If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.*Related content and download information correct at time of download. 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 mediumsized 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 discre...

Purpose -DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) Methodology of Six Sigma is a systematic data driven approach to reduce the defect and improve the quality in any type of business. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from the application of DMAIC methodology in a food service "Small to Medium Sized Enterprise" (SME) in a lean environment to reduce the waste in this field. Design/methodology/approach -A simplified version of DMAIC was adopted through the application of appropriate statistical tools in order to focus on customer's requirements to identify the defect, the cause of the defect and improve the delivery process by implementing the optimum solution. Findings -The result suggested that modification in layout utilization reduced the number of causes of defect by 40% resulting in jumping from 1.44 Sigma level to 2.09 Sigma level which is substantial improvement in SME. Research limitations /implication -Simplicity of DMAIC is important to enabling any SME to identify the problem and minimize its cause through a systematic approach. Practical implications -Integrating of Supply Chain objectives with any quality initiatives such as lean and Six Sigma has a substantial effect on achieving to the targets. Originality / Value -This paper represents a potential area in which DMAIC methodology along side the Lean Management can promote Supply Chain Management objectives for a food distribution SME.

Quantitative analysis of Six Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma research publications in last two decades Purpose-This research study intends to extend previous studies to a hybrid analysis of three business improvement practices of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) within last two decades and identify the research gaps and focuses in more comprehensive and robust classification framework. Design/methodology/approach-A secondary data collection and literature review was conducted to collect information about peer reviewed journal articles under six dimensions of a tested classification framework. The frequency and distribution analysis was conducted followed by the Pearson's Chi Squared test to analyse any relationship between dimensions of framework in order to identify the gap. Finding-Despite a relatively great deal of regular research outputs about Six Sigma, Lean and LSS, academic journal articles have been found mainly limited to a few industries, themes and countries. "General manufacturing", "healthcare", "automotive" and "electronic industries" as sectors; and "tools and techniques", "benefits" and "success factors" as key themes have been mostly approached by LSS, Six Sigma and Lean management articles. It was also found that there is still a great disparity amongst researchers and journals to publish about these three business improvement practices. Research Implications-The research publications for LSS, Six Sigma and Lean management should have wider approach towards various manufacturing and service sectors, countries and journal publications. A greater level of research/enterprise activities has been found in relation to LSS and Six Sigma articles compared to Lean management articles. Originality/Value-This research aims to identify the gaps in research publications during last two decades about three major business improvement practices in one package and through more comprehensive robust classification framework and also through comparative analysis.

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