliers-input-process-output-customer(SIPOC), SERVQUAL, benchmarking, etc. Moreover, a Six Sigma technique can utilizevarious tools. For example, statistical process control (SPC) is a technique that utilizesvarious tools such as control charts, histograms, root cause analysis, etc.

Six Sigmaquality

273

Theme References Total

Tools andtechniques

Adams et al. (2004); Al-Aomar (2006); Al-Aomar and Youssef (2006);Antony (2006); Antony (2007a); Antony and Fergusson (2004); Antony et al.(2001); Antony et al. (2005); Antony et al. (2007a); Antony et al. (2007c);Banuelas and Antony (2003); Banuelas et al. (2005); Basu (2004); Beard(2008); Bellows (2004); Benedetto (2003); Bhatnagar and Pandey (2005);Biedry (2001); Biehl (2004); Bigio et al. (2004); Box and Luceno (2000);Brewer and Eighme (2005); Bunce et al. (2008); Card (2000); Carrigan andKujawa (2006); Caulcutt (2001); Chan et al. (2005); Chang and Su (2007);Chang and Wang (2008); Chatterjee (2003); Chen et al. (2007); Chen et al.(2005a, b); Cheng (2007b, c); Cheng et al. (2008); Cook et al. (2005); Cupryket al. (2007); Das and Hughes (2006); De Koning and De Mast (2006); DeVore (2008); Doble (2005); Does et al. (2002); Drenckpohl et al. (2007);Echempati and White (2000); Ehie and Sheu (2005); Elberfeld et al. (2007);Eldridge et al. (2006); Erlandson (2006); Fairbanks (2007); Flott (2000);Frank (2003); Frankel et al. (2005); Fuller (2000b); Gack and Robison (2003);Glower (2006); Goh (2002b); Goh and Xie (2003); Goh and Xie (2004); Gohet al. (2003); Graves (2002); Hahn (2005); Hahn et al. (1999); Han and Lee(2002); Hare (2005); Harjac et al. (2008); Harrington and Trusko (2005);Henderson and Evans (2000); Hendricks and Kelbaugh (1998); Holtz andCampbell (2004); Hong and Goh (2003); Hsu et al. (2005, 2008); Huq (2006);Hutchins (2000); Hwang (2006); Ingram (2000a, b, c); Isaacson (2008);Johnston et al. (2008); Johnstone et al. (2003); Juras et al. (2007); Kanji (2008);Kapur and Feng (2005); Kaushik et al. (2008); Knowles et al. (2004); Krishnaand Dangayach (2007); Krishna et al. (2008); Kumi and Morrow (2006);Ladani et al. (2006); Lee-Mortimer (2006, 2007); Li et al. (2006); Lin et al.(2008); Lipscomb and Lewis (2004); Little (2003); Lloyd (2006); Lucier andSeshadri (2001); McAdam and Lafferty (2004); Mahanti (2005); Mahantiand Antony (2005, 2006); Mahesh et al. (2006); Maleyeff and Kaminsky(2002); Maleyeff and Krayenvenger (2004); Malhan and Rao (2005); Malligaand Srinivasan (2007); Manikandan et al. (2008); Manual (2006); Markarian(2004a, b); Miles (2006); Montgomery and Woodall (2008); Moorman (2005);Morgan and Cooper (2004); Mukhopadhyay and Ray (2006); Murugappanand Keeni (2003); Neagu and Hoerl (2005); Ng et al. (2005); Nonthaleerakand Hendry (2008); O’Neill (2005); Pan and Cheng (2008); Pandey (2007);Patterson et al. (2005); Perng et al. (2008); Perry and Barker (2006); Phengand Hui (2004); Raisinghani et al. (2005); Rajagopalan et al. (2004);Ravichandran (2006, 2007, 2008); Revere et al. (2004); Sadagopan et al.(2005); Sahoo et al. (2008); Sarkar (2007a); Schon (2006); Schroeder et al.(2008); Sehwail and De Yong (2003); Sekhar and Mahanti (2006); Setijono(2008); Smith (1993); Snee (2004); Stewart and Spencer (2006); Su et al.(2005); Sudhahar et al. (2008); Taner et al. (2007); Tannock et al. (2007);Thakkar et al. (2006); Thiele et al. (2008); Thomas and Barton (2006);Thomas and Lewis (2007); Thompson et al. (2008); Ung et al. (2007); VanDen Heuvel et al. (2005); Van Iwaarden et al. (2008); Vaughan (1998); Voteand Huston (2005); Woodall (2001); Woodard (2005, 2006); Wright andBasu (2008); Xue-Liang et al. (2007); Yang (2004); Zaroukian and Sierra(2006); Zhan (2008)

169

(continued)

Table II.Classification of SixSigma articles by themes

IJQRM27,3

274


Methodology 87DAMIC Antony (2006); Antony et al. (2007c); Bandyopadhyay and Jenicke (2007);

Bandyopadhyay and Lichtman (2007); Banuelas et al. (2005); Brewer andEighme (2005); Chen et al. (2005, 2008); Cronemyr (2007); De Koning andDe Mast (2005); Dedhia (2005); Dreachslin and Lee (2007); Drenckpohl et al.(2007); Edgeman and Dugan (2008); Edgeman et al. (2005); Friday-Stroudand Sutterfield (2007); Hamza (2008); Henderson and Evans (2000); Ho andChuang (2006); Holtz and Campbell (2004); Hu et al. (2005); Jenicke et al.(2008); Kaushik and Khanduja (2008); Kuei and Madu (2003); Kumar et al.(2008a, b); Kumi and Morrow (2006); Lee-Mortimer (2007); Li and Al-Refaie(2008); Li et al. (2008); Lipscomb and Lewis (2004); Lloyd (2006); McCartyand Fisher (2007); Mahanti and Antony (2005, 2006); Mahesh et al. (2006);Man (2002); Miles (2006); Neri et al. (2008); Sanders and Hild (2000c);Schroeder et al. (2008); Sehwail and De Yong (2003); Szeto and Tsang (2005);Taghaboni-Dutta and Moreland (2004); Taner et al. (2007); Tang et al. (2007);Thawani (2004); Thomas and Barton (2006); Thomas and Lewis (2007);Tong et al. (2004); Vote and Huston (2005); Wyper and Harrison (2000); Yeh(2007); Yeh et al. (2007) 54

DFSS Amer et al. (2008); Anand et al. (2007); Antony (2002); Banuelas and Antony(2003, 2004); Bayle et al. (2001); Chang and Su (2007); Chung et al. (2008);De Feo and Bar-El (2002); Erlandson (2006); Ferryanto (2007); Gerhorst et al.(2006); Goh (2001); Gremyr (2005); Hasenkamp and Olme (2008); Hu andAntony (2007); Hu and Pieprzak (2005); Johnson et al. (2006a); Kalamdaniand Khalaf (2006); Khalaf and Yang (2006); Kovach (2007); Kovach and Cho(2006); Liu et al. (2008); Mekki (2006); Rajagopal and Castillo (2007); Savage(2007); Savage and Son (2008); Shahin (2008); Sokovic et al. (2005); Thomasand Singh (2006); Yang (2005) 33

Quality approaches Aggogeri and Gentili (2008); Al-Mishari and Suliman (2008); Anderssonet al. (2006); Antony (2002); Black and McGlashan (2006); Camgoz-Akdag(2007); Cheng (2007c); Cheng (2008); Craven et al. (2006); Dahlgaard andDahlgaard-Park (2006); Davison and Al-Shaghana (2007); Delsanter(1992); Ehie and Sheu (2005); Ferng and Price (2005); Foster (2007);Freiesleben (2007); Furterer and Elshennawy (2005); Goeke and Offodile(2005); Green (2006b); Hagemeyer et al. (2006); Haikonen et al. (2004);Hild et al. (2000); Hoerl (1998); Hong and Goh (2004); Jeffery (2005);Klefsjo et al. (2006); Klefsjo et al. (2001); Knowles et al. (2004); Krishnaet al. (2008); Lupan et al. (2005); Pfeifer et al. (2004); Revere and Black(2003); Ribardo and Allen (2003); Ricondo and Viles (2005); Sadagopanet al. (2005); Sarkar (2007b); Savolainen and Haikonen (2007); Schroederet al. (2008); Stewart and Spencer (2006); Thirunavukkarasu et al. (2008);Thomas et al. (2008a); Walters (2005); Wessel and Burcher (2004); Yang(2004); Yang and Yeh (2007); Yeung, S. (2007); Zhang and Xu (2008);Zu et al. (2008) 48

(continued) Table II.

Six Sigmaquality

275


Belt system Andersson et al. (2006); Antony (2004b); Antony et al. (2001, 2005, 2007b, c);Banuelas et al. (2006); Bendell (2006); Black and McGlashan (2006); Blackand Revere (2006); Buch and Tolentino (2006a, b); Gowen (2005); Green(2006a); Green et al. (2006); Hagemeyer et al. (2006); Haikonen et al. (2004);Henderson and Evans (2000); Ho et al. (2008); Hoerl et al. (2001); Ingle andRoe (2001); Johnson et al. (2006b, c); Klefsjo et al. (2001); Kwak and Anbari(2006); Lee-Mortimer (2006); Linderman et al. (2003, 2006); Mitra (2004);Motwani et al. (2004); Pandey (2007); Pfeifer et al. (2004); Rasis et al.(2002a, b); Sadagopan et al. (2005); Savolainen and Haikonen (2007);Schroeder et al. (2008) 37

Lean production Al-Aomar (2006); Andersson et al. (2006); Bendell (2006); Bonilla et al. (2008);Brett and Queen (2005); Byrne et al. (2007); Chang and Su (2007); Cupryket al. (2007); Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park (2006); De Koning et al. (2006,2008a, b); Fairbanks (2007); Ferng and Price (2005); Furterer andElshennawy (2005); Gibbons (2006); Hu et al. (2008); Jin et al. (2008); Khalafand Yang (2006); Kumar et al. (2006); Marti (2005); Mazzola et al. (2007);Morgan and Cooper (2004); Naslund (2008); Pickrell et al. (2005); Pojasek(2003); Proudlove et al. (2008); Ricondo and Viles (2005); Shah et al. (2008);Shahin and Alinavaz (2008); Sharma (2003); Su et al. (2006); Thomas et al.(2008b); Van Den Heuvel et al. (2006) 34

Success factors Antony (2004a, 2006, 2008a); Antony and Banuelas (2002); Antony andFergusson (2004); Antony et al. (2005, 2007a, 2008); Buch and Tolentino(2006a, b); Byrne (2003); Chakrabarty and Tan (2007); Cheng (2007a, 2008);Chung et al. (2008); Coronado and Antony (2002); Feng and Manuel (2008);Frings and Grant (2005); Gowen (2005); Hilton et al. (2008); Ho et al. (2008);Jenicke et al. (2008); Kumar (2007); Laosirihongthong et al. (2006); Lindermanet al. (2003, 2006); McAdam and Evans (2004b); Knowles et al. (2005);Sanders and Hild (2000a); Shanmugam (2007); Szeto and Tsang (2005);Wessel and Burcher (2004); Yang et al. (2008) 33

Challenges Antony (2004b, 2006, 2007b, 2008a, b); Antony et al. (2001, 2008); Cheng(2007a); Feld and Stone (2002); Gijo and Rao (2005); Goh and Xie (2004); Gohet al. (2006); Hammer (2002); Ho et al. (2006); Hoerl (1998); Kumar (2007);Kumar et al. (2008); Kwak and Anbari (2006); Lee and Choi (2006); Liu et al.(2008); McAdam and Evans (2004a, b); McAdam and Lafferty (2004);McAdam et al. (2005); McClusky (2006); Nonthaleerak and Hendry (2006);Sanders and Hild (2000b); Senapati (2004); Shahabuddin (2008); Van DenHeuvel et al. (2004); Yeung, S. (2007) 31

Benefits Agarwal and Bajaj (2008); Aggogeri and Gentili (2008); Antony (2004b,2006); Antony et al. (2001, 2005, 2007c); Behara et al. (1995); Carnell andLambert (2000); Chen et al. (2005); Das et al. (2006); De Mast (2006); Desai(2006, 2008); Douglas and Erwin (2000); Feld and Stone (2002); Freiesleben(2006); Ganesh (2004); Goh et al. (2006); Hutchins (2000); Johnson (2002,2006); Johnson and Swisher (2003); Kuei and Madu (2003); Kumar et al.(2007); Kwak and Anbari (2006); McClusky (2006); Sahoo et al. (2008); Snee(2004) 29

(continued)Table II.

IJQRM27,3

276


Project selection Antony (2004a, b, 2006); Antony et al. (2001, 2005, 2007c); Banuelas et al.(2006); Bonilla et al. (2008); Hu et al. (2008); Jung and Lim (2007); Kumar et al.(2007, 2008); Kumi and Morrow (2006); Kwak and Anbari (2006); Savolainenand Haikonen (2007); Su and Chou (2008) 16

Organizationalchange

Brewer (2004); Carnell and Lambert (2000); Craven et al. (2006); Davison andAl-Shaghana (2007); De Feo and Bar-El (2002); Fazzari and Levitt (2008);Immaneni et al. (2007); Llorens-Montes and Molina (2006); Lok et al. (2008);Motwani et al. (2004); Rajamanoharan and Collier (2006); Sadagopan et al.(2005); Schroeder et al. (2008); Thawani (2004) 14

Supply chain Antony et al. (2006); Bandyopadhyay and Jenicke (2007); Chan et al. (2006);Chappell and Peck (2006); Das (2005); Dasgupta (2003); Garg et al. (2004);Gowen (2005); Knowles et al. (2005); Wang et al. (2004); Yang et al. (2007);Yeh et al. (2007) 13

Six Sigmaeducation

Anderson-Cook et al. (2005); Cook et al. (2005); Edgeman and Dugan (2008);Ho et al. (2006); Maleyeff and Kaminsky (2002); Man (2002); Mitra (2004);Montgomery et al. (2005); Rao and Rao (2007); Stevenson and Mergen (2006);Weinstein et al. (2008) 11

Org. learning Box (2006); Jeffery (2005); Lin et al. (2008); Motwani et al. (2004); Ricondo andViles (2005); Savolainen and Haikonen (2007); Wiklund and Wiklund (2002) 7 Table II.


articles by themes

Six Sigmaquality

277

Six Sigma methodologies (DMAIC and DFSS). The second largest part of Six Sigmaliterature deals with the theorization and application of Six Sigma methodologies.There are two major improvement methodologies in Six Sigma. The first methodology,DMAIC, is used to improve already existing processes and can be divided into fivephases; define, measure, analyze, improve and control. Several studies have shownsuccessful cases of DMAIC application in a variety of contexts such as healthcare(Dreachslin and Lee, 2007), thermal power plants (Kaushik and Khanduja, 2008),retailing (Kumar et al., 2008a), financial services (Kumar et al., 2008b) andmanufacturing process (Li et al., 2008; Tong et al., 2004). In contrast, the secondmethodology, design for Six Sigma (DFSS), is used for new processes or when theexisting processes are unable to achieve business objectives such as customersatisfaction (Andersson et al., 2006). DFSS methodology can also be divided into fivephases (DMADV); define, measure, analyze, design and verify (Banuelas and Antony,2003). Antony (2002) refers to DFSS as a powerful approach to design products andprocesses in a cost effective and simple manner. Applications of DFSS are also variedfrom high-tech manufacturing (Chung et al., 2008) to designing new housing (Johnsonet al., 2006a).

Six Sigma belt system. A part of Six Sigma structure is the role of Six Sigma leaderswho initiate, support and review improvement projects. Most Six Sigma organizationsadopt the hierarchical level of black belt and green belt systems. A black belt is afull-time team leader dedicated to the Six Sigma initiative. Black belts are equippedwith expertise in using the Six Sigma methodology and statistical analysis techniquesfor process improvement. Individuals at the highest level of expertise in Six Sigmamethodologies are called master black belts. They teach, coach and mentor thelower-level black belts and green belts. About 5 percent of employees in Six Sigmaorganization will be black belts, while the rest are trained to be green belts. Green beltsare project leaders and/or process experts who integrate Six Sigma into their daily jobduties. They are trained in the use the Six Sigma methodology and dedicatingapproximately 30 percent of their time toward Six Sigma initiatives. Most of theliterature on Six Sigma belt system focuses mainly on belts’ training and attributes.For example, Ingle and Roe (2001) contrasted the Six Sigma black belt programs usedin both Motorola and General Electric (GE). They concluded that GE has a morestructured approach to training black belts than does Motorola. The program in GE ismore intensive, takes a shorter time and therefore results in a greater number ofaccredited black belts. The authors also warn about the dangers of focusing on themetric rather than the mission in black belt training since some people were onlybecoming black belts in order to be promoted, and those that could not become blackbelts were resentful and disillusioned. With regard to black belts attributes, Antonyet al. (2007b) and Black and McGlashan (2006) found that several characteristics weremore essential than others in considering potential black belt candidates. The keyattributes of Six Sigma black belts in manufacturing companies include effectivecommunicators, change agents, customer advocators, team builders, results-drivenmindset personnel and positive thinkers. With regard to green belts, Green (2006a) andGreen et al. (2006) uses case studies to examine the nature of their training, work andthe projects in which they were involved.

