Lean Six Sigma Deployment and Maturity Models: A Critical Review

Abstract

For guidance in implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS), both the academic and the practitioners' literature offer deployment models and models for assessing the implementation's maturity. This paper makes a critical appraisal of the quality and usefulness of a sample of 19 such models. The appraisal follows a set of review criteria developed on the basis of theory. The analyzed models appear disconnected from established theory in organizational development, and the given advice lacks in specificity and operationality. The underlying notion of deployment processes seems an exclusively programmatic view, leaving little room for idiosyncrasy and learning elements. The study signals an important need for scientific insight in the process of implementing approaches such as LSS, and for a more effective translation of established theory in organizational development to forms practitioners can use. The paper also bridges the gap between academic literature on organizational development and practices in the field as codified in practical deployment models, and identifies how the former could have more impact on the latter.