Critical success factors of TQM, Six Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on the critical success factors (CSFs) of various continuous improvement (CI) like total quality management (TQM), Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma (LSS), and perform a content analysis (CA) leading to an agenda for future research. Design/methodology/approach CA is based on literature review of 41 papers published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. A four-stage methodology is used by the authors, with Stage 1 featuring relevant material collection; Stage 2 presenting a descriptive analysis; Stage 3 outlining the category selection; and Stage 4 featuring the material evaluation using clustering and Pareto analysis. Findings The CA revealed various research implications and directions for the future. The number of studies in the literature regarding CSF assessment is found to be far from substantial while compared to CI implementation. Assessment methodologies developed have been ranging from qualitative to quantitative models. Key gaps were identified and directions for CSF assessment are proposed which requires further validation. Research limitations/implications Only articles that appeared in peer-reviewed journals were analyzed; conference papers, reports, manuals and white papers from practice were excluded. Another limitation of the paper would be the scope of CA limited to four CI constructs – TQM, Lean, Six Sigma and LSS. Research implications indicate that the future studies in this domain would be intensive toward analyzing the vital CSFs for enterprise organizational excellence and not merely process excellence. Practical implications This review study can serve as a resource for both researchers and practitioners to understand the importance of CSFs and positioning CSFs for the successful implementation of CI programs. Originality/value The CA on the existing literature on CSFs for CI presents a unique, systematic effort to identify an agenda for future research. This study is the apparently the first of its kind on CSF assessment.

Human Resource Abilities and Skills in TQM for Sustainable Enterprises

“…Responsibility with the TQM performance [27,[63][64][65] Support to improve the production process [51,66] Communication about the mission and objectives of the company [67][68][69] Quality policies and quality goals [70,71] Quality is the mean to increase profits [72,73] Dissemination of quality culture [74,75] Promotion of training and education [76,77] Training and education TQM courses to improve employee skills [78,79] TQM courses for managers and supervisors [79][80][81][82] Quality circle courses [79,81,83] Technical statistics courses [84][85][86] Financial resources for training [87][88][89][90][91] Courses on communication, effective meetings, and leadership [64,65,92] Courses on identification and troubleshooting [93][94][95] Employees integration…”

Managing Quality in Cross-cultural Settings

“…TQM, Lean production and Six Sigma have the same origin of the philosophy, namely the work of quality gurus around WWII, but the three strategies have taken different paths and developed differently, to a certain extent (Andersson et al, 2006;Dahlgaard et al, 2006;Schonberger, 2007;Sreedharan V et al, 2018). Dahlgaard et al (2006) suggested that Lean and Six Sigma provide clearer roadmaps than TQM, which makes them easier for companies to adopt.…”

“…Nevertheless, two core values are the basis of all three: a focus on employee involvement and a focus on continuous improvement (Schonberger, 2007). In summary, the three concepts do not contradict each other and all focus on achieving the same results of business excellence and customer satisfaction: they are simply slightly different packaging of tools (Andersson et al, 2006;Dahlgaard et al, 2006;Sreedharan V et al, 2018).…”

Cultura Organizacional E Práticas De Qualidade TQM/Seis Sigma: Um Estudo Em Farmácias De Manipulação

“…Thus TQM, besides being a managerial philosophy, it also consists of an organizational culture and leads to its development (HELLSTEN;KLEFSJÖ, 2000). Sreedharan and Sunder (2018) punctuated that late 1980s, Motorola introduced a quality management program called Six Sigma, which is widely used today. There are several definitions of Six Sigma in the literature.…”

“…However, the focus of each initiative is different: TQM has a more internal focus on management commitment, cultural change and employee training and education, and externally on meeting customer requirements. Six Sigma focuses on reducing organizational process variations, encouraging adjustments in these if the results are not satisfactory OLIVEIRA, 2006;SREEDHARAN, SUNDER, 2018).…”