Selection of Six Sigma projects. Selection of Six Sigma projects has receivedsubstantial attention from authors (e.g. Antony, 2004a; Banuelas et al., 2006; Hu et al.,

IJQRM27,3

278

2008; Jung and Lim, 2007; Kumar et al., 2007; Su and Chou, 2008) given that the rightselection of Six Sigma projects is one of the most critical factors for the effectivedeployment of a Six Sigma program. Antony (2004a) has indicated some projectselection criteria when a service organization wants to implement Six Sigma programs.Those criteria include financing, customer satisfaction, cost, risks and alignment ofstrategic business goals and objectives. If project selection is systematically sloppy, theentire Six Sigma effort could fail. Based on the results of a survey study, Banuelas et al.(2006) have pointed to project selection criteria employed in UK organizations. Thesecriteria include customer satisfaction, financial benefits, top management commitmentand the integration with the company’s strategy. Moreover, Su and Chou (2008)employed three main steps for selecting Six Sigma projects. Those steps areunderstanding and analyzing the voice of customers (VOCs), drawing up theorganization’s business strategic policies and deploying the possible Six Sigmaprojects based on the organization’s business policies and the voice of customers. Theysuggest that Six Sigma projects can be prioritized based on evaluating benefits andrisks of each project. However, the prioritization of projects in many organizations isstill based on pure subjective judgment and very few powerful tools are available forprioritizing projects (Su and Chou, 2008). Cost benefit analysis, cause and effect matrix,brainstorming and Pareto analysis are among these tools and techniques which can beemployed to identify and prioritize such projects (Banuelas et al., 2006).

Six Sigma and quality approaches. Six Sigma literature has linked Six Sigma toquality approaches through two pivotal perspectives. The first perspective links SixSigma to TQM, while the second treats Six Sigma as a continuous improvementapproach. Within the first perspective, Six Sigma authors (e.g. Andersson et al., 2006;Black and Revere, 2006; Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006; Ferng and Price, 2005;Furterer and Elshennawy, 2005; Green, 2006a; Ricondo and Viles, 2005) asserted thatSix Sigma is not an alternative to TQM.

Even though most Six Sigma tools and techniques are already being applied in theTQM field and both approaches preach that continuous improvement of quality isessential to business success, there is a vital distinction between them. Hence, theimpression raised by some researchers (e.g. Thirunavukkarasu et al., 2008) that SixSigma could be easily implemented in a company that implements TQM is stilldebatable. While authors regard TQM as a mushy management system consisting ofvalues, methodologies and tools that aims to improve customer satisfaction, theyconsider Six Sigma as a more structured methodology that fosters product and processimprovement so that the defects are never produced in the first place. Contrary toTQM, Six Sigma allows organizations to measure process capability and improvementefforts internally and externally. Schroeder et al. (2008) have identified four coreadvantages of Six Sigma over TQM. These advantages involve the focus on financialand business results, use of a structured method for process improvement or newproduct introduction, use of specific metrics such as DPMO, critical-to-quality (CTQ),and use of a significant number of full-time improvement specialists. According toAntony and Banuelas (2002), Ford found that Six Sigma is more profit orientated, whileTQM focuses on fixing the quality problem regardless of the cost. The abovementioned differences affirm the necessity of critical ingredients related to Six Sigmatraining, structure and focus to ensure successful transformation from TQM to SixSigma in an organization.

Six Sigmaquality

279

On the other hand, Six Sigma has gained popularity as a continuous improvementstrategy aimed at reducing process-variations (Antony, 2002; Ehie and Sheu, 2005;Haikonen et al., 2004; Savolainen and Haikonen, 2007; Stewart and Spencer, 2006). Thisview is triggered through the link between the DMAIC-structure described above andthe Deming’s plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. The idea in both procedural practicesforms a continuum over time for dynamic continuous improvement structure to sustainbusiness performance and bottom-line (Savolainen and Haikonen, 2007). Operationally,continuous improvement should be guided by Six Sigma tools and techniques fordefining specific process to be improved, analyzing root causes and designing actionsfor making improvement (Ehie and Sheu, 2005).

Six Sigma and lean production. Recent Six Sigma studies have focused on therelationship between Six Sigma and lean production (e.g. Andersson et al., 2006;Arnheiter and Maleyeff, 2005; Bendell, 2006; Chang and Su, 2007; Dahlgaard andDahlgaard-Park, 2006; Ferng and Price, 2005; Naslund, 2008; Pickrell et al., 2005) or onthe implementation of the new labeled concept “Lean Six Sigma” (e.g. Bonilla et al.,2008; Byrne et al., 2007; Cupryk et al., 2007; De Koning et al., 2006, 2008a, b; Furtererand Elshennawy, 2005; Gibbons, 2006; Marti, 2005).

The authors arrived at a conclusion that lean and Six Sigma complement each otherand represent a powerful framework for eliminating process waste and variation whenused together. Lean production is primarily concerned with eliminating waste andreducing cycle time in processes, but cannot reduce variation alone. Six Sigma canreduce variation and improve process by applying a problem-solving approach usingstatistical tools, but alone does not reduce waste or cycle time. Another distinctionbetween the two approaches is related to the scope. Whereas lean productionencompasses the entire organization value chain, Six Sigma concentrates morenarrowly on specific project or process within an organization. Despite thesedifferences, both approaches share common features that may combined together todevelop the “Lean Six Sigma” concept as an improvement methodology thatmaximizes shareholder value and improves customer satisfaction, cost, quality,process speed and invested capital by reducing variation and eliminating waste in anorganization (Byrne et al., 2007). Typically, some of lean Six Sigma cases that havebeen reported in the literature are applied in service settings including financial service(De Koning et al., 2008a, b), healthcare (De Koning et al., 2006), and local government(Furterer and Elshennawy, 2005).

Six Sigma success factors. Key factors for success or failure during Six Sigmaimplementation have always been subject to intensive literature (e.g. Antony, 2004b,2006; Antony and Fergusson, 2004; Antony and Banuelas, 2002; Antony et al., 2005;Buch and Tolentino, 2006b; Chakrabarty and Tan, 2007; Coronado and Antony, 2002;Kumar, 2007; Kwak and Anbari, 2006; McAdam and Evans, 2004a; Revere et al., 2006;Szeto and Tsang, 2005; Wessel and Burcher, 2004). The most cited success factors inSix Sigma literature include the following:

. Strong top management involvement and commitment.

. Selection of Six Sigma projects.

. Changing organizational culture.

. Aligning Six Sigma projects to corporate business objectives.

. Cross-functional team working.

IJQRM27,3

280

. Effective communication.

. Infrastructure (both organizational and IT infrastructure).

. Training.

. Linking Six Sigma to business strategy, customer, HRM, suppliers.

. Measurement.

. Accountability.

. Understanding tools and techniques within Six Sigma.

. Project management skills.

Benefits of Six Sigma. When Six Sigma is implemented successfully, it will offer adisciplined approach for improving effectiveness and efficiency in a broad range ofbusinesses. The most cited benefit of Six Sigma in the literature is customersatisfaction (e.g. Behara et al., 1995; Chen et al., 2005; Das et al., 2006; Desai, 2006;Douglas and Erwin, 2000; Ganesh, 2004; Kuei and Madu, 2003; Kumar et al., 2007;Rylander and Provost, 2006). Freiesleben (2006) suggested that successful applicationof Six Sigma quality is positively correlated with better financial performance andprofit generation. In the manufacturing context, Six Sigma benefits are related tovarious areas such as reduction in process variability, reduction in in-process defectlevels, reduction in maintenance inspection time, improving capacity cycle time,improving inventory on-time delivery, increasing savings in capital expenditures,increase in profitability, reduction of operational costs, reduction in the cost of poorquality (COPQ), increase in productivity, reduction of cycle time, reduction of customercomplaints, improved sales and reduced inspection (Antony et al., 2005, 2007a; Kwakand Anbari, 2006). Service organizations adopting Six Sigma strategy, on the otherhand, will have various benefits. According to Antony (2006, 2004a), Antony et al.(2007c), and Kwak and Anbari (2006), Six Sigma benefits for service organizations mayinvolve improved accuracy of resources allocation, improving accuracy of reporting,reduced documentary defects, improving timely and accurate claims reimbursement,streamlining the process of service delivery, reduced inventory of equipment, reducedservice preparation times, improved customer satisfaction, reduced defect rate inservice processes, reduced variability of key service processes, transformation oforganizational culture from fire-fighting mode to fire-prevention mode with theattitude of continuous improvement of service process performance, reduced processcycle time and hence achieve faster service delivery, reduced service operational costs,increased market share, improved cross-functional teamwork across the entireorganization, increased employee morale, reduced number of non-value added steps incritical business processes through systematic elimination, leading to faster delivery ofservice, reduced cost of poor quality (COPQ) (costs associated with late delivery,customer complaints, costs associated with misdirected problem solving, etc.),increased awareness of various problem solving tools and techniques, leading togreater job satisfaction for employees, improved consistency level of service throughsystematic reduction of process variability and effective management decisions due toreliance on data and facts rather than assumptions and gut-feelings.

Six Sigma challenges. Bridging the gap between the theory and practice in SixSigma research has been given more attention by Six Sigma researchers (e.g. Antony,2004b, 2007b, 2008b; Chakrabarty and Tan, 2007; Goh and Xie, 2004; McAdam et al.,

Six Sigmaquality

281

2005; McAdam and Evans, 2004a, b; Nonthaleerak and Hendry, 2007; Senapati, 2004;Shahabuddin, 2008). Although its powerful strategy and impact on industry andservice sectors, Six Sigma still lacks a theoretical underpinning with othermanagement theory (Antony, 2008b). However, Linderman et al. (2003, 2006)attempt to enhance the underlying theory by linking Six Sigma to goal theory. Theydevelop a set of propositions that need further empirical verification. McAdam andEvans (2004a, b) have claimed that the Six Sigma program is weak in understandingcustomer needs and transforming these needs into products. Other Six Sigmalimitations are related to its application. These challenges and limitations as illustratedby Antony (2004b, 2007b, 2008b) are as follows:

. The 1.5 sigma shift resulting in a 3.4 DPMO does not make sense in serviceprocesses.

. The impact of leadership styles on Six Sigma success needs more research.

. No unified standards have been accepted regarding the contents of belt training.

. The relationship between the cost of poor quality (COPQ) and the sigma qualitylevel (SQL) is based on experience not empirical research.

. The relationship between COPQ and its financial impact in SMEs needs furtherresearch since SMEs are hardly considering quality costs.

. Availability of quality data is still a great challenge in Six Sigma projects.

. In some cases, the solutions driven by Six Sigma are expensive and only a smallpart of the solution is implemented at the end.

. Six Sigma project selection in many organizations is based on subjectivejudgment.

. The calculation of defect rates is based on the assumption of normality, while thecalculation of defect rates for non-normal situations is not yet properlyaddressed.

. Owing to dynamic market demands, critical-to-quality characteristics (CTQs)should be critically examined at all times and refined as necessary.

. Training programs usually do not address forecasting and time series methods.

. Six Sigma research needs to investigate the validity of 5 sigma approachassumption in design for Six Sigma (DFSS).

. There is no standard curriculum for Six Sigma in many top schools.

Six Sigma education. A series of Six Sigma papers have pointed to the entry of SixSigma program in an educational context. Edgeman and Dugan (2008) have arguedthat the pragmatic and intellectual focus of Six Sigma combined with tools andstrategies from engineering and business, develops a magnet curriculum that attractmany students. They have suggested two deployment approaches for its academicinstruction. The first approach is via central control at the unit, departmental, orcollege level for their own students and to attract students from other fields, while theother approach is via a radiant instructional model with core courses and electivecourses in discipline specific areas that match students’ needs. Moreover, Antony(2008b), Ho et al. (2006), Mitra (2004), and Rao and Rao (2007) believe that a Six Sigmaframework provides an excellent platform for integrating statistical, management and

IJQRM27,3

282

technical tools and skills into the curricula of engineering and business schools to helpstudents tackle business problems in organizations. Further, Rao and Rao (2007)suggested that all students of management must leave the institution as certified blackbelts. Maleyeff and Kaminsky (2002) and Cook et al. (2005) have revealed a positivefeedback from students regarding a course on Six Sigma taught at US universities.However, successful academic adoption of Six Sigma curricula require not only finecontent, but also its organization and supporting culture that rely in part on intellectualand practical experiences from external contributors such as Six Sigma black belts(Edgeman and Dugan, 2008).

Six Sigma and organizational change. Many authors have seen Six Sigma as anorganizational change vehicle that possesses a culture of accountability, quality, andinnovation (Brewer, 2004; Carnell and Lambert, 2000; Craven et al., 2006; Davison andAl-Shaghana, 2007; Immaneni et al., 2007; Lok et al., 2008). Schroeder et al. (2008)suggested that Six Sigma should be viewed as an organization change process. Theview will improve Six Sigma implementation through identifying what needs to bechanged and boost change management process itself. Thawani (2004) revealed thatSix Sigma has been deployed strategically to change the culture of organizationthrough inculcating process control discipline in business context. The main issue isthat organizations need to know when and how changes can be made to deploy SixSigma tools. Sadagopan et al. (2005) suggested three Six Sigma transitions (i.e.physical, psychological, and mindset) which are required for successfulimplementation of Six Sigma program. These transitions ensure changes inresources, employees and management to facilitate the implementation of alternativeprocesses that achieve 3.4 DPMO in organizational performance. In the same vein,Llorens-Montes and Molina (2006) suggested that the implementation of a Six Sigmaprogram needs successful change management of behavioral and work processes toachieving planned aspirations. Moreover, Rajamanoharan and Collier (2006) usedchange management model as a framework to explore Six Sigma implementationissues. They indicated that successful change management can be facilitated byleadership support, learning capacity and IT leveragability while a low level of culturalreadiness and an inadequate knowledge-sharing capability inhibits successful change.A success story of organizational transformation process to implement Six Sigma inDow Chemical’s has been reported by Motwani et al. (2004).

Six Sigma and supply chain. Several studies have investigated how Six Sigmamethodology can effectively be employed in supply chain management (SCM) to measure,monitor and improve the performance of the whole supply network. For example,Dasgupta (2003) called for the application of Six Sigma metrics as a comprehensive andflexible framework for evaluating and benchmarking the performance of a supply chainand its entities against world-class standards. Wang et al. (2004) developed an applicationguideline for the assessment, improvement and control of quality in SCM in Taiwan usingSix-Sigma improvement methodology. They advocated that improvements in the qualityof all supply chain processes lead to cost reductions as well as service enhancements.Although they demonstrated that Six Sigma has not been successfully adapted to deliversimilar benefits across supply chains, Knowles et al. (2005) concluded that Six Sigma doeshave something novel to offer organizations over the contribution of existing approaches tosupply chain improvement. They proposed a conceptual model that integrates theBalanced Scorecard, SCOR model (Supply Chain Reference model) and Six Sigma DMAIC

Six Sigmaquality

283

methodology in a strategic- and operational-level cycles. Chappell and Peck (2006)concluded that Six Sigma can be applied to supply chains by following the DMAICframework and employing a mixture of quantitative and qualitative tools. However, theyalso suggest that it is difficult to implement Six Sigma methodology throughout the supplychain under some circumstances related to stock holding policies and levels of demand.Furthermore, Antony et al. (2006) proposed a Six Sigma constrained genetic algorithm(GA) based heuristic to optimize supply chain performance through the synchronization ofthe business processes. The suggested model aimed at minimizing the total cost andensuring very high delivery probability within the customer specified delivery window. Inthe same scene, Garg et al. (2004) introduced “Six Sigma supply chains” as a new notion todescribe and quantify supply chains with sharp and timely deliveries. Using inventoryoptimization (IOPT) problem, they show that the design of Six Sigma supply chains candeliver products within a customer specified delivery window, with at most 3.4 misseddeliveries per million. Presenting a real industry case about Six Sigma methodology for theSCM, Yang et al. (2007) argued how the black belt program in Samsung has producedhighly qualified and talented SCM specialists, who are currently training the methodologyto members in their organizations and leading SCM projects. As a result, SCM projects inSamsung are prepared and conducted in a more disciplined way and their outcomes arecontinuously monitored and shared through the company’s repository.

