Scrutinizing the types of leadership traits that contribute to the success of Six Sigma implementation: An empirical study

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the significance of leadership in the successful adoption of Six Sigma. It explores which leadership styles and attributes are more conducive to successful implementation, as not all Six Sigma efforts have been entirely successful. The objective of this research is to identify the key elements of leadership styles that contribute to the achievement of Six Sigma programs in the automobile industry, based on a study conducted by various authors. According to the study, approximately 60% of corporate Six Sigma initiatives fail due to assumptions and incorrect leadership attributes. The research utilized a research survey with a Likert scale questionnaire distributed to 2325 prospective participants, with 573 responses primarily from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. The study employed exploratory research approaches and a mixed‐method research design to analyze the impact of leadership style on the success of Six Sigma deployment. The findings identified two essential key elements of leadership style through various SEM methods (EFA and CFA): (1) Leadership support for Six Sigma as a long‐term improvement strategy is crucial for sustained growth. (2) Leadership commitment to the organization's suppliers and maintaining quality to ensure defect‐free products. The practical implications of this study can be adopted by institutions, practitioners, and researchers to incorporate these leadership traits for sustainable Six Sigma implementation. This study makes an original contribution to the assessment of leadership styles in the European automobile industry, utilizing a mixed‐method research design along with descriptive statistics.