Constructing useful theory: The case of Six Sigma

Organizational practices related to Six Sigma are believed to have resulted in improved organizational outcomes. The academic community, however, continues to lack understanding of the constructs and causal relationships underlying Six Sigma. Hence, discussion of Six Sigma is buffeted by anecdotal experience reported from practice. We evaluate Six Sigma through the lens of literature on theory development to explain why the Six Sigma constructs, assumptions, and causal relationships are inconsistent with theory development principles. Dr. Anilkumar N. Kharkar has retired from Corning Incorporated.     

Six Sigma: Definition and underlying theory

Six Sigma has been gaining momentum in industry; however, academics have conducted little research on this emerging phenomenon. Understanding Six Sigma first requires providing a conceptual definition and identifying an underlying theory. In this paper we use the grounded theory approach and the scant literature available to propose an initial definition and theory of Six Sigma. Our research argues that although the tools and techniques in Six Sigma are strikingly similar to prior approaches to quality management, it provides an organizational structure not previously seen. This emergent structure for quality management helps organizations more rigorously control process improvement activities, while at the same time creating a context that enables problem exploration between disparate organizational members. Although Six Sigma provides benefits over prior approaches to quality management, it also creates new challenges for researchers and practitioners.     

Role of explicit and tacit knowledge in Six Sigma projects: An empirical examination of differential project success

This research develops a conceptual model for predicting success of process improvement projects as a result of knowledge-creation practices employed in the projects. The model is empirically examined in the context of Six Sigma black belt projects. New scales are developed to measure explicit- and tacit-knowledge-creation practices in process improvement. Data is gathered via a cross-sectional sample, and the hypotheses are tested using hierarchical regression. Our results support the notion that knowledge-creation practices influence the success of process improvement projects. Specifically, the inclusion of softer, people-oriented practices for capturing tacit knowledge explains a significant amount of variance in project success, as much as the more analytically focused practices that capture explicit knowledge. This research offers practical insights about the influence of practices that project managers use to create new knowledge by capturing explicit and tacit knowledge, and seeks to advance theoretical understanding of process improvement.     

Six Sigma: The role of goals in improvement teams

The tenets of goal theory have been well established as a motivation mechanism in the management literature. However, some quality-management advocates, such as W. Edwards Deming, often criticize the use of goals. This research investigates the tension between goals and quality management in the Six Sigma context. We find empirical support that goals can be effective in Six Sigma improvement teams when teams adhere to the Six Sigma tools and method. However, challenging goals are counterproductive when Six Sigma teams do not use the tools and methods rigorously. This research reconciles the differences between quality management and goal theory by showing that the Six Sigma tools and method interact with goals.     

The communion bridge to Six Sigma and process capability indices

Six Sigma has already become an efficient improvement technique adopted by a great number of enterprises. Numbers of Sigma has become a tool of measuring process capability in some enterprises. But some of enterprises still use process capability indices (PCIs) to measure the process capability. So numbers of Sigma and PCIs both can be used to measure the process capability. The paper will research the relationship between PCIs and numbers of Sigma. In bilateral specifications, the paper will research the relationship between the PCIs which are C_p, C_pk, C_pm and C_pmk, S_pk and numbers of Sigma. In unilateral specifications, the paper will research the relationship between the PCIs which are C_pu and C_pl and numbers of Sigma. If supplier and buyer use different tools to measure the process capability, then the communion bridge to Six Sigma and PCIs can decrease the communicate noise.     

现代产品的质量改进和六西格玛管理

高度自动化是现代制造系统的主要特征,自动化设备的广泛采用对质量提出了越来越高的要求。这就要求产品的质量不断的改进和提高,而六西格玛(6σ)理论是一套建立在统计学基础上的质量管理系统模式。它的本质是不断减少偏差,持续追求高品质。文中综述了现代产品的质量研究改进和六西格玛管理理论。     

The evolving theory of quality management: The role of Six Sigma

While Six Sigma is increasingly implemented in industry, little academic research has been done on Six Sigma and its influence on quality management theory and application. There is a criticism that Six Sigma simply puts traditional quality management practices in a new package. To investigate this issue and the role of Six Sigma in quality management, this study reviewed both the traditional quality management and Six Sigma literatures and identified three new practices that are critical for implementing Six Sigma's concept and method in an organization. These practices are referred to as: Six Sigma role structure, Six Sigma structured improvement procedure, and Six Sigma focus on metrics. A research model and survey instrument were developed to investigate how these Six Sigma practices integrate with seven traditional quality management practices to affect quality performance and business performance. Test results based on a sample of 226 US manufacturing plants revealed that the three Six Sigma practices are distinct practices from traditional quality management practices, and that they complement the traditional quality management practices in improving performance. The implications of the findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed and further research directions are offered.     