Six Sigma and organizational learning. Few studies have looked at the link betweenSix Sigma and organizational learning from a perspective that Six Sigma methodologiesare mature enough to be integrated with different learning approaches. Wiklund andWiklund (2002) discussed Six Sigma as a company-wide approach for organizationalimprovement incorporating organizational learning. The authors covered the factors thatare essential for improving organizational learning and for stimulating the competence,development and motivation among personnel. Further, Ricondo and Viles (2005)considered Six Sigma as an improvement program that can be linked to organizationallearning under certain conditions depending on their problem-solving capabilities.Savolainen and Haikonen (2007) examined the dynamics of organizational learning in thecontext of Six Sigma implementation in organizations. They suggested that learning inSix Sigma implementation is a single-loop and incremental type where the learningprocess is characterized by measurement, detection and correction of errors and costreduction. Consequently, continuous improvement occurs through procedural practiceslike in the DMAIC-cycle that forms a structure for sustained learning process.

Distribution of articles by research method. The distribution of articles by researchmethod is shown in Table III. About 63 percent of the articles (263 articles) wereclassified as empirical articles using either surveys or case studies, while about 37percent of the articles (154 articles) were theoretical articles that usually employextensive literature review to focus on the development of concepts, propositions,models, or theory building. Also, it is clear that case study is the most dominantresearch method in Six Sigma articles (231 articles, 55.4 percent). Figure 4 shows thegrowing gap over the years between case study method and other research methods,particularly survey research. Case study method is used to document and analyze SixSigma implementation in particular contexts; industry, service, process or phase of aspecific project. Examples of Six Sigma case study research include Desai (2006)concerning applying Six Sigma approach to improve customer service in an Indiansmall scale industry, Echempati and White (2000) regarding analyzing hinge

IJQRM27,3

284

TotalMethod References n %

Case-focusedarticles

Adams et al. (2004); Agarwal and Bajaj (2008); Al-Aomar (2006); Al-Mishariand Suliman (2008); Amer et al. (2007, 2008); Anand et al. (2007); Antony andFergusson (2004); Antony et al. (2007c); Arul and Kohli (2004);Bandyopadhyay and Jenicke (2007); Bandyopadhyay and Lichtman (2007);Banuelas and Antony (2003); Banuelas et al. (2005); Bayle et al. (2001); Beard(2008); Behara et al. (1995); Benedetto (2003); Bigio et al. (2004); Bonilla et al.(2008); Box (2006); Brett and Queen (2005); Brewer (2004); Brewer andEighme (2005); Bunce et al. (2008); Byrne (2003); Camgoz-Akdag (2007); Chanet al. (2005); Chang and Su (2007); Chappell and Peck (2006); Chatterjee (2003);Chen et al. (2005a, b, 2007, 2008); Cheng et al. (2008a); Craven et al. (2006);Cupryk et al. (2007); Das (2005); Das and Hughes (2006); Dasgupta (2003);Davison and Al-Shaghana (2007); De Koning et al. (2006, 2008a, b); De Vore(2008); Desai (2006, 2008); Doble (2005); Does et al. (2002); Douglas and Erwin(2000); Dreachslin and Lee (2007); Drenckpohl et al. (2007); Echempati andWhite (2000); Edgeman et al. (2005); Ehie and Sheu (2005); Elberfeld et al.(2007); Eldridge et al. (2006); Erlandson (2006); Ferng and Price (2005); Frank(2003); Frankel et al. (2005); Furterer and Elshennawy (2005); Garg et al.(2004); Gerhorst et al. (2006); Gibbons (2006); Gijo and Rao (2005); Goel andChen (2008); Goh (2001, 2002b); Goh et al. (2003); Gowen (2008); Green (2006a);Green et al. (2006); Hagemeyer et al. (2006); Haikonen et al. (2004); Hamza(2008); Han and Lee (2002); Harjac et al. (2008); Harrington and Trusko (2005);Hasenkamp and Olme (2008); Henderson and Evans (2000); Hendricks andKelbaugh (1998); Hensley and Dobie (2005); Hild et al. (2000); Hilton et al.(2008); Ho and Chuang (2006); Ho et al. (2006, 2008); Holtz and Campbell(2004); Hong and Goh (2003, 2004); Hsu et al. (2008); Hu and Antony (2007);Hu and Pieprzak (2005); Hwang (2006); Immaneni et al. (2007); Ingle and Roe(2001); Isaacson (2008); Jenicke et al. (2008); Jin et al. (2008); Johnson (2002,2006); Johnson and Swisher (2003); Johnson et al. (2006a, b, c); Johnston et al.(2008); Johnstone et al. (2003a, b); Jung and Lim (2007); Juras et al. (2007);Kalamdani and Khalaf (2006); Kapur and Feng (2005); Kaushik andKhanduja (2008); Kaushik et al. (2008); Khalaf and Yang (2006); Knowles et al.(2004); Kovach (2007); Kovach and Cho (2006); Krishna and Dangayach(2007); Krishna et al. (2008); Kumar (2007); Kumar et al. (2006, 2007, 2008a, b);Kumi and Morrow (2006); Ladani et al. (2006); Lee-Mortimer (2006, 2007); Liand Al-Refaie (2008); Li et al. (2006, 2008); Lin et al. (2008); Lipscomb andLewis (2004); Liu et al. (2008); Lloyd (2006); Lok et al. (2008); Lucier andSeshadri (2001); McAdam and Lafferty (2004); Mahanti and Antony (2005,2006); Mahesh et al. (2006); Malhan and Rao (2005); Malliga and Srinivasan(2007); Manikandan et al. (2008); Markarian (2004a, b); Marti (2005); Martinet al. (2006); Mazzola et al. (2007); Mekki (2006); Miles (2006); Morgan andCooper (2004); Morusca and Cupryk (2005); Motwani et al. (2004);Mukhopadhyay and Ray (2006); Murugappan and Keeni (2003); Neagu andHoerl (2005); Neri et al. (2008); Ng et al. (2005); Nonthaleerak and Hendry(2008); ONeill (2005); Pan and Cheng (2008); Pandey (2007); Patterson et al.(2005); Perng et al. (2008); Perry and Barker (2006); Pheng and Hui (2004);Pickrell et al. (2005); Proudlove et al. (2008); Rajagopal and Castillo (2007);Rajagopalan et al. (2004); Rasis et al. (2002a); Rasis et al. (2002b);Ravichandran (2006, 2008); Revere and Black (2003); Revere et al. (2004);Sadagopan et al. (2005); Sahoo et al. (2008); Sarkar (2007a, b); Savage (2007);Savage and Son (2008); Savolainen and Haikonen (2007); Sehwail and DeYong (2003); Sekhar and Mahanti (2006); Setijono (2008); Shahin (2008);Sharma (2003); Smith (1993); Sokovic et al. (2005); Stewart and Spencer(2006); Su and Chou (2008); Su et al. (2006); Su et al. (2005); Sudhahar et al.(2008); Taghaboni-Dutta and Moreland (2004); Tang et al. (2007); Tannocket al. (2007); Thakkar et al. (2006); Thiele et al. (2008); Thomas and Barton(2006); Thomas and Lewis (2007); Thomas et al. (2008a, b); Thomas andSingh (2006); Thompson et al. (2008); Tong et al. (2004); Ung et al. (2007); VanDen Heuvel et al. (2004, 2005, 2006); Van Iwaarden et al. (2008); Vaughan(1998); Vote and Huston (2005); Wang et al. (2004); Woodall (2001); Woodard(2005, 2006); Wright and Basu (2008); Wyper and Harrison (2000); Xue-Lianget al. (2007); Yang and Yeh (2007); Yang et al. (2007); Yeh (2007); Yeung, V.(2007); Zaroukian and Sierra (2006); Zhan (2008); Zhang and Xu (2008) 231 55.4

(continued )

Table III.Classification of Six

Sigma articles byresearch method

Six Sigmaquality

285

alignment problems using six-sigma quality, Furterer and Elshennawy (2005) onimplementing TQM and lean Six Sigma tools in local government, Gerhorst et al. (2006)about using DFSS in product development at Ford Motor Company and Knowles et al.(2004) on Six Sigma application at a UK food manufacturer. The analysis is typicallynarrow, in-depth and provides a thorough examination of a limited Six Sigma area.Some case study articles represent anecdotal examples of Six Sigma practices, withoutexploring practice in any rigorous or in-depth manner. On the contrary, surveysrepresent the least dominant research method in Six Sigma articles (32 articles, 7.7percent) where typical wide perspective or superficial generalization are employed to a

TotalMethod References n %

Review-focusedarticles

Aggogeri and Gentili (2008); Al-Aomar and Youssef (2006); Anderson-Cooket al. (2005); Andersson et al. (2006); Antony (2002, 2004b, 2006, 2007a, b,2008b); Antony and Banuelas (2002); Antony et al. (2006); Arnheiter andMaleyeff (2005); Banuelas and Antony (2004); Basu (2004); Bellows (2004);Bendell (2006); Biedry (2001); Biehl (2004); Bisgaard and Freiesleben (2000);Black and McGlashan (2006); Box and Luceno (2000); Brady and Allen (2006);Brewer and Bagranoff (2004); Byrne et al. (2007); Card (2000); Carnell andLambert (2000); Carrigan and Kujawa (2006); Caulcutt (2001); Chan et al.(2006); Cook et al. (2005); Coronado and Antony (2002); Cronemyr (2007);Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park (2006); Das et al. (2006); De Feo (2000); DeFeo and Bar-El (2002); De Koning and De Mast (2005, 2006); De Mast (2006,2007); Dedhia (2005); Delsanter (1992); Edgeman and Dugan (2008);Fairbanks (2007); Fazzari and Levitt (2008); Feld and Stone (2002); Ferryanto(2007); Flott (2000); Foster (2007); Freiesleben (2006, 2007); Friday-Stroud andSutterfield (2007); Fuller (2000a, b); Gack and Robison (2003); Ganesh (2004);Garg et al. (2004); Glower (2006); Goeke and Offodile (2005); Goh (2002a); Gohand Xie (2003, 2004); Goh et al. (2006); Graves (2002); Green (2006b); Gremyr(2005); Hahn (2005); Hahn et al. (1999, 2000); Hammer (2002); Hare (2005);Hoerl (1998, 2004); Hoerl et al. (2001); Hsieh et al. (2007); Hu et al. (2005, 2008);Huq (2006); Hutchins (2000); Ingram (2000a, b, c); Jeffery (2005); Johnson(2006); Kanji (2008); Kleasen (2007); Klefsjo et al. (2001, 2006); Knowles et al.(2005); Kuei and Madu (2003); Kumar, M. et al. (2008); Kumar, U. et al. (2008);Kwak and Anbari (2006); Lanyon (2003); Lee and Choi (2006); Linderman et al.(2006); Linderman et al. (2003); Little (2003); Llorens-Montes and Molina(2006); Lupan et al. (2005); McAdam et al. (2005); McCarty and Fisher (2007);McClusky (2006); Mahanti (2005); Maleyeff and Kaminsky (2002); Maleyeffand Krayenvenger (2004); Man (2002); Manual (2006); Markarian (2004a, b);Mitra (2004); Montgomery et al. (2005); Moorman (2005); Naslund (2008);Nonthaleerak and Hendry (2006, 2007); Pfeifer et al. (2004); Pojasek (2003);Prabhushankar et al. (2008); Raisinghani et al. (2005); Rajamanoharan andCollier (2006); Rao and Rao (2007); Ravichandran (2007); Ribardo and Allen(2003); Ricondo and Viles (2005); Rudisill and Clary (2004); Rylander andProvost (2006); Sanders and Hild (2000a, b, c); Schroeder et al. (2008);Senapati (2004); Shah et al. (2008); Shahabuddin (2008); Shahin and Alinavaz(2008); Shanmugam (2007); Smith and Phadke (2005); Snee (2004); Sodhi andSodhi (2005); Stevenson and Mergen (2006); Thawani (2004);Thirunavukkarasu et al. (2008); Treville et al. (2008); Vestal (2004); Walters(2005); Weinstein et al. (2008); Wiklund and Wiklund (2002); Yang, C. (2004);Yang, K. (2004, 2005); Yeung (2007); Yilmaz and Chatterjee (2000); Zu et al.(2008) 154 36.9

Survey-focusedarticles

Antony (2004a, 2008a); Antony et al. (2001, 2005, 2007a, b, 2008); Banuelaset al. (2006); Bhatnagar and Pandey (2005); Black and Revere (2006); Buchand Tolentino (2006a, b); Chakrabarty and Tan (2007); Chang and Wang(2008); Cheng (2007a, b, c, 2008); Chung et al. (2008); Feng and Manuel (2008);Frings and Grant (2005); Gowen (2005); Kumar et al. (2007);Laosirihongthong et al. (2006); McAdam and Evans (2004a, b); Revere et al.(2006); Schon (2006); Szeto and Tsang (2005); Taner et al. (2007); Wessel andBurcher (2004); Yang et al. (2008) 32 7.7Table III.

IJQRM27,3

286

large number of cases. Examples of Six Sigma survey research involve Feng andManuel (2008) who conducted a national survey of Six Sigma programs in UShealthcare organizations, Antony (2004a) regarding Six Sigma application in UKservice organizations, Antony et al. (2005) concerning Six Sigma implementation inmanufacturing SMEs in the UK, and Black and McGlashan (2006) on essentialcharacteristics of Six Sigma black belt candidates in US companies.

Distribution of articles by sector: manufacturing vs serviceAccording to this distribution, empirical Six Sigma articles (263 articles, 63.3 percent)are broken down into two major sectors; manufacturing and service. Table IV showsthat the majority of empirical articles are deemed to be manufacturing-focused (169articles, 64.3 percent). This category comprises articles examining Six Sigma withinmanufacturing contexts such as semiconductor (e.g. Su and Chou, 2008; Su et al., 2005),automotive (e.g. Chen et al., 2005; Krishna et al., 2008; Kumar et al., 2007), aerospace(e.g. Maleyeff and Krayenvenger, 2004), chemical (e.g. Motwani et al., 2004; Doble,2005), software (e.g. Antony and Fergusson, 2004; Hong and Goh, 2003, 2004; Mahanti,2005; Mahanti and Antony, 2005, 2006), pharmaceutical (e.g. Cupryk et al., 2007;Morusca and Cupryk, 2005), steel (e.g. Sarkar, 2007a, b) and aluminum (e.g. Das andHughes, 2006) industries. On the contrary, service-focused articles constitute the leastpublished empirical articles in Six Sigma (52 articles, 34 percent). Healthcare context,however, is the most dominant setting in the service category. Examples of Six Sigmaarticles in healthcare include Antony et al. (2007c), De Koning et al. (2006), Dreachslinand Lee (2007), Feng and Manuel (2008), Harrington and Trusko (2005), Jin et al. (2008),Johnstone et al. (2003a), Lloyd and Holsenbach (2006), Proudlove et al. (2008), andTaner et al. (2007). Other service contexts may include government (e.g. Furterer andElshennawy, 2005; Ho and Chuang, 2006), banking (e.g. Immaneni et al., 2007), andeducation (e.g. Thakkar et al., 2006; Weinstein et al., 2008). Table IV provides acomprehensive list containing classified references for each of Six Sigma application


articles by researchmethod (1992-2008)

