Six sigma management activities and their influence on corporate competitiveness

Abstract

Six sigma has long been used as an effective way to restructure a company's management process. A number of successful cases have been reported of six-sigma-based management activities dramatically enhancing a company's strategic performance over study periods of several years. However, while there are abundant case studies in the literature regarding six sigma, there is a lack of empirical studies that adopt statistical approaches. To fill this void, this study proposes a research model to test whether six-sigma-based management activities improve corporate competitiveness. We applied a structural equation model to 161 valid questionnaires collected from managers in a number of Samsung companies that have introduced six sigma and have been actively applying its activities for several years. Empirical results showed that six sigma activities do indeed contribute to process management refreshment, quality improvement, and finally corporate competitiveness. We hope that this study enables further rigorous studies investigating six sigma as a major strategic activity.