Six Sigma and information systems project management: A revised theoretical model

Previous information systems (IS) research has significantly improved the success rate of IS projects, but the result is still far from satisfying. The effort to advance IS project management theories continues. One notable effort is Ravichandran and Rai (2000). Based on quality management principles, they developed a model (the R&R model) describing a qualityoriented organizational system that leads to software development quality performance. This study analyzed Six Sigma to propose major revisions to the R&R model. Six Sigma is a recent approach to quality management with proven effectiveness. The analysis of Six Sigma suggested that several constructs in the R&R model need to be respecified, leading to the definition of a new quality‐oriented organizational system. More importantly, the revised model posits that the new organizational system leads to IS project success that can be measured by organizational performance improvement. This study contributes to the literature and provides practical guidance to IS project managers.     

论卓越经营模式与6西格玛的互补、兼容和整合

本文基于对质量管理发展历史的回顾，分析了卓越经营模式和6西格玛这两个当代质量管理前沿理论的内涵和特点，论述了二者之间的互补和兼容关系，提出了企业如何进行整合推进的策略建议。     

Radical innovations in new product development and their financial performance implications: An event study of US manufacturing firms

At the dawn of the 21st century, global competition continues to increase at an accelerating rate and radical innovation is recognized as a potent weapon for firms to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. Academics, practitioners and consultants share the view that radical innovation is important to the long-term financial success of firms. Nevertheless, empirical studies on the relationship between radical innovation and firm performance have been dominated by survey research, which provided little concrete evidence on the financial impact of radical innovation. In this study we traced the financial performance of publicly traded manufacturing firms in the United States that introduced radical innovations over the period 1986-2000 and examined whether radical innovation could lead to superior financial performance in these firms. We employed the event-study method, matching each sample firm with a control group of firms in the same industry with similar pre-event performance and firm size. Our results show that while radical innovation helps firms maintain sales growth and return on sales (ROS), firm profitability in terms of return on assets (ROA) is not significantly improved. In fact, manufacturers suffer from a decline in profitability upon the introduction of radical innovations in new product development.     

以L公司为例浅析制造类企业实施六西格玛管理的问题与对策

六西格玛管理创建于上世纪80年代,时至今日仍热潮不减,但其在国内制造类企业中的应用,成功范例较少。本文以L公司为例,分析了六西格玛在制造类企业实施中普遍存在的问题,并提出一些解决方案和策略,为更多企业提供参考,以充分发挥六西格玛管理更大的作用。     

Innovation and de facto standardization: The influence of dominant design on innovative performance,radical innovation,and process innovation

Setting technology standards is the route to market growth and to potentially influencing the performance of a whole industry. When a market accepts a particular technology as one that defines the specifications for products in the entire industry, a dominant design is set. In this article, we investigate how the existence of a dominant design affects subsequent innovation in an industry. In particular, we study the influence on innovative performance, radical innovation, and process innovation. Analyzing longitudinal, cross-sectional patent data for more than 2.6 million patents filed from 1978 to 2013, we find support for our hypotheses that an industry's innovative performance and degree of radical innovation are negatively influenced by dominant design in that industry, and that process innovation is fostered by the occurrence of a dominant design. We discuss the findings in the light of the increasing speed of technological development and standardization. Additionally, results from a sensitivity analysis for different threshold values of dominant design call for adjusting a binary definition of dominant design with different threshold values depending on the effects under study.     

Toward a theory of managing context in Six Sigma process-improvement projects: An action research investigation

In this paper, field studies, extant literature, and domain knowledge are used to develop a theory of managing context in Six Sigma process-improvement projects. By means of a participatory action research investigation involving ten projects in manufacturing and service firms, this paper examines the interrelationship among project context, elements, and success. Rich text-based information for each project was analyzed for the underlying patterns and relationships using the NVIVO 8 qualitative data analysis software package. The insights gained from this in-depth field investigation are presented in the form of 12 inductively derived research propositions that, when taken together, uniquely contribute to context-based theory-building in this area.     

Where process development begins: A multiple case study of front end activities in process firms

The front end phase of the new product development has been examined extensively, yet few if any studies have examined the front end phase of new process development. By means of a multiple case study of process firms, this article aims to bridge this knowledge gap. Our results show that substantial differences in front end activities exist between the product development and process development domains. We conceptualize the front end in process development to be an iterative trial-and-error process, dominated by activities such as idea generation and refinement, literature reviews, anticipation of end-product changes, and various forms of experiments in bench scale, lab scale, and full-scale production. In addition, we highlight key problems in the front end and managerial remedies for how to mitigate them. While these findings provide theoretical implications for research into product development, process development and production management, the findings are particularly relevant to process development managers, plant managers, and development engineers interested in increasing the efficiency of production processes.     