Six Sigmaquality

287

TotalSector References n %

Manufacturing-focused

Agarwal and Bajaj (2008); Al-Mishari and Suliman (2008); Amer et al.(2007, 2008); Anand et al. (2007); Antony (2008a); Antony andFergusson (2004); Antony et al. (2005, 2007a, b, 2008); Arul and Kohli(2004); Bandyopadhyay and Jenicke (2007); Banuelas and Antony(2003); Banuelas et al. (2005, 2006); Bayle et al. (2001); Bhatnagar andPandey (2005); Black and Revere (2006); Brewer (2004); Buch andTolentino (2006a, b); Bunce et al. (2008); Byrne (2003); Camgoz-Akdag(2007); Chang and Wang (2008); Chatterjee (2003); Chen et al. (2005,2007); Cheng (2007a, b, c); Cheng et al. (2008a); Chung et al. (2008b);Cupryk et al. (2007); Das (2005); Das and Hughes (2006); Dasgupta(2003); Davison and Al-Shaghana (2007); De Vore (2008); Desai (2006);Doble (2005); Echempati and White (2000); Ehie and Sheu (2005);Erlandson (2006); Gerhorst et al. (2006); Gibbons (2006); Gijo and Rao(2005); Goel and Chen (2008); Goh (2001); Goh (2002b); Gowen (2005);Green (2006a); Green et al. (2006); Hagemeyer et al. (2006); Haikonenet al. (2004); Hamza (2008); Han and Lee (2002); Harjac et al. (2008);Hasenkamp and Olme (2008); Henderson and Evans (2000);Hendricks and Kelbaugh (1998); Hild et al. (2000); Ho et al. (2008);Holtz and Campbell (2004); Hong and Goh (2003, 2004); Hsu et al.(2008); Hu and Antony (2007); Hu and Pieprzak (2005); Hwang (2006);Ingle and Roe (2001); Johnson (2002); Johnson and Swisher (2003);Johnson et al. (2006b, c); Johnston et al. (2008); Jung and Lim (2007);Kalamdani and Khalaf (2006); Kapur and Feng (2005); Kaushik andKhanduja (2008); Kaushik et al. (2008); Khalaf and Yang (2006);Knowles et al. (2004); Kovach and Cho (2006); Krishna andDangayach (2007); Krishna et al. (2008); Kumar (2007); Kumar, M et al.(2006, 2007); Kumar, U. et al. (2007); Ladani et al. (2006); Lee-Mortimer(2006); Lee-Mortimer (2007); Li et al. (2008); Li and Al-Refaie (2008); Liet al. (2006); Lin et al. (2008); Liu et al. (2008); Lok et al. (2008); Lucierand Seshadri (2001); McAdam and Evans (2004a, b); McAdam andLafferty (2004); Mahanti and Antony (2005); Mekki (2006); Mahantiand Antony (2006); Mahesh et al. (2006); Maleyeff and Kaminsky(2002); Manikandan et al. (2008); Markarian (2004a, b); Mazzola et al.(2007); Miles (2006); Morusca and Cupryk (2005); Motwani et al.(2004); Mukhopadhyay and Ray (2006); Murugappan and Keeni(2003); Neagu and Hoerl (2005); Nonthaleerak and Hendry (2008); Panand Cheng (2008); Pandey (2007); Patterson et al. (2005); Perng et al.(2008); Pickrell et al. (2005); Rajagopal and Castillo (2007);Rajagopalan et al. (2004); Rasis et al. (2002a, b); Ravichandran (2008);Revere et al. (2006); Sadagopan et al. (2005); Sahoo et al. (2008); Sarkar(2007a, b); Savage (2007); Savage and Son (2008); Savolainen andHaikonen (2007); Schon (2006); Sekhar and Mahanti (2006); Setijono(2008); Shahin (2008); Sharma (2003); Smith (1993); Sokovic et al.(2005); Su and Chou (2008); Su et al. (2005); Sudhahar et al. (2008);Szeto and Tsang (2005); Tang et al. (2007); Tannock et al. (2007);Thomas and Barton (2006); Thomas and Lewis (2007); Thomas et al.(2008a, b); Thomas and Singh (2006); Tong et al. (2004); Ung et al.(2007); Van Iwaarden et al. (2008); Vaughan (1998); Wang et al. (2004);Wessel and Burcher (2004); Wright and Basu (2008); Wyper andHarrison (2000); Yang and Yeh (2007); Yang et al. (2007, 2008); Yeh(2007); Yeh et al. (2007); Zhan (2008) 169 64.3

(continued )

Table IV.Classification of SixSigma articles byapplication sector

IJQRM27,3

288

TotalSector References n %

Service-focused Adams et al. (2004); Al-Aomar (2006); Antony (2004a); Antony et al.(2001, 2007c); Bandyopadhyay and Lichtman (2007); Beard (2008);Behara et al. (1995); Benedetto (2003); Bigio et al. (2004); Bonilla et al.(2008); Box (2006); Brett and Queen (2005); Brewer and Eighme(2005); Chakrabarty and Tan (2007); Chan et al. (2005); Chang andSu (2007); Chappell and Peck (2006); Chen et al. (2005, 2008); Cheng(2008); Craven et al. (2006); De Koning et al. (2006, 2008a, b); Desai(2008); Does et al. (2002); Douglas and Erwin (2000); Dreachslin andLee (2007); Drenckpohl et al. (2007); Edgeman et al. (2005); Elberfeldet al. (2007); Eldridge et al. (2006); Feng and Manuel (2008); Ferngand Price (2005); Frank (2003); Frankel et al. (2005); Frings andGrant (2005); Furterer and Elshennawy (2005); Garg et al. (2004);Goh et al. (2003); Gowen (2008); Harrington and Trusko (2005);Hensley and Dobie (2005); Hilton et al. (2008); Ho and Chuang (2006);Ho et al. (2006); Immaneni et al. (2007); Isaacson (2008); Jenicke et al.(2008); Jin et al. (2008); Johnson et al. (2006a); Johnstone et al.(2003a, b); Juras et al. (2007); Kovach (2007); Kumar et al. (2008a, b);Kumi and Morrow (2006); Lipscomb and Lewis (2004); Lloyd (2006);Malhan and Rao (2005); Malliga and Srinivasan (2007); Marti (2005);Martin et al. (2006); Morgan and Cooper (2004); Neri et al. (2008); Nget al. (2005); ONeill (2005); Perry and Barker (2006); Pheng and Hui(2004); Proudlove et al. (2008); Ravichandran (2006); Revere andBlack (2003); Revere et al. (2004); Sehwail and De Yong (2003);Stewart and Spencer (2006); Snee (2004); Taghaboni-Dutta andMoreland (2004); Taner et al. (2007); Thakkar et al. (2006); Thieleet al. (2008); Thompson et al. (2008); Van Den Heuvel et al. (2004,2005, 2006); Vote and Huston (2005); Woodall (2001); Woodard(2005, 2006); Wright and Basu (2008); Yeh (2007); Yeung (2007);Zaroukian and Sierra (2006) 94 35.7 Table IV.


articles by applicationsector (1992-2008)

Six Sigmaquality

289

contexts. Figure 5 demonstrates the growing gap between manufacturing – andservice – focused Six Sigma research over years.

Conclusions and future research directionsOur conclusions are based on the analysis of 417 Six Sigma articles that werepublished in 147 journals over a 17-year period from 1992 to 2008. Overall, we haveobserved that Six Sigma research has attracted the attention of both practitioners andacademics. In particular, research activities on Six Sigma have increased significantlyafter 1999. The trend implies that more than 98 percent of Six Sigma articles werepublished between 2000 and 2008. Clearly Six Sigma research is difficult to confine tospecific discipline since it is scattered across various journals from various domainsand fields.

The review has observed that Six Sigma research is empirical in nature whichreinforces the use of real-world data. Case study was the dominant approach in SixSigma research and this is may be due to the fact that quality problems inmanufacturing and service contexts are usually treated as a case in terms ofdocumentation and analysis. In addition, the lack of implementing Six Sigma tools andmethodologies across a wide range of processes or organizations makes the use ofsurvey approach impractical.

Although modifications have been made in the Six Sigma framework to extend itsapplication from manufacturing to service context, the increasing gap between thenumbers of manufacturing – and service – focused Six Sigma articles since 2005implies the return of Six Sigma to manufacturing as its initial base.

Although this review does not claim to be exhaustive, it does provide reasonableinsights into the state of the art in Six Sigma research. One of the most significantfindings from our analysis has been the great empirical focus on Six Sigma tools andtechniques. There is very little room for clarifying the confusion in the literature as towhat constitutes Six Sigma theory and how does it integrate with other improvementstrategies. We would argue that theoretical development is critical to the developmentof Six Sigma studies. Based on the literature review presented in this paper, we identifybelow a number of research implications and directions for future research as follows:

. There is no doubt that Six Sigma research will grow rapidly in future coveringvarious disciplines and domains. Hence, there is a need to construct and clearlypresent the application of Six Sigma within each domain in a proposedframework or generic model.

. It is not surprising that a large portion of the reviewed articles in this study wererelated to Six Sigma tools, techniques, and methodologies. This reflects theresearchers’ concern of the core nature of Six Sigma as a more structured qualityapproach compared to TQM. Detailed analysis of these tools and methodologieswithin manufacturing and service contexts is required.

. We expect more research to be conducted on user experiences reflecting SixSigma pros and cons in such context.

. While researchers try to develop new Six Sigma applications, the capabilities ofuser infrastructure need to be considered.

. More theory based empirical research is needed to enhance the construction ofSix Sigma theory.

IJQRM27,3

290

. There is a great potential for practicable application of survey approach in SixSigma research as a wide range of processes or organizations adopt Six Sigmatools and methodologies.

. Since the combined use of analytical and empirical research techniques has thepotential to offer greater insights into research, it is desirable to see more papersapply triangulation approach in Six Sigma research through the use of multipledata collection methods.

. Researchers are encouraged to map the efforts of Six Sigma research inmanufacturing and service organizations to a proposed framework and thenprovide a through analysis on each framework.

. Researchers and practitioners are encouraged to propose a standard Six Sigmacurriculum design with multidisciplinary orientation.

. Managing Six Sigma risks and crises is a new attractive topic for researchers.

References

Adams, R., Warner, P., Hubbard, B. and Goulding, T. (2004), “Decreasing turnaround timebetween general surgery cases: a Six Sigma initiative”, Journal of Nursing Administration,Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 140-8.

Agarwal, R. and Bajaj, N. (2008), “Managing outsourcing process: applying Six Sigma”, BusinessProcess Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 829-37.

Aggogeri, F. and Gentili, E. (2008), “Six Sigma methodology: an effective tool for qualitymanagement”, International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management,Vol. 14 Nos 3/4, pp. 289-98.

Al-Aomar, R. (2006), “A simulation-based DFSS for a lean service system”, International Journalof Product Development, Vol. 3 Nos 3/4, pp. 349-68.

Al-Aomar, R. and Youssef, M. (2006), “Achieving Six Sigma rating in a system simulationmodel”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 2,pp. 190-206.

Al-Mishari, S. and Suliman, S. (2008), “Integrating Six-Sigma with other reliability improvementmethods in equipment reliability and maintenance applications”, Journal of Quality inMaintenance Engineering, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 59-70.

Amer, Y., Luong, L., Lee, S.-H. and Ashraf, M. (2008), “Optimizing order fulfilment using designfor Six Sigma and fuzzy logic”, International Journal of Management Science andEngineering Management, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 83-99.

Amer, Y., Ashraf, M., Luong, L., Lee, S. and Wang, W. (2007), “A systems approach to orderfulfilment using design for Six Sigma methodology”, International Journal of Business andSystems Research, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 302-16.

Anand, R., Shukla, S., Ghorpade, A., Tiwari, M. and Shankar, R. (2007), “Six Sigma-basedapproach to optimize deep drawing operation variables”, International Journal ofProduction Research, Vol. 45 No. 10, pp. 2365-85.

Anderson-Cook, C., Patterson, A. and Hoerl, R. (2005), “A structured problem-solving course forgraduate students: exposing students to Six Sigma as part of their university training”,Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 249-56.

Andersson, R., Eriksson, H. and Torstensson, H. (2006), “Similarities and differences betweenTQM, Six Sigma and lean”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 282-96.

Six Sigmaquality

291

Antony, J. (2002), “Design for Six Sigma: a breakthrough business improvement strategy forachieving competitive advantage”, Work Study, Vol. 51 No. 1, pp. 6-8.

Antony, J. (2004a), “Six Sigma in the UK service organisations: results from a pilot survey”,Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 19 No. 8, pp. 1006-13.

Antony, J. (2004b), “Some pros and cons of Six Sigma: an academic perspective”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 303-6.

Antony, J. (2006), “Six Sigma for service processes”, Business Process Management Journal,Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 234-48.

Antony, J. (2007a), “Six Sigma: a strategy for supporting innovation in pursuit of businessexcellence”, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 37 Nos 1/2, pp. 8-12.

Antony, J. (2007b), “Is Six Sigma a management fad or fact?”, Assembly Automation, Vol. 27 No. 1,pp. 17-19.

Antony, J. (2008a), “Can Six Sigma be effectively implemented in SMEs?”, International Journalof Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 57 No. 5, pp. 420-3.

Antony, J. (2008b), “What is the role of academic institutions for the future development of SixSigma?”, International Journal of Productivity and PerformanceManagement, Vol. 57 No. 1,pp. 107-10.

Antony, J. and Banuelas, R. (2002), “Key ingredients for the effective implementation of SixSigma program”, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 20-7.

Antony, J. and Fergusson, C. (2004), “Six Sigma in the software industry: results from a pilotstudy”, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 19 No. 8, pp. 1025-32.

Antony, J., Antony, F. and Kumar, M. (2007a), “Six Sigma in service organizations: benefits,challenges and difficulties, common myths, empirical observations and success factors”,International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 294-311.

Antony, J., Banuelas, R. and Knowles, G. (2001), “Implementing Six Sigma”, IEEE ControlSystems Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 181-5.

Antony, J., Douglas, A. and Antony, F. (2007b), “Determining the essential characteristics of SixSigma black belts: results from a pilot study in UK manufacturing companies”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 274-81.

Antony, J., Kumar, M. and Labib, A. (2008), “Gearing Six Sigma into UK manufacturing SMEs:results from a pilot study”, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 59 No. 4,pp. 482-93.

Antony, J., Kumar, M. and Madu, C. (2005), “Six Sigma in small and medium-sized UKmanufacturing enterprises: some empirical observations”, International Journal of Quality& Reliability Management, Vol. 22 No. 8, pp. 860-74.

Antony, J., Downey-Ennis, K., Antony, F. and Seow, C. (2007c), “Can Six Sigma be the ‘cure’ forour ‘ailing’ NHS?”, Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 242-53.

Antony, J., Swarnkar, R., Kumar, M. and Tiwari, M. (2006), “Design of synchronised supplychain: a genetic algorithm-based Six Sigma-constrained approach”, International Journalof Logistics Systems and Management, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 120-41.

Arnheiter, E. and Maleyeff, J. (2005), “The integration of lean management and Six Sigma”,The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 5-18.

Arul, K. and Kohli, H. (2004), “Six Sigma for software application of hypothesis tests to softwaredata”, Software Quality Journal, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 29-42.

IJQRM27,3

292

Bandyopadhyay, J. and Jenicke, L. (2007), “Six Sigma approach to quality assurance in globalsupply chains: a study of United States automakers”, International Journal ofManagement, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 101-6.

Bandyopadhyay, J. and Lichtman, R. (2007), “Six Sigma approach to quality and productivityimprovement in an institution for higher education in the United States”, InternationalJournal of Management, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 802-8.

Banuelas, R. and Antony, J. (2003), “Going from Six Sigma to design for Six Sigma:an exploratory study using analytic hierarchy process”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 15 No. 5,pp. 334-44.

Banuelas, R. and Antony, J. (2004), “Six Sigma or design for Six Sigma?”, The TQM Magazine,Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 250-63.

Banuelas, R., Antony, J. and Brace, M. (2005), “An application of Six Sigma to reduce waste”,Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 21, pp. 553-70.

Banuelas, R., Tennant, C., Tuersley, I. and Tang, S. (2006), “Selection of Six Sigma projects in theUK”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 514-27.

Basu, R. (2004), “Six Sigma to operational excellence: role of tools and techniques”, InternationalJournal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 44-64.

Bayle, P., Farrington, M., Sharp, B., Hild, C. and Sanders, D. (2001), “Illustration of Six Sigmaassistance on a design project”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 341-8.

Beard, G. (2008), “Quality toolbox: improving clinical interventions through successful outreachusing Six Sigma quality improvement”, Journal for Healthcare Quality, Vol. 30 No. 1,pp. 38-43.

Behara, R.S., Fontenot, G.F. and Gresham, A. (1995), “Customer satisfaction measurement andanalysis using Six Sigma”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management,Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 9-18.

Bellows, W. (2004), “Conformance with specifications, zero defects and Six Sigma quality: a closerlook”, International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 82-95.

Bendell, T. (2006), “A review and comparison of Six Sigma and the lean organizations”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 255-62.

Benedetto, A. (2003), “Adapting manufacturing-based Six Sigma methodology to the serviceenvironment of a radiology film library”, Journal of Healthcare Management, Vol. 48,pp. 263-80.

Bhatnagar, J. and Pandey, A. (2005), “HR metrics: HR Six Sigma in Indian organizations”,Management and Labour, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 327-56.

Biedry, J. (2001), “Linking Six Sigma analysis with human creativity”, Journal for Quality andParticipation, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 36-8.

