Investigating the readiness of people in manufacturing SMEs to embark on Lean Six Sigma projects

Alireza Shokri,Teresa Shirley Waring,Farhad Nabhani

doi:10.1108/ijopm-11-2014-0530

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on three fundamental human-related behaviour factors associated with Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects in German manufacturing small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the readiness of people (managers and their staff) to commence LSS projects. These are core personal competence, strategic vision of the people and the organisational culture of the specific organisation. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a thorough review of the academic literature a set of hypotheses were constructed to examine the level of association between people’s competence, vision and culture with LSS readiness within SMEs. This was done using correlation and regression analysis. Data collection were carried out in seven different German manufacturing SMEs involved in aerospace supply and agro-food manufacturing using a survey instrument. Findings – It was found that there is a strong positive association between the core competence of people and organisational culture with readiness for commencing LSS in the manufacturing SMEs studied. The core values of people, education level and the vision of making continuous quality improvement were identified as key variables in promoting LSS readiness in these manufacturing SMEs. This study indicates that these “softer” variables can be essential to successful LSS implementation and need to be explored further before undertaking the process. Practical implications – From the perspective of the implementers of LSS the results of this research could be of interest to different manufacturing SMEs intending to embark upon an LSS journey as it highlights the significance of human-related behavioural factors in the process. SME organisations may consider carrying out development or training with their managers and employees around personal and organisational values, addressing core competence and strengthening organisational culture in order to facilitate LSS readiness and enhance the prospect of its success. Originality/value – It would appear that this LSS research has not been carried out within the German manufacturing SME context before and although discrete in nature has surfaced the “softer” variables of core competence of staff and organisational culture as important readiness issues to address when undertaking LSS. This integrated approach of human behavioural factors, organisational culture, LSS and manufacturing SMEs demonstrates the originality of the research.

Highlights

Organisations of different sizes and in a variety of sectors are constantly being faced with a growing competitive environment as well as relentless pressure from customers to maximise value in both products and services (e.g. Felsted and Smith, 2015)
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) has evolved through the combination of Lean and Six Sigma, both recognised as leading total quality management (TQM) tools for performance improvement in organisations with a proper infrastructure built on leadership and change culture (Dora and Gellynck, 2015; Assarlind et al, 2013; Wang and Chen, 2012; Choi et al, 2012; Hilton and Sohal, 2012; Atmaca and Girenes, 2013; Lee et al, 2011; Delgado et al, 2010; Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006; McAdam and Lafferty, 2004)
Concluding remarks and future work This research study has been conducted through systematic empirical data collection which has investigated the human and behavioural factors identified as being critical when commencing LSS in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs)

Summary

Introduction

Organisations of different sizes and in a variety of sectors are constantly being faced with a growing competitive environment as well as relentless pressure from customers to maximise value in both products and services (e.g. Felsted and Smith, 2015). Despite a great deal of Six Sigma and LSS publications during last two decades, individual personnel behaviour and related attributes have been seriously neglected in the LSS empirical research literature (Stanton et al, 2014; Jimenez-Jimenez and Martinez-Costa, 2009). This is even more apparent within the SME manufacturing sector, where there appears to be much less understanding of issues around LSS implementation and the role of the SME employees and managers in the process (Dora and Gellynck, 2015; Shokri et al, 2014; Timans et al, 2012; Pepper and Spedding, 2010).

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Conclusion