Mapping the benefits and costs associated with process innovation: The case of RFID adoption

The successful implementation of any innovation requires an understanding of its benefits and costs. This study examines the changes in the magnitude of costs and benefits associated with technology process innovation adoption as the innovation diffuses across different industries. Using RFID as an exemplar technology, the study shows that the magnitude of benefits and costs associated with technological process innovation adoption within different industries varies as technology diffuses beyond early adopters to the early majority. During the early stages of technology evolution, the development cost, the cost of capital, ethical costs and simple direct implementation costs (in the form of the cost of tags) predominate. As a dominant design emerges the profile of costs changes with the emphasis on initiation costs, more holistic direct implementation costs and indirect implementation costs. A similar change in the emphasis of benefits is observed, with a shift from direct to indirect benefits being noticeable as the technology moves from early adopters to early majority adopters. Our findings help to explain the difficulties in consistently measuring innovation outcomes observed in the innovation implementation literature, and emphasize the need to take into consideration the stage of technology development as a significant factor that influences the realised outcomes from innovation implementation.     

OHSAS 18001 certification and operating performance: The role of complexity and coupling

Today, manufacturing firms encounter pressure from multiple stakeholders to manage occupational health and safety issues properly, systematically and transparently. While manufacturing firms commonly use internally developed Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, there is growing pressure to adopt externally certified system such as OHSAS 18001. However, there are conflicting views and little empirical evidence that examines the linkage between OHSAS 18001 certification and operating performance. Hence, this paper examines the impact of OHSAS 18001 on operational performance through three theoretical lenses: Institutional Theory, Normal Accident Theory, and High Reliability Theory. We also investigate how complexity and coupling moderate the relationship between OHSAS 18001 and operational performance. Based on a sample of 211 U.S. listed manufacturing firms with OHSAS 18001 certification, we find that certification leads to significant increases in abnormal performance on safety, sales growth, labor productivity, and profitability and that these benefits increase as complexity and coupling increase.     

Institutional investors and firm performance: Evidence from IPOs

We investigate the post-IPO evolution of institutional investor holdings and the manner in which operating performance is related to these holdings. During the first year after the IPO, average institutional holdings increase from 24% to 36% of shares outstanding and stabilize at about 42% by the end of the second year. We document that post-IPO operating performance is positively related to institutional holdings, but this relation subsides in the third year after the IPO. Overall, our findings indicate that institutional ownership is a valid indicator of the firm’s operating performance in its initial years as a public company.     

The influence of intelligent manufacturing on financial performance and innovation performance: the case of China

ABSTRACT

Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in advanced manufacturing systems to realise intelligent manufacturing. However, there is still a lack of empirical research on the impact of intelligent manufacturing on enterprise performances, especially for China. The author adopts the enterprise panel data of intelligent manufacturing implemented by China’s manufacturing industry in 2014 to 2019, and uses propensity score matching with difference in differences (PSM-DID) method to investigate the impact of intelligent manufacturing on financial performance and innovation performance. The research yields two main conclusions. First, the implementation of intelligent manufacturing has a significant role in promoting the financial performance and innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises. Second, technology-intensive industries improve the quantity of innovation by implementing intelligent manufacturing, thus promoting the improvement of short-term financial performance, but the improvement of innovation quality has a negative impact on short-term financial performance. In labour-intensive industries, the relationship between financial performance and innovation performance is not obvious.     

Anchored putter ban: An examination of whether anchored putting impacts career success and putting performance

The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour ban on anchored putting (Rule 14‐1b) took effect on January 1, 2016. The ban remains controversial because the governance decision appears to have been made without adequate empirical evidence. Accordingly, to investigate the efficacy of the ban, the impact of using anchored putters on PGA golfers' career success and putting performance was examined. PGA golfers ranked in the top 125 were studied from 2009 to 2015. The analysis revealed an anchored putter offered no unfair advantage with regard to improving players' career success or putting performance when compared with standard putter usage by PGA golfers.     

Mapping the criterion space for expatriate success: task- and relationship-based performance,effort and adaptation

The paper presents an explicit consideration of the criterion space for expatriate success. Expatriate performance is conceptualized in terms of task completion, relationship building and overall performance. These three dimensions are determined by various features of effort regulation: the amount and pattern of personal resources the expatriate spends on behaviours that constitute his or her position. Drawing upon work motivation and withdrawal literatures, we assess effort in terms of withdrawal cognitions, passive task neglect, active task avoidance, time to proficiency and leader-team exchanges. Effort regulation, in turn, is proposed to be a function of three forms of adjustment (cultural, interaction and work) – which have been the default criterion in past expatriate research. Our model is tested using multi-source data from expatriates, their spouses and their work colleagues. Support for the proposed mapping of successive linkages between adjustment, effort (including the often-studied assignment withdrawal) and performance dimensions provides a more comprehensive perspective of the expatriate criterion space.