Biehl, R. (2004), “Six Sigma for software”, IEEE Software, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 68-70.

Bigio, D., Edgeman, R. and Ferleman, T. (2004), “Six Sigma availability management ofinformation technology in the office of the Chief Technology Officer of Washington, DC”,Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 679-87.

Bisgaard, S. and Freiesleben, J. (2000), “Economics of Six Sigma programs”, Quality Engineering,Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 325-31.

Black, K. and McGlashan, R. (2006), “Essential characteristics of Six Sigma black belt candidates:a study of US companies”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage,Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 301-12.

Six Sigmaquality

293

Black, K. and Revere, L. (2006), “Six Sigma arises from the ashes of TQM with a twist”,International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 19 Nos 2/3, pp. 259-66.

Bonilla, C., Pawlicki, T., Perry, L. and Wesselink, B. (2008), “Radiation oncology: Lean Six Sigmaproject selection based on patient and staff input into a modified quality functiondeployment”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 3,pp. 196-208.

Box, G. and Luceno, A. (2000), “Quality quandaries: Six Sigma, process drift, capability indices,and feedback adjustment”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 297-302.

Box, T. (2006), “Six Sigma quality: experiential learning”, S.A.M. Advanced ManagementJournal, Vol. 71 No. 1, pp. 20-3.

Brady, J. and Allen, T. (2006), “Six Sigma literature: a review and agenda for future research”,Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 335-67.

Brett, C. and Queen, P. (2005), “Streamlining enterprise records management with lean SixSigma”, Information Management Journal, Vol. 39 No. 6, pp. 52-62.

Brewer, P. (2004), “Six Sigma helps a company create a culture of accountability”, Journal ofOrganizational Excellence, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 45-59.

Brewer, P. and Bagranoff, N. (2004), “Near zero-defect accounting with Six Sigma”, Journal ofCorporate Accounting and Finance, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 67-72.

Brewer, P. and Eighme, J. (2005), “Using Six Sigma to improve the finance function”, StrategicFinance, Vol. 86 No. 11, pp. 26-33.

Buch, K. and Tolentino, A. (2006a), “Employee perceptions of the rewards associated with SixSigma”, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 356-64.

Buch, K. and Tolentino, A. (2006b), “Employee expectancies for Six Sigma success”, Leadership& Organization Development Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 28-37.

Bunce, M., Wang, L. and Bidanda, B. (2008), “Leveraging Six Sigma with industrial engineeringtools in crateless retort production”, International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 46No. 23, pp. 6701-19.

Byrne, G. (2003), “Ensuring optimal success with Six Sigma implementations”, Journal ofOrganizational Excellence, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 43-50.

Byrne, G., Lubowe, D. and Blitz, A. (2007), “Using a Lean Six Sigma approach to driveinnovation”, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 5-10.

Camgoz-Akdag, H. (2007), “Total quality management through Six Sigma benchmarking: a casestudy”, Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 186-201.

Card, D. (2000), “Quality time – sorting out Six Sigma and the CMM”, IEEE Software, Vol. 17No. 3, pp. 11-13.

Carnell, M. and Lambert, J. (2000), “Organisational excellence through Six Sigma discipline”,Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 18-25.

Carrigan, M. and Kujawa, D. (2006), “Six Sigma in health care management and strategy”,The Health Care Manager, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 133-41.

Caulcutt, R. (2001), “Why is Six Sigma so successful?”, Journal of Applied Statistics, Vol. 28Nos 3/4, pp. 301-6.

Chakrabarty, A. and Tan, K. (2007), “The current state of Six Sigma application in services”,Managing Service Quality, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 194-208.

Chan, F., Swarnkar, R. and Tiwari, M. (2006), “Synchronisation issue of supply chains:a six-sigma constrained random search approach”, International Journal of ServicesTechnology and Management, Vol. 7 Nos 5/6, pp. 552-67.

IJQRM27,3

294

Chan, W., Chiu, W-T., Chen, W-M., Lin, M.-F. and Chu, B. (2005), “Applying Six Sigmamethodology to maximise magnetic resonance imaging capacity in a hospital”,International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 321-30.

Chang, C.-M. and Su, C.-T. (2007), “Service process design and/or redesign by fusing the powersof design for Six Sigma and lean”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 171-91.

Chang, K. and Wang, F. (2008), “Applying Six Sigma methodology to collaborative forecasting”,International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 39 Nos 9/10,pp. 1033-44.

Chappell, A. and Peck, H. (2006), “Risk management in military supply chains: is there a role forSix Sigma?”, International Journal of Logistics, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 253-67.

Chatterjee, A. (2003), “Innovating growth through ‘Six Sigma’: a strategic approach forcombining robustness with flexibility”, Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management,Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 33-7.

Chen, K., Hsu, C. and Ouyang, L. (2007), “Applied product capability analysis chart in measurestep of Six Sigma”, Quality and Quantity, Vol. 41 No. 3, pp. 387-400.

Chen, K., Lin, C. and Chen, S. (2008), “Applying Six-Sigma methodology in constructing the quickresponse of a case reporting system”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence,Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 381-98.

Chen, K., Lin, J. and Chang, C. (2005a), “Taiwan: improving radiography through application ofSix Sigma techniques”, Journal for Healthcare Quality, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 44-52.

Chen, S., Chen, K. and Hsia, T. (2005b), “Promoting customer satisfaction by applying Six Sigma:an example from the automobile industry”, The Quality Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 4,pp. 21-33.

Cheng, J.-L. (2007a), “Comparative study of local and transnational enterprises in Taiwan andtheir implementation of Six Sigma”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence,Vol. 18 No. 7, pp. 793-806.

Cheng, J.-L. (2007b), “Six Sigma business strategy in Taiwan: an empirical study”, InternationalJournal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 1-12.

Cheng, J.-L. (2007c), “Six Sigma and TQM in Taiwan: an empirical study”, The QualityManagement Journal, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 7-19.

Cheng, J.-L. (2008), “Implementing Six Sigma via TQM improvement: an empirical study inTaiwan”, The TQM Journal, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 182-95.

Cheng, Y.-C., Hsu, Y.-W. and Ten, T.-M. (2008), “Using the Six Sigma system approach to reducecore process times at a manufacturing plant”, International Journal of Management, Vol. 25No. 3, pp. 431-8.

Chung, Y.-C., Hsu, Y.-W. and Tsai, C.-H. (2008), “An empirical study on the correlation betweencritical DFSS success factors, DFSS implementation activity levels and businesscompetitive advantages in Taiwan’s high-tech manufacturers”, Total Quality Managementand Business Excellence, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 595-607.

Cook, A., Patterson, A. and Hoerl, R. (2005), “A structured problem-solving course for graduatestudents: exposing students to Six Sigma as part of their university training”, Quality andReliability Engineering International, Vol. 21, pp. 249-56.

Coronado, R. and Antony, J. (2002), “Critical success factors for the successful implementation ofSix Sigma projects in organisations”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 92-9.

Six Sigmaquality

295

Craven, E., Clark, J., Cramer, M., Corwin, S. and Cooper, M. (2006), “NewYork-Presbyterianhospital uses Six Sigma to build a culture of quality and innovation”, Journal ofOrganizational Excellence, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 11-19.

Cronemyr, P. (2007), “DMAIC and DMADV differences, similarities and synergies”, InternationalJournal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 193-209.

Cupryk, M., Takahata, D. and Morusca, D. (2007), “‘Crashing the schedule’ in DCS validationpharmaceutical projects with lean Six Sigma and project management techniques: casestudy and discussion”, Journal of Validation Technology, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 222-33.

Dahlgaard, J. and Dahlgaard-Park, S. (2006), “Lean production, Six Sigma quality, TQM andcompany culture”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 263-81.

Das, N., Gauri, S. and Das, P. (2006), “Six Sigma principles in marketing: an application”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 243-62.

Das, P. (2005), “Reduction in delay in procurement of materials using Six Sigma philosophy”,Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 16 No. 5, pp. 645-56.

Das, S. and Hughes, M. (2006), “Improving aluminum can recycling rates: a Six Sigma study inKentucky”, JOM, Vol. 58 No. 8, pp. 27-31.

Dasgupta, T. (2003), “Using the Six-Sigma metric to measure and improve the performance of asupply chain”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 14 No. 3,pp. 355-66.

Davison, L. and Al-Shaghana, K. (2007), “The link between six sigma and quality culture:an empirical study”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 18 No. 3,pp. 249-65.

De Feo, J. (2000), “Six Sigma: new opportunities for HR, new career growth for employees”,Employment Relations Today, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 1-6.

De Feo, J. and Bar-El, Z. (2002), “Creating strategic change more efficiently with a new design forSix Sigma process”, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 60-80.

De Koning, H. and De Mast, J. (2005), “Grounding of Six Sigma’s breakthrough cookbook: how toresearch a methodology?”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage,Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 263-75.

De Koning, H. and De Mast, J. (2006), “A rational reconstruction of Six-Sigma’s breakthroughcookbook”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 23 No. 7,pp. 766-87.

De Koning, H., Does, R. and Bisgaard, S. (2008a), “Lean Six Sigma in financial services”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 1-17.

De Koning, H., De Mast, J., Does, R., Vermaat, T. and Simons, S. (2008b), “Generic lean Six Sigmaproject definitions in financial services”, The Quality Management Journal, Vol. 15 No. 4,pp. 32-45.

De Koning, H., Verver, J., Van Den Heuvel, J., Bisgaard, S. and Does, R. (2006), “Lean six sigma inhealthcare”, Journal for Healthcare Quality, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 4-11.

De Mast, J. (2006), “Six Sigma and competitive advantage”, Total Quality Management andBusiness Excellence, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 455-64.

De Mast, J. (2007), “Integrating the many facets of Six Sigma”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 19 No. 4,pp. 353-61.

De Vore, K. (2008), “Six-Sigma approach to stability testing”, Journal of Pharmaceutical andBiomedical Analysis, Vol. 47 No. 2, pp. 413-21.

IJQRM27,3

296

Dedhia, N.S. (2005), “Six Sigma basics”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence,Vol. 16 No. 5, pp. 567-74.

Delsanter, J. (1992), “Six Sigma”, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 203-6.

Desai, D. (2006), “Improving customer delivery commitments the Six Sigma way: case study ofan Indian small-scale industry”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 23-47.

Desai, D. (2008), “Improving productivity and profitability through Six Sigma: experience of asmall-scale jobbing industry”, International Journal of Productivity & QualityManagement, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 290-310.

Doble, M. (2005), “Six Sigma and chemical process safety”, International Journal of Six Sigmaand Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 229-44.

Does, R., Van Den Heuvel, J., De Mast, J. and Bisgaard, S. (2002), “Comparing non-manufacturingwith traditional applications of Six Sigma”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 177-82.

Douglas, P.C. and Erwin, J. (2000), “Six Sigma’s focus on total customer satisfaction”, Journal forQuality and Participation, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 45-9.

Dreachslin, J. and Lee, P. (2007), “Applying Six Sigma and DMAIC to diversity initiatives”,Journal of Healthcare Management, Vol. 52 No. 6, pp. 361-7.

Drenckpohl, D., Bowers, L. and Cooper, H. (2007), “Use of the Six Sigma methodology to reduceincidence of breast milk administration errors in the NICU”, Neonatal Network, Vol. 26No. 3, pp. 161-6.

Echempati, R. and White, C. (2000), “Case study of hinge alignment problems: a Six-Sigmaquality analysis”, Production and Inventory Management Journal, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 1-23.

Edgeman, R. and Dugan, J. (2008), “Six Sigma: from products to pollution to people”, TotalQuality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 1-9.

Edgeman, R., Bigio, D. and Ferleman, T. (2005), “Six Sigma and business excellence: strategicand tactical examination of IT service level management at the office of the chieftechnology officer of Washington, DC”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International,Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 257-73.

Ehie, I. and Sheu, C. (2005), “Integrating Six Sigma and theory of constraints for continuousimprovement: a case study”, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 16No. 5, pp. 542-53.

Elberfeld, A., Bennis, S., Ritzius, J. and Yhlen, A. (2007), “The innovative use of Six Sigma inhome care”, Home Healthcare Nurse, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 25-33.

Eldridge, N., Woods, S., Bonello, R., Clutter, K. and Ellingson, L. (2006), “Using the Six Sigmaprocess to implement the centers for disease control and prevention guideline for handhygiene in 4 intensive care units”, Gen. Intern. Med., Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. S35-S42.

Erlandson, P. (2006), “DFSS for shift quality using full-vehicle ADAMS model”, InternationalJournal of Product Development, Vol. 3 Nos 3/4, pp. 337-48.

Fairbanks, C. (2007), “Using Six Sigma and lean methodologies to improve OR through-put”,AORN, Vol. 86 No. 1, pp. 73-82.

Fazzari, A. and Levitt, K. (2008), “Human resources as a strategic partner: sitting at the table withSix Sigma”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 171-80.

Feld, K. and Stone, W. (2002), “Using Six Sigma to change and measure improvement”,Performance Improvement, Vol. 41 No. 9, pp. 20-6.

Six Sigmaquality

297

Feng, Q. and Manuel, C. (2008), “Under the knife: a national survey of Six Sigma programs in UShealthcare organizations”, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 21No. 6, pp. 535-47.

Ferng, J. and Price, A. (2005), “An exploration of the synergies between Six Sigma, total qualitymanagement, lean construction and sustainable construction”, International Journal SixSigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 167-87.

Ferryanto, L. (2007), “Analytical design for Six Sigma for multiple response products”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 13-32.

Flott, L. (2000), “Six-Sigma controversy”, Metal Finishing, Vol. 98 No. 12, pp. 43-8.

Foster, T. (2007), “Does Six Sigma improve performance?”, The Quality Management Journal,Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 7-20.

Frank, S. (2003), “Applying Six Sigma to revenue and pricing management”, Journal of Revenueand Pricing Management, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 245-54.

Frankel, H., Crede, W., Topal, J., Roumanis, S., Devlin, M. and Foley, A. (2005), “Use of corporateSix Sigma performance-improvement strategies to reduce incidence of catheter-relatedbloodstream infections in a surgical ICU”, Journal of the American College of Surgeons,Vol. 201 No. 3, pp. 349-58.

Freiesleben, J. (2006), “Communicating Six Sigma’s benefits to top management”, MeasuringBusiness Excellence, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 19-27.

Freiesleben, J. (2007), “Can Six Sigma claim to be a generic strategy? Reassessing the competitiveimplications of quality improvement”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 248-65.

Friday-Stroud, S. and Sutterfield, J. (2007), “A conceptual framework for integrating Six-Sigmaand strategic management methodologies to quantify decision making”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 561-71.

Frings, G. and Grant, L. (2005), “Who moved my sigma? Effective implementation of the SixSigma methodology to hospitals”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 21No. 3, pp. 311-28.

Fuller, H. (2000a), “Observations about the success and evolution of Six Sigma at Seagate”,Quality Engineering, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 311-15.

Fuller, H. (2000b), “Six Sigma for validation”, Journal of Validation Technology, Vol. 6 No. 4,pp. 749-55.

Furterer, S. and Elshennawy, A. (2005), “Implementation of TQM and lean Six Sigma tools inlocal government: a framework and a case study”, Total Quality Management andBusiness Excellence, Vol. 16 No. 10, pp. 1179-91.

Gack, G. and Robison, K. (2003), “Integrating improvement initiatives: connecting Six Sigma forsoftware, CMMI, personal software process, and team software process”, Software QualityProfessional, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 5-13.

Ganesh, M. (2004), “Six Sigma: time for a reality check”, Customer Management, Vol. 12 No. 2,pp. 38-9.

Garg, D., Narahari, Y. and Viswanadham, N. (2004), “Design for Six Sigma supply chain”, IEEETransactions on Automation Science and Engineering, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 38-57.

Gerhorst, F., Gromping, U., Lloyd-Thomas, D. and Khalaf, F. (2006), “Design for Six Sigma inproduct development at Ford Motor Company in a case study on robust exhaust manifolddesign”, International Journal of Product Development, Vol. 3 Nos 3/4, pp. 278-91.

Gibbons, P. (2006), “Improving overall equipment efficiency using a lean Six Sigma approach”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 207-32.

IJQRM27,3

298

Gijo, E. and Rao, T. (2005), “Six Sigma implementation – hurdles and more hurdles”, TotalQuality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 721-5.

Glower, M. (2006), “Six Sigma: bringing it to your team”, Nurse Leader, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 44-6.

Goeke, R. and Offodile, O. (2005), “Forecasting management philosophy life cycles: a comparativestudy of Six Sigma and TQM”, The Quality Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 34-46.

Goel, S. and Chen, V. (2008), “Integrating the global enterprise using Six Sigma: business processreengineering at General Electric wind energy”, International Journal of ProductionEconomics, Vol. 113 No. 2, pp. 914-27.

Goh, T.-N. (2001), “Information transformation perspective on experimental design in SixSigma”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 349-55.

Goh, T.-N. (2002a), “A strategic assessment of Six Sigma”, Quality and Reliability EngineeringInternational, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 403-10.

Goh, T.-N. (2002b), “The role of statistical design of experiments in Six Sigma: perspectives of apractitioner”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 659-71.

Goh, T.-N. and Xie, M. (2003), “Statistical control of a Six Sigma process”, Quality Engineering,Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 587-92.

Goh, T.-N. and Xie, M. (2004), “Improving on the Six Sigma paradigm”, The TQM Magazine,Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 235-40.

Goh, T.-N., Low, P., Tsui, K. and Xie, M. (2003), “Impact of Six Sigma implementation on stockprice performance”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 14 No. 7,pp. 753-63.

Goh, T.-N., Tang, L.-C., Lam, S.-W. and Gao, Y.-F. (2006), “Six Sigma: a SWOT analysis”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 233-42.

Gowen, C. III and Tallon, W. (2005), “Effect of technological intensity on the relationship amongSix Sigma design, electronic business, and competitive advantage: a dynamic capabilitymodel”, Journal of High Technology Management Research, Vol. 16, pp. 59-87.

Gowen, C. III, Stock, G. and McFadden, K. (2008), “Simultaneous implementation of Six Sigmaand knowledge management in hospitals”, International Journal of Production Research,Vol. 46 No. 23, pp. 6781-95.

Graves, S. (2002), “Six Sigma rolled through-put yield”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 14 No. 2,pp. 257-66.

Green, F. (2006a), “Six Sigma and the green belt perspective: a study in five companies”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 291-300.

Green, F. (2006b), “Six-Sigma and the revival of TQM”, Total Quality Management and BusinessExcellence, Vol. 17 No. 10, pp. 1281-6.

Green, F., Barbee, J., Cox, S. and Rowlett, C. (2006), “Green belt Six Sigma at a small company”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 179-89.

Gremyr, I. (2005), “Exploring design for Six Sigma from the viewpoint of robust designmethodology”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 3,pp. 295-306.

Hagemeyer, C., Gershenson, J. and Johnson, D. (2006), “Classification and application of problemsolving quality tools: a manufacturing case study”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 5,pp. 455-83.

Hahn, G. (2005), “Six Sigma: 20 key lessons learned”, Quality and Reliability EngineeringInternational, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 225-33.

Six Sigmaquality

299

Hahn, G., Doganaksoy, N. and Hoerl, R. (2000), “The evolution of Six Sigma”, QualityEngineering, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 317-26.

Hahn, G., Hill, W., Hoerl, R. and Zinkgraf, S. (1999), “The impact of Six Sigma improvement:a glimpse into the future of statistics”, The American Statistician, Vol. 53 No. 3, pp. 208-15.

Haikonen, A., Savolainen, T. and Jarvinen, P. (2004), “Exploring Six Sigma and CI capabilitydevelopment: preliminary case study findings on management role”, Journal ofManufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 369-78.

Hammer, M. (2002), “Process management and the future of Six Sigma”, IEEE EngineeringManagement Review, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 56-63.

Hamza, S. (2008), “Design process improvement through the DMAIC Six Sigma approach: a casestudy from the Middle East”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 35-47.

Han, C. and Lee, Y-H. (2002), “Intelligent integrated plant operation system for Six Sigma”,Annual Reviews in Control, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 27-43.

Hare, L. (2005), “Linking statistical thinking to Six Sigma”, International Journal of Six Sigmaand Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 389-402.

Harjac, S., Atrens, A. and Moss, C. (2008), “Six Sigma review of root causes of corrosion incidentsin hot potassium carbonate acid gas removal plant”, Engineering Failure Analysis, Vol. 15No. 5, pp. 480-96.

Harrington, H. and Trusko, B. (2005), “Six Sigma: an aspirin for healthcare”, InternationalJournal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 18 Nos 6/7, pp. 487-515.

Hasenkamp, T. and Olme, A. (2008), “Introducing design for Six Sigma at SKF”, InternationalJournal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 172-89.

Henderson, K. and Evans, J. (2000), “Successful implementation of Six Sigma: benchmarkingGeneral Electric Company”, Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 4,pp. 260-81.

Hendricks, C. and Kelbaugh, R. (1998), “Implementing Six Sigma at GE”, Journal for Quality andParticipation, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 48-53.

Hensley, R.L. and Dobie, K. (2005), “Assessing readiness for Six Sigma in a service setting”,Managing Service Quality, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 82-101.

Hild, C., Sanders, D. and Cooper, T. (2000), “Six Sigma on continuous processes: how and why itdiffers”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 1-9.

Hilton, R., Balla, M. and Sohal, A. (2008), “Factors critical to the success of a Six-Sigma qualityprogram in an Australian hospital”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence,Vol. 19 No. 9, pp. 887-902.

Ho, L.-H. and Chuang, C.-C. (2006), “A study of implementing Six Sigma quality managementsystem in government agencies for raising service quality”, Journal of American Academyof Business, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 167-78.

Ho, S., Xie, M. and Goh, T. (2006), “Adopting Six Sigma in higher education: some issues andchallenges”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 4,pp. 335-52.

Ho, Y., Chang, O. and Wang, W. (2008), “An empirical study of key success factors for Six Sigmagreen belt projects at an Asian MRO company”, Journal of Air Transport Management,Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 263-9.

Hoerl, R. (1998), “Six Sigma and the future of the quality profession”, IEEE EngineeringManagement Review, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 87-94.

IJQRM27,3

300

Hoerl, R. (2004), “One perspective on the future of Six Sigma”, International Journal of Six Sigmaand Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 112-19.

Hoerl, R., Montgomery, D., Lawson, C., Molnau, W., Elias, R., Abraham, B., MacKay, J., Snee, R.,Pyzdek, T., Hill, W., Breyfogle, F., Enck, D., Meadows, B. and Bailey, S. (2001), “Six Sigmablack belts: what do they need to know?”, Journal of Quality Technology, Vol. 33 No. 4,pp. 391-435.

Holtz, R. and Campbell, P. (2004), “Six Sigma: its implementation in Ford’s facility managementand maintenance functions”, Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 320-9.

Hong, G. and Goh, T. (2003), “Six Sigma in software quality”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 15 No. 6,pp. 364-73.

Hong, G. and Goh, T. (2004), “A comparison of Six Sigma and GQM approaches in softwaredevelopment”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 1,pp. 65-75.

Hsieh, C.-T., Lin, B. and Manduca, B. (2007), “Information technology and Six Sigmaimplementation”, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. 47 No. 4, pp. 1-9.

Hsu, Y., Pearn, W. and Wu, P. (2008), “Capability adjustment for gamma processes with meanshift consideration in implementing Six Sigma program”, European Journal of OperationalResearch, Vol. 191 No. 2, pp. 516-28.

Hu, G., Wang, L., Fetch, S. and Bidanda, B. (2008), “A multi-objective model for project portfolioselection to implement lean and Six Sigma concepts”, International Journal of ProductionResearch, Vol. 46 No. 23, pp. 6611-25.

Hu, M. and Antony, J. (2007), “Enhancing design decision making through development of propertransfer function in design for Six Sigma framework”, International Journal of Six Sigmaand Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 33-55.

Hu, M. and Pieprzak, J. (2005), “Using axiomatic design to improve conceptual design robustnessin design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodology”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 245-62.

Hu, M., Barth, B. and Sears, R. (2005), “Leveraging Six Sigma disciplines to drive improvement”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 121-33.

Huq, A. (2006), “Six-Sigma implementation through competency-based perspective (CBP)”,Journal of Change Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 277-89.

Hutchins, D. (2000), “The power of Six Sigma in practice”, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 4No. 2, pp. 26-33.

Hwang, Y.-D. (2006), “The practices of integrating manufacturing execution system and SixSigma methodology”, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology,Vol. 30 Nos 7/8, pp. 761-8.

Immaneni, A., McCombs, A., Cheatham, G. and Andrews, R. (2007), “Capital One banks on SixSigma for strategy execution and culture transformation”, Global Business andOrganizational Excellence, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 43-54.

Ingle, S. and Roe, W. (2001), “Six Sigma black belt implementation”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 13No. 4, pp. 273-80.

Ingram, D. (2000a), “Six Sigma and process validation strategies: a guide to using the tools andconcepts of Six Sigma quality to support process validation efforts – part I”, Journal ofValidation Technology, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 656-64.

Ingram, D. (2000b), “Six Sigma and process validation strategies – part II”, Journal of ValidationTechnology, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 756-65.

Six Sigmaquality

301

Ingram, D. (2000c), “Six Sigma and process validation strategies – part III”, Journal of ValidationTechnology, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 67-75.

Isaacson, G. (2008), “Six Sigma tympanostomy tube insertion: achieving the highest safety levelsduring residency training”, Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Vol. 139 No. 3,pp. 353-7.

Jeffery, A. (2005), “Integrating organization development and Six Sigma: Six Sigma as a processimprovement intervention in action research”, Organization Development Journal, Vol. 23No. 4, pp. 20-31.

Jenicke, L., Kumar, A. and Holmes, M. (2008), “A framework for applying Six Sigmaimprovement methodology in an academic environment”, The TQM Journal, Vol. 20 No. 5,pp. 453-62.

Jin, M., Switzer, M. and Agirbas, G. (2008), “Six Sigma and lean in healthcare logistics centredesign and operation: a case at North Mississippi Health Services”, International Journal ofSix Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 270-88.

Johnson, A. (2002), “Six Sigma in R&D”, Research Technology Management, Vol. 45 No. 2,pp. 12-16.

Johnson, A. (2006), “Lessons learned from Six Sigma in R&D”, Research TechnologyManagement, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 15-19.

Johnson, A. and Swisher, B. (2003), “How Six Sigma improves R&D”, Research TechnologyManagement, Vol. 46 No. 2, pp. 12-15.

Johnson, J., Gitlow, H., Widener, S. and Popovich, E. (2006a), “Designing new housing at theUniversity of Miami: a ‘Six Sigma’ DMADV/DFSS case study”, Quality Engineering,Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 299-323.

Johnson, J., Widener, S., Gitlow, H. and Popovich, E. (2006b), “A Six Sigmaq black belt casestudy: GEP Box’s paper helicopter experiment – part A”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 18No. 4, pp. 413-30.

Johnson, J., Widener, S., Gitlow, H. and Popovich, E. (2006c), “A Six Sigmaq c study: GEP Box’spaper helicopter experiment – part B”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 431-42.

Johnston, A., Maguire, L. and McGinnity, T. (2008), “Disentangling causal relationships of amanufacturing process using genetic algorithms and Six Sigma techniques”, InternationalJournal of Production Research, Vol. 46 No. 22, pp. 6251-68.

Johnstone, P., Hendrickson, J., Dernbach, A., Secord, A., Parker, J., Favata, M. and Puckett, M.(2003), “Ancillary services in the health care industry: is Six Sigma reasonable?”, QualityManagement in Health Care, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 53-63.

Jung, J. and Lim, S.-G. (2007), “Project categorization, prioritization, and execution based on SixSigma concept: a case study of operational improvement project”, Project ManagementJournal, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 55-60.

Juras, P., Martin, D. and Aldhizer, D. (2007), “Adapting Six Sigma to help tame the SOX 404compliance beast”, Strategic Finance, Vol. 88 No. 9, pp. 36-41.

Kalamdani, R. and Khalaf, F. (2006), “Application of design for Six Sigma to manufacturingprocess design at Ford PTO”, International Journal of Product Development, Vol. 3 Nos 3/4,pp. 369-87.

Kanji, G. (2008), “Reality check of Six Sigma for business excellence”, Total Quality Managementand Business Excellence, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 575-82.

Kapur, K. and Feng, Q. (2005), “Integrated optimisation models and strategies for theimprovement of the Six Sigma process”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 210-28.

IJQRM27,3

302

Kaushik, P. and Khanduja, D. (2008), “DM make up water reduction in thermal power plantsusing Six Sigma DMAIC methodology”, Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research,Vol. 67 No. 1, pp. 36-42.

Kaushik, P., Grewal, C., Bilga, P. and Khanduja, D. (2008), “Utilising Six Sigma for energyconservation: a process industry case study”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 18-34.

Khalaf, F. and Yang, K. (2006), “Product development processes – from deterministic toprobabilistic: a design for Six Sigma approach to lean product validation, Part II”,International Journal of Product Development, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 18-36.

Kleasen, K. (2007), “Building human resources strategic planning, process and measurementcapability: using Six Sigma as a foundation”, Organization Development Journal, Vol. 25No. 2, pp. 37-41.

Klefsjo, B., Bergquist, B. and Edgeman, R. (2006), “Six Sigma and total quality management:different day, same soup?”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage,Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 162-78.

Klefsjo, B., Wiklund, H. and Edgeman, R. (2001), “Six Sigma seen as a methodology for totalquality management”, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 31-5.

Knowles, G., Johnson, M. and Warwood, S. (2004), “Medicated sweet variability: a Six Sigmaapplication at a UK food manufacturer”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 284-92.

Knowles, G., Whicker, L., Femat, J. and Canales, F. (2005), “A conceptual model for theapplication of Six Sigma methodologies to supply chain improvement”, InternationalJournal of Logistics, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 51-65.

Kovach, J. (2007), “Designing efficient Six Sigma experiments for service process improvementprojects”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 1,pp. 72-90.

Kovach, J. and Cho, B. (2006), “A D-optimal design approach to robust design under constraints:a new design for Six Sigma tool”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 389-403.

Krishna, G. and Dangayach, G. (2007), “Six Sigma implementation at an auto componentmanufacturing plant: a case study”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 282-302.

Krishna, R., Dangayach, G., Motwani, J. and Akbulut, A. (2008), “Implementation of Six Sigmaapproach to quality improvement in a multinational automotive parts manufacturer inIndia: a case study”, International Journal of Services and Operations Management, Vol. 4No. 2, pp. 264-76.

Kuei, C.-H. and Madu, C. (2003), “Customer-centric Six Sigma quality and reliabilitymanagement”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 20 No. 8,pp. 954-64.

Kumar, M. (2007), “Critical success factors and hurdles to Six Sigma implementation: the case ofa UK manufacturing SME”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 333-51.

Kumar, M., Antony, J., Antony, F. and Madu, C. (2007), “Winning customer loyalty in anautomotive company through Six Sigma: a case study”, Quality and Reliability EngineeringInternational, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 849-66.

Kumar, M., Antony, J., Madu, C., Montgomery, D. and Park, S. (2008), “Common myths of SixSigma demystified”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 25No. 8, pp. 878-95.

Six Sigmaquality

303

Kumar, M., Antony, J., Singh, R., Tiwari, M.K. and Perry, D. (2006), “Implementing the LeanSigma framework in an Indian SME: a case study”, Production Planning and Control,Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 407-23.

Kumar, S., Strandlund, E. and Thomas, D. (2008a), “Improved service system design using SixSigma DMAIC for a major US consumer electronics and appliance retailer”, InternationalJournal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 36 No. 12, pp. 970-94.

Kumar, S., Wolfe, A. and Wolfe, K. (2008b), “Using Six Sigma DMAIC to improve credit initiationprocess in a financial services operation”, International Journal of Productivity andPerformance Management, Vol. 57 No. 8, pp. 659-76.

Kumar, U., Nowicki, D., Ramırez-Marquez, J. and Verma, D. (2008), “On the optimal selection ofprocess alternatives in a Six Sigma implementation”, International Journal of ProductionEconomics, Vol. 111, pp. 456-67.

Kumar, U., Saranga, H., Ramırez-Marquez, J. and Nowicki, D. (2007), “Six Sigma project selectionusing data envelopment analysis”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 419-41.

Kumi, S. and Morrow, J. (2006), “Improving self-service the Six Sigma way at NewcastleUniversity Library”, Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 40 No. 2,pp. 123-36.

Kwak, Y.H. and Anbari, F.T. (2006), “Benefits, obstacles and future of Six Sigma approach”,Technovation, Vol. 26, pp. 708-15.

Ladani, L., Das, D., Cartwright, J., Yenkner, R. and Razmi, J. (2006), “Implementation of Six Sigmaquality system in Celestica with practical examples”, International Journal of Six Sigmaand Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 69-88.

Lanyon, S. (2003), “At Raytheon Six Sigma works, too, to improve HR management processes”,Journal of Organizational Excellence, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 29-42.

Laosirihongthong, T., Rahman, S. and Saykhun, K. (2006), “Critical success factors of Six-Sigmaimplementation”, International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, Vol. 3No. 3, pp. 303-19.

Lee, K.-C. and Choi, B. (2006), “Six Sigma management activities and their influence on corporatecompetitiveness”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 17 No. 7,pp. 893-911.

Lee-Mortimer, A. (2006), “Six Sigma: effective handling of deep rooted quality problems”,Assembly Automation, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 200-4.

Lee-Mortimer, A. (2007), “Leading UK manufacturer probes the potential of Six Sigma”,Assembly Automation, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 302-8.

Li, M.-H., Al-Refaie, A. and Yang, C.-Y. (2008), “DMAIC approach to improve the capability ofSMT solder printing process”, IEEE Transactions on Electronics PackagingManufacturing, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 126-33.

Li, M.-S. and Al-Refaie, A. (2008), “Improving wooden parts’ quality by adopting DMAICprocedure”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 351-60.

Li, Y., Cui, Z., Ruan, X. and Zhang, D. (2006), “CAE-based Six Sigma robust optimization fordeep-drawing process of sheet metal”, The International Journal of AdvancedManufacturing Technology, Vol. 30 Nos 7/8, pp. 631-7.

Lin, J., Tien, S. and Hsu, C. (2008), “The adoption of Six Sigma methodology to closelearning-doing gap”, Journal of Statistics and Management Systems, Vol. 11 No. 1,pp. 49-64.

Linderman, K., Schroeder, R. and Choo, A. (2006), “Six Sigma: the role of goals in improvementteams”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 24, pp. 779-90.

IJQRM27,3

304

Linderman, K., Schroeder, R., Zaheer, S. and Choo, A. (2003), “Six Sigma: a goal-theoreticperspective”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 21, pp. 193-203.

Lipscomb, B. and Lewis, A. (2004), “The principles of Six Sigma”, Risk Management, Vol. 51No. 2, pp. 30-4.

Little, B. (2003), “Six Sigma techniques improve the quality of e-learning”, Industrial andCommercial Training, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 104-8.

Liu, X., Wang, S., Qiu, J., Zhu, J., Guo, Y. and Lin, Z. (2008), “Robust optimization in HTS cablebased on design for Six Sigma”, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 44 No. 6, pp. 978-81.

Llorens-Montes, F. and Molina, L.M. (2006), “Six Sigma and management theory: processes,content and effectiveness”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 17No. 4, pp. 485-506.

Lloyd, D. II and Holsenbach, J. (2006), “The use of Six Sigma in health care operations: applicationand opportunity”, Academy of Health Care Management Journal, Vol. 2, pp. 41-50.

Lok, P., Rhodes, J., Diamond, A. and Bhatia, N. (2008), “The Six Sigma approach in performancemanagement to improve safety culture at work”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 151-71.

Lucier, G. and Seshadri, S. (2001), “GT takes Six Sigma beyond the bottom line”, StrategicFinance, Vol. 83, pp. 40-6.

Lupan, R., Bacivarof, I., Kobi, A. and Robledo, C. (2005), “A relationship between Six Sigma andISO 9000:2000”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 719-25.

McAdam, R. and Evans, A. (2004a), “Challenges to Six Sigma in a high technologymass-manufacturing environment”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence,Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 699-706.

McAdam, R. and Evans, A. (2004b), “The organisational contextual factors affecting theimplementation of Six Sigma in a high technology mass-manufacturing environment”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 29-43.

McAdam, R. and Lafferty, B. (2004), “A multilevel case study critique of Six Sigma: statisticalcontrol or strategic change?”, International Journal of Operations & ProductionManagement, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 530-49.

McAdam, R., Hazlett, S. and Henderson, J. (2005), “A critical review of Six Sigma: exploring thedichotomies”, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 51-174.

McCarty, T. and Fisher, S. (2007), “Six Sigma: it is not what you think”, Journal of Corporate RealEstate, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 187-96.

McClusky, R. (2006), “The rise, fall and revival of Six Sigma”, Measuring Business Excellence,Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 6-17.

Mahanti, R. (2005), “Six Sigma for software”, Software Quality Professional, Vol. 8 No. 1,pp. 12-26.

Mahanti, R. and Antony, J. (2005), “Confluence of Six Sigma, simulation and softwaredevelopment”, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 20 No. 7, pp. 739-62.

Mahanti, R. and Antony, J. (2006), “Six Sigma in software industries: some case studies andobservations”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 3,pp. 263-90.

Mahesh, M., Wong, Y., Fuh, J. and Loh, H. (2006), “A Six Sigma approach for benchmarking ofRP&M processes”, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology,Vol. 31 Nos 3/4, pp. 374-87.

Six Sigmaquality

305

Maleyeff, J. and Kaminsky, F. (2002), “Six Sigma and introductory statistics education”,Education þ Training, Vol. 44 No. 2, pp. 82-9.

Maleyeff, J. and Krayenvenger, D. (2004), “Goal setting with Six Sigma: mean shiftdetermination”, Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An InternationalJournal, Vol. 76 No. 6, pp. 577-83.

Malhan, I. and Rao, S. (2005), “Application of Six Sigma in libraries”, Managing Information,Vol. 12 No. 8, pp. 48-50.

Malliga, P. and Srinivasan, S. (2007), “The stock service improvement by the deployment of SixSigma”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 2,pp. 103-19.

Man, J. (2002), “Six Sigma and lifelong learning”, Work Study, Vol. 51 No. 4, pp. 197-201.

Manikandan, G., Kannan, S. and Jayabalan, V. (2008), “Six Sigma-inspired sampling plan designto minimise sample size for inspection”, International Journal of Productivity & QualityManagement, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 472-95.

Manual, D. (2006), “Six Sigma methodology: reducing defects in business processes”, Filtrationand Separation, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 34-6.

Markarian, J. (2004a), “Six Sigma: quality processing through statistical analysis”, Plastics,Additives and Compounding, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 28-31.

Markarian, J. (2004b), “What is Six Sigma?”, Reinforced Plastics, Vol. 48 No. 7, pp. 46-9.

Marti, F. (2005), “Lean Six Sigma method in phase 1 clinical trials: a practical example”, QualityAssurance Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 35-9.

Martin, D., Juras, P. and Aldhizer, G. III (2006), “Taming SOX costs with Six Sigma”, Journal ofCorporate Accounting and Finance, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 13-22.

Mazzola, M., Gentili, E. and Aggogeri, F. (2007), “SCOR, lean and Six Sigma integration for acomplete industrial improvement”, International Journal of Manufacturing Research, Vol. 2No. 2, pp. 188-97.

Mekki, K. (2006), “Robust design failure mode and effects analysis in designing for Six Sigma”,International Journal of Product Development, Vol. 3 Nos 3/4, pp. 292-304.

Miles, E. (2006), “Improvement in the incident reporting and investigation procedures usingprocess excellence (DMAIC) methodology”, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol. 130,pp. 169-81.

Mitra, A. (2004), “Six Sigma education: a critical role for academia”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 16No. 4, pp. 293-302.

Montgomery, D. and Woodall, W. (2008), “An overview of Six Sigma”, International StatisticalReview, Vol. 76 No. 3, pp. 329-46.

Montgomery, D., Burdick, R., Lawson, C., Molnau, W., Zenzen, F., Jennings, C., Shah, H., Sebert, D.,Bowser, M. and Holcomb, D. (2005), “A university-based Six Sigma program”, Quality andReliability Engineering International, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 243-8.

Moorman, D. (2005), “On the quest for Six Sigma”, The American Journal of Surgery, Vol. 189No. 3, pp. 253-8.

Morgan, S. and Cooper, C. (2004), “Shoulder work intensity with Six Sigma”, NursingManagement, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 28-33.

Morusca, D. and Cupryk, M. (2005), “Lean Six Sigma for pharmaceutical projects: howpharmaceutical companies can minimize defects and increase value”, Journal of ValidationTechnology, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 164-76.

IJQRM27,3

306

Motwani, J., Kumar, A. and Antony, J. (2004), “A business process change framework forexamining the implementation of Six Sigma: a case study of Dow Chemicals”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 273-83.

Mukhopadhyay, A. and Ray, S. (2006), “Reduction of yarn-packing defects using Six Sigmamethods: a case study”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 189-206.

Murugappan, M. and Keeni, G. (2003), “Blending CMM and Six Sigma to meet business goals”,IEEE Software, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 42-8.

Naslund, D. (2008), “Lean, Six Sigma and lean Sigma: fads or real process improvementmethods?”, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 269-87.

Neagu, R. and Hoerl, R. (2005), “A Six Sigma approach to predicting corporate defaults”, Qualityand Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 293-309.

Neri, R., Mason, C., Demko, L. and Mazer, S. (2008), “Application of Six Sigma/CAP methodology:controlling blood-product utilization and costs”, Journal of Healthcare Management,Vol. 53 No. 3, pp. 183-95.

Ng, E., Tsung, F., So, R., Li, T. and Lam, K. (2005), “Six Sigma approach to reducing fall hazardsamong cargo handlers working on top of cargo containers: a case study”, InternationalJournal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 188-209.

Nonthaleerak, P. and Hendry, L. (2006), “Six Sigma: literature review and key future researchareas”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 2,pp. 105-61.

Nonthaleerak, P. and Hendry, L. (2007), “Six Sigma action research in Thailand: a comparativestudy”, International Journal of Services Technology and Management, Vol. 8 No. 6,pp. 491-511.

Nonthaleerak, P. and Hendry, L. (2008), “Exploring the Six Sigma phenomenon using multiplecase study evidence”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management,Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 279-303.

O’Neill, M. and Duvall, C. (2005), “A Six Sigma quality approach to workplace evaluation”,Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 240-53.

Pan, J.-N. and Cheng, M.-Y. (2008), “An empirical study for exploring the relationship betweenbalanced scorecard and Six Sigma programs”, Asia Pacific Management Review, Vol. 13No. 2, pp. 481-96.

Pandey, A. (2007), “Strategically focused training in Six Sigma way: a case study”, Journal ofEuropean Industrial Training, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 145-62.

Patterson, A., Bonissone, P. and Pavese, M. (2005), “Six Sigma applied throughout the lifecycle ofan automated decision system”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 21No. 3, pp. 275-92.

Perng, C., Tsai, J.-T., Chiou, W.-C. and Wang, S.-L. (2008), “An application of Six Sigma tocollaborative commerce capability assessment in enterprise implementation”,International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management, Vol. 3 No. 2,pp. 125-46.

Perry, L. and Barker, N. (2006), “Six Sigma in the service sector: a focus on non-normal data”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 313-33.

Pfeifer, T., Reissiger, W. and Canales, C. (2004), “Integrating Six Sigma with quality managementsystems”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 241-9.

Pheng, L. and Hui, M. (2004), “Implementing and applying Six Sigma in construction”, Journal ofConstruction Engineering and Management, Vol. 130 No. 4, pp. 482-9.

Six Sigmaquality

307

Pickrell, G., Lyons, H. and Shaver, J. (2005), “Lean Six Sigma implementation case studies”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 369-79.

Pojasek, P. (2003), “Lean, Six Sigma, and the systems approach: management initiatives forprocess improvement”, Environmental Quality Management, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 85-92.

Prabhushankar, G., Devadasan, S., Shalij, P. and Thirunavukkarasu, V. (2008), “The origin,history and definition of Six Sigma: a literature review”, International Journal of Six Sigmaand Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 133-50.

Proudlove, N., Moxham, C. and Boaden, R. (2008), “Lessons for lean in healthcare from using SixSigma in the NHS”, Public Money and Management, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 27-34.

Raisinghani, M., Ette, H., Pierce, R., Cannon, G. and Daripaly, P. (2005), “Six Sigma: concepts,tools, and applications”, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 105 No. 4,pp. 491-505.

Rajagopal, R. and Castillo, E. (2007), “A Bayesian approach for multiple criteria decision makingwith applications in design for Six Sigma”, Journal of the Operational Research Society,Vol. 58 No. 6, pp. 779-90.

Rajagopalan, R., Francis, M. and Suarez, W. (2004), “Developing novel catalysts with Six Sigma”,Research Technology Management, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 13-16.

Rajamanoharan, I. and Collier, P. (2006), “Six Sigma implementation, organisational change andthe impact on performance measurement systems”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 48-68.

Rao, K. and Rao, K. (2007), “Higher management education: should Six Sigma be added to thecurriculum?”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 2,pp. 156-70.

Rasis, D., Gitlow, H. and Popovich, E. (2002a), “A fictitious Six Sigma green belt case study. I”,Quality Engineering, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 127-45.

Rasis, D., Gitlow, H. and Popovich, E. (2002b), “A fictitious Six Sigma green belt case study. II”,Quality Engineering, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 259-74.

Ravichandran, J. (2006), “Six Sigma milestone: an overall Sigma level of an organization”, TotalQuality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 17 No. 8, pp. 973-80.

Ravichandran, J. (2007), “Cost-based process weights for DPMO and the overall performance ofan organization”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 5, pp. 442-53.

Ravichandran, J. (2008), “The performance of treatments in single-factor experiments using SixSigma metrics”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4No. 2, pp. 114-32.

Revere, L. and Black, K. (2003), “Integrating Six Sigma with total quality management: a caseexample for measuring medication errors”, Journal of Healthcare Management, Vol. 48No. 6, pp. 377-91.

Revere, L., Black, K. and Huq, A. (2004), “Integrating Six Sigma and CQI for improving patientcare”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 105-13.

Revere, L., Kadipasaoglu, S. and Zalila, F. (2006), “An empirical investigation into Six Sigmacritical success factors”, International Journal of Productivity & Quality Management,Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 224-52.

Ribardo, C. and Allen, T. (2003), “An alternative desirability function for achieving Six Sigmaquality”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 227-40.

Ricondo, I. and Viles, E. (2005), “Six Sigma and its link to TQM, BPR, lean and the learningorganisation”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 3,pp. 323-54.

IJQRM27,3

308

Rudisill, F. and Clary, D. (2004), “The management accountant’s role in Six Sigma”, StrategicFinance, Vol. 86 No. 5, pp. 34-41.

Rylander, D. and Provost, T. (2006), “Improving the odds: combining Six Sigma and onlinemarket research for better customer service”, SAMAdvancedManagement Journal, Vol. 71No. 1, pp. 15-19.

Sadagopan, P., Devadasan, S. and Goyal, S. (2005), “Three Six Sigma transitions andorganisational preparedness exercise today’s imperatives for tomorrow’s success”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 134-50.

Sahoo, A., Tiwari, M. and Mileham, A. (2008), “Six Sigma-based approach to optimize radialforging operation variables”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 202 Nos 1-3,pp. 125-36.

Sanders, D. and Hild, C. (2000a), “A discussion of strategies for Six Sigma implementation”,Quality Engineering, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 303-9.

Sanders, D. and Hild, C. (2000b), “Common myths about Six Sigma”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 13No. 2, pp. 269-76.

Sanders, D. and Hild, C. (2000c), “Six Sigma on business processes: common organizationalissues”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 603-10.

Sarkar, B. (2007a), “Capability enhancement of a metal casting processes in a small steel foundrythrough Six Sigma: a case study”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 56-71.

Sarkar, B. (2007b), “Designing sustainable strategies for continuous improvement deploymentprogramme: lessons from a steel plant in India”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 352-76.

Savage, G. (2007), “Probability-constrained optimization as a tool for functional design for SixSigma”, Quality Engineering, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 101-10.

Savage, G. and Son, Y. (2008), “Design-for-Six-Sigma for multiple response systems”,International Journal of Product Development, Vol. 5 Nos 1/2, pp. 39-53.

Savolainen, T. and Haikonen, A. (2007), “Dynamics of organizational learning and continuousimprovement in Six Sigma implementation”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 6-17.

Schon, K. (2006), “Implementing Six Sigma in a non-American culture”, International Journal ofSix Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 404-28.

Schroeder, R.G., Linderman, K., Liedtke, C. and Choo, A. (2008), “Six Sigma: definition andunderlying theory”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 536-54.

Sehwail, L. and De Yong, C. (2003), “Six Sigma in health care”, Leadership in Health Services,Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 1-5.

Sekhar, H. and Mahanti, R. (2006), “‘Confluence of Six Sigma, simulation and environmentalquality: an application in foundry industries”, Management of Environmental Quality:An International Journal, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 170-83.

Senapati, N. (2004), “Six Sigma: myths and realities”, International Journal of Quality & ReliabilityManagement, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 683-90.

Setijono, D. (2008), “DisPMO and DePMO as Six Sigma-based forward-looking qualityperformance measures”, The TQM Journal, Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 588-98.

Shah, R., Chandrasekaran, A. and Linderman, K. (2008), “In pursuit of implementation patterns:the context of lean and Six Sigma”, International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 46No. 23, pp. 6679-99.

Six Sigmaquality

309

Shahabuddin, S. (2008), “Six Sigma: issues and problems”, International Journal of Productivity &Quality Management, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 145-60.

Shahin, A. (2008), “Design for Six Sigma (DFSS): lessons learned from world-class companies”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 48-59.

Shahin, A. and Alinavaz, M. (2008), “Integrative approaches and frameworks of lean Six Sigma:a literature perspective”, International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking,Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 323-37.

Shanmugam, V. (2007), “Six Sigma cup: establishing ground rules for successful Six Sigmadeployment”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 77-82.

Sharma, U. (2003), “Implementing lean principles with the Six Sigma advantage: how a batterycompany realized significant improvements”, Journal of Organizational Excellence, Vol. 22No. 3, pp. 43-52.

Smith, B. (1993), “Six Sigma design”, IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 30 No. 9, pp. 43-7.

Smith, L. and Phadke, M. (2005), “Some thoughts about problem solving in a DMAICframework”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2,pp. 151-66.

Snee, R. (2004), “Six-Sigma: the evolution of 100 years of business improvement methodology”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 4-20.

Sodhi, M. and Sodhi, N. (2005), “Tool kit – Six Sigma pricing”, Harvard Business Review, May,p. 135.

Sokovic, M., Pavletic, D. and Fakin, S. (2005), “Application of Six Sigma methodology for processdesign”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol. 162-163, pp. 777-83.

Stevenson, W. and Mergen, E. (2006), “Teaching Six Sigma concepts in a business schoolcurriculum”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 751-6.

Stewart, R. and Spencer, C. (2006), “Six Sigma as a strategy for process improvement onconstruction projects: a case study”, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 24No. 4, pp. 339-48.

Su, C.-T. and Chou, C.-J. (2008), “A systematic methodology for the creation of Six Sigma projects:a case study of semiconductor foundry”, Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 34 No. 4,pp. 2693-703.

Su, C-T., Chiang, T.-L. and Chang, C.-M. (2006), “Improving service quality by capitalising on anintegrated lean Six Sigma methodology”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 1-22.

Su, C.-T., Chiang, T.-L. and Chiao, K. (2005), “Optimizing the IC delamination quality via SixSigma approach”, IEEE Transactions on Electronics Packaging Manufacturing, Vol. 28No. 3, pp. 241-8.

Sudhahar, C., Kumar, R., Senthil, V., Devadasan, S. and Murugesh, R. (2008), “Web-based SixSigma: a technique for zero defects manufacturing through global knowledge sharing”,International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 270-89.

Szeto, A. and Tsang, A. (2005), “Antecedents to successful implementation of Six Sigma”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 307-22.

Taghaboni-Dutta, F. and Moreland, K. (2004), “Using Six Sigma to improve loan portfolioperformance”, Journal of American Academy of Business, Vol. 5 Nos 1/2, pp. 15-20.

Taner, M., Sezen, B. and Anthony, J. (2007), “An overview of Six Sigma applications in healthcareindustry”, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 329-40.

IJQRM27,3

310

Tang, L., Goh, T.-N., Lam, S. and Zhang, C. (2007), “Fortification of Six Sigma: expanding theDMAIC toolset”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 3-18.

Tannock, J., Balogun, O. and Hawisa, H. (2007), “A variation management system supporting SixSigma”, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 561-75.

Thakkar, J., Deshmukh, S. and Kanda, A. (2006), “Implementing Six Sigma in service sectorusing AHP and Alderfer’s motivational model: a case of educational services”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 353-76.

Thawani, S. (2004), “Six Sigma – strategy for organisational excellence”, Total QualityManagement and Business Excellence, Vol. 15 Nos 5/6, pp. 655-64.

Thiele, R., Huffmyer, J. and Nemergut, E. (2008), “The Six Sigma approach to the operating roomenvironment and infection”, Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, Vol. 22No. 3, pp. 537-52.

Thirunavukkarasu, V., Devadasan, S., Prabhushankar, G., Murugesh, R. and Senthilkumar, K.(2008), “Conceptualisation of total Six Sigma function deployment through literaturesnapshots”, International Journal of Applied Management Science, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 97-122.

Thomas, A. and Barton, R. (2006), “Developing an SME-based Six Sigma strategy”, Journal ofManufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 417-34.

Thomas, A. and Lewis, G. (2007), “Developing an SME-based integrated TPM Six Sigmastrategy”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 3,pp. 228-47.

Thomas, A., Barton, R. and Byard, P. (2008a), “Developing a Six Sigma maintenance model”,Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 262-71.

Thomas, A., Barton, R. and Chuke-Okafor, C. (2008b), “Applying lean Six Sigma in a smallengineering company: a model for change”, Journal of Manufacturing TechnologyManagement, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 113-29.

Thomas, M. and Singh, N. (2006), “Complexity reduction in product design and developmentusing design for Six Sigma”, International Journal of Product Development, Vol. 3 Nos 3/4,pp. 319-36.

Thompson, J., Miller, T., Krantz, A. and Thomas, T. (2008), “Six Sigma engages physicians inachieving strategic performance improvement at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center”,Global Business and Organizational Excellence, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 6-20.

Tong, J., Tsung, F. and Yen, B. (2004), “DMAIC approach to printed circuit board qualityimprovement”, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 23Nos 7/8, pp. 523-31.

Treville, S., Edelson, N., Kharkar, A. and Avanzi, B. (2008), “Constructing useful theory: the caseof Six Sigma”, Operations Management Research, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 15-23.

Ung, S.-T., Bonsall, S., Williams, V., Wall, A. and Wang, J. (2007), “The application of the SixSigma concept to port security process quality control”, Quality and Reliability EngineeringInternational, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 631-9.

Van Den Heuvel, J., Does, R. and De Koning, H. (2006), “Lean Six Sigma in a hospital”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 377-88.

Van Den Heuvel, J., Does, R. and Vermaat, M. (2004), “Six Sigma in a Dutch hospital: does it workin the nursing department?”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 20No. 5, pp. 419-26.

Van Den Heuvel, J., Does, R.J. and Verver, J.P. (2005), “Six Sigma in healthcare: lessons learnedfrom a hospital”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1No. 4, pp. 380-8.

Six Sigmaquality

311

Van Iwaarden, J., Van Der Wiele, T., Dale, B., Williams, R. and Bertsch, R. (2008), “The Six Sigmaimprovement approach: a transnational comparison”, International Journal of ProductionResearch, Vol. 46 No. 23, pp. 6739-58.

Vaughan, T. (1998), “Defect rate estimation for ‘Six Sigma’ processes”, Production and InventoryManagement Journal, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 5-13.

Vestal, W. (2004), “Making the KM and Six Sigma connection”, Knowledge Management Review,Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 24-7.

Vote, D. and Huston, J. (2005), “Six Sigma approach to improve surgical site infections: a keyvariable”, American Journal of Infection Control, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 167-8.

Walters, L. (2005), “Six Sigma: is it really different?”, Quality and Reliability EngineeringInternational, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 221-4.

Wang, F., Du, T. and Li, E. (2004), “Applying Six Sigma to supplier development”, Total QualityManagement and Business Excellence, Vol. 15 Nos 9/10, pp. 1217-29.

Weinstein, L., Castellano, J., Petrick, J. and Vokurka, R. (2008), “Integrating Six Sigma concepts inan MBA quality management class”, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 83 No. 4,pp. 128-233.

Wessel, G. and Burcher, P. (2004), “Six Sigma for small and medium-sized enterprises”, The TQMMagazine, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 264-72.

Wiklund, H. and Wiklund, P. (2002), “Widening the Six Sigma concept: an approach to improveorganizational learning”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 13 No. 2,pp. 233-9.

Woodall, T. (2001), “Six Sigma and service quality: Christian Gronroos revisited”, Journal ofMarketing Management, Vol. 17 Nos 5/6, pp. 595-607.

Woodard, D.T. (2005), “Addressing variation in hospital quality: is Six Sigma the answer?”,Journal of Healthcare Management, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 226-36.

Woodard, D.T. (2006), “Addressing variation in hospital quality: is Six Sigma the answer?”,IEEE Engineering Management Review, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 25-31.

Wright, J. and Basu, R. (2008), “Project management and Six Sigma: obtaining a fit”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 81-94.

Wyper, B. and Harrison, A. (2000), “Deployment of Six Sigma methodology in human resourcefunction: a case study”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 11Nos 4/6, pp. 720-7.

Xue-Liang, P., Chao-Fang, P., Fa-Lin, Z. and Tong-Jun, G. (2007), “Six Sigma approach forbuild-time estimation for selective laser sintering”, International Journal of Agile Systemsand Management, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 205-13.

Yang, C. (2004), “An integrated model of TQM and GE-Six-Sigma”, International Journal of SixSigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 97-111.

Yang, C. and Yeh, T.-M. (2007), “An integrated model of Hoshin management and Six Sigma inhigh-tech firms”, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Vol. 18 No. 6,pp. 653-65.

Yang, H., Choi, B., Park, H., Suh, M. and Chae, B. (2007), “Supply chain management Six Sigma:a management innovation methodology at the Samsung Group”, Supply ChainManagement: An International Journal, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 88-95.

Yang, K. (2004), “Multivariate statistical methods and Six-Sigma”, International Journal of SixSigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 76-96.

IJQRM27,3

312

Yang, K. (2005), “Design for Six Sigma and value creation”, International Journal of Six Sigmaand Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 355-68.

Yang, K., Yeh, T., Pai, F. and Yang, C.-C. (2008), “The analysis of the implementation status ofSix Sigma: an empirical study in Taiwan”, International Journal of Six Sigma andCompetitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 60-80.

Yeh, D. (2007), “A decision process for Li-Ion battery suppliers selection based on the two-tuplefuzzy linguistic representation model and the Six Sigma DMAIC processes”, Asia PacificManagement Review, Vol. 12 No. 6, pp. 299-310.

Yeh, D., Cheng, C. and Chi, M. (2007), “A modified two-tuple FLC model for evaluating theperformance of SCM by the Six Sigma DMAIC process”, Applied Soft Computing, Vol. 7No. 3, pp. 1027-34.

Yeung, S. (2007), “Integrating ISO 9001:2000 and Six Sigma into organisational culture”,International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 210-27.

Yeung, V. (2007), “Six Sigma paradigm shift”, International Journal of Six Sigma and CompetitiveAdvantage, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 317-32.

Yilmaz, M. and Chatterjee, S. (2000), “Six Sigma beyond manufacturing: a concept for robustmanagement”, The Quality Management Journal, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 67-78.

Zaroukian, M. and Sierra, A. (2006), “Benefiting from ambulatory EHR implementation:solidarity, Six Sigma, and willingness to strive”, Journal of Healthcare InformationManagement, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 53-60.

Zhan, W. (2008), “A Six Sigma approach for the robust design of motor speed control usingmodeling and simulation”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage,Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 95-113.

Zhang, W. and Xu, X. (2008), “Six Sigma and information systems project management: a revisedtheoretical model”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 59-74.

Zu, X., Fredendall, L. and Douglas, T. (2008), “The evolving theory of quality management:the role of Six Sigma”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 630-50.

Six Sigmaquality

313

Appendix

Journal No. of articles

International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage 72The TQM Journal (Previously, The TQM Magazine) 27Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 27Quality Engineering 23Quality and Reliability Engineering International 18International Journal of Product Development 8International Journal of Production Research 7International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 7Journal of Validation Technology 6The Quality Management Journal 6Journal of Healthcare Management 5Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 5Journal of Organizational Excellence 5Measuring Business Excellence 5International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance 4International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management 4Journal of Operations Management 4Research Technology Management 4Strategic Finance 4Assembly Automation 3Business Process Management Journal 3IEEE Engineering Management Review 3IEEE Software 3International Journal of Management 3International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 3Journal for Healthcare Quality 3Journal for Quality and Participation 3Managerial Auditing Journal 3Managing Service Quality 3The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 3Asia Pacific Management Review 2Benchmarking: An International Journal 2Global Business and Organizational Excellence 2IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering 2IEEE Transactions on Electronics Packaging Manufacturing 2International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 2International Journal of Logistics 2International Journal of Operations & Production Management 2International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking 2International Journal of Production Economics 2International Journal of Services Technology and Management 2Journal of American Academy of Business 2Journal of Change Management 2Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance 2Journal of Facilities Management 2Journal of Materials Processing Technology 2Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering 2Journal of the Operational Research Society 2

(continued )

Table AI.List of reviewed journalsfor Six Sigma articles

IJQRM27,3

314


Leadership in Health Services 2Organization Development Journal 2Production and Inventory Management journal 2Project Management Journal 2Quality Management in Health Care 2SAM Advanced Management Journal 2Software Quality Professional 2Work Study 2Academy of Health Care Management Journal 1Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal 1American Journal of Surgery 1Annual Reviews in Control 1AORN 1Applied Soft Computing 1Best Practice and Research Clinical Anaesthesiology 1Construction Management and Economics 1Customer Management 1Education þ Training 1Employment Relations Today 1Engineering Failure Analysis 1Environmental Quality Management 1European Journal of Operational Research 1Expert Systems with Applications 1Filtration and Separation 1Gen. Intern. Med. 1Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management 1Harvard Business Review 1Home Healthcare Nurse 1Human Resource Development Quarterly 1IEEE Control Systems Magazine 1IEEE Spectrum 1IEEE Transactions on Magnetics 1Industrial and Commercial Training 1Industrial Management & Data Systems 1Information Management Journal 1International Journal of Agile Systems and Management 1International Journal of Applied Management Science 1International Journal of Business and Systems Research 1International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management 1International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management 1International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management 1International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management 1International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management 1International Journal of Management Science and EngineeringManagement 1International Journal of Manufacturing Research 1International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management 1International Journal of Organizational Analysis 1International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 1International Journal of Services and Operations Management 1International Journal of Technology Management 1

(continued ) Table AI.

Six Sigmaquality

315


International Statistical Review 1JOM 1Journal of Air Transport Management 1Journal of Applied Statistics 1Journal of Computer Information Systems 1Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 1Journal of Corporate Real Estate 1Journal of Education for Business 1Journal of European Industrial Training 1Journal of Hazardous Materials 1Journal of Healthcare Information Management 1Journal of High Technology Management Research 1Journal of Infection Control 1Journal of Marketing Management 1Journal of Nursing Administration 1Journal of Organizational Change Management 1Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis 1Journal of Quality Technology 1Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management 1Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research 1Journal of Statistics and Management Systems 1Journal of the American College of Surgeons 1Knowledge Management Review 1Leadership & Organization Development Journal 1Management and Labour 1Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal 1Managing Information 1Metal Finishing 1Neonatal Network 1Nurse Leader 1Nursing Management 1Operations Management Research 1Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery 1Performance Improvement 1Plastics, Additives and Compounding 1Production Planning and Control 1Program: Electronic Library & Information Systems 1Public Money & Management 1Quality and Quantity 1Quality Assurance Journal 1Quality Management & Business Excellence 1Reinforced Plastics 1Risk Management 1Software Quality Journal 1Strategy & Leadership 1Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 1Technovation 1The American Statistician 1The Health Care Manager 1

Notes: Total number of journals ¼ 147; Total number of articles ¼ 417Table AI.

IJQRM27,3

316

About the authorM.G. Aboelmaged is an Associate Professor of Business Administration in Ain ShamsUniversity, Cairo, Egypt and Ajman University of Science and Technology, United ArabEmirates. He has a PhD in Management Science from Lancaster University, UK, and an MA inPublic Policy and Administration from Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, TheNetherlands. His research interests include the adoption and implementation of informationtechnologies, enterprise systems, quality systems, e-business, and supply chain managementinformation quality. His work has been published in international conference proceedingsincluding IEEE International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology,Information Quality Conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), BritishAcademy of Management Annual Conference, The Operational Research Society AnnualConference, Annual Global Information Technology Management World Conference, and theAnnual Conference on Crisis and Disaster Management. He has also published in Economic andBusiness Review Journal, International Journal of Business Science and Applied Management andInternational Journal of Enterprise Network Management. M.G. Aboelmaged can be contacted at:[email protected]

Six Sigmaquality

317

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

aboelmaged 2010 six sigma quality

Documents

sigma research

sigma quality

sigma literature

sigma information

sigma tools

sigma methodology

sigma program

research types