Six Sigma Integration

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Six Sigma Integration Sustainable results can only be achieved when an integrated and cohesive approach is adopted with respect to training and learning (Alsagheer & Mohammed, 2011). Snee (2000) calls for research to help practitioners identify a robust set of improvement tools to be used in conjunction with the DMAIC process. Through a proper integration between Six Sigma methodology and other improvement / management initiatives any process can be improved into infinite position. However, as has been reported in the existing literatures, most of these integrations fail to take full advantage of each methodology due to organizational constraints / philosophy. The integration challenge is to create the best process and organizational infrastructure…show more content…
Benner and Tushman (2003) proposed a theoretical model explaining why process management will impede innovation and empirically tested the relationship in the paint industry. Due to the complexity and dynamisms inherent in management of processes in the operations setting, research on process management remains a challenge in operation management field (Buffa, 1980). Six Sigma mechanistic approaches to improvement are highly prescriptive in mandating how improvement effort should be implemented. The contemporary business environment is most appropriately characterized by versatile customer requirement, complex global supply chains, and fierce global competition. Such mechanistic approach may likely not be appropriate for organizations operating in a dynamic environment, thus organizations need to be…show more content…
Recently, operations management scholars have recognized that “incorporating” human behavior into Operation management models will yield more realistic insights” (Boudreau et al., 2003). According to March (1981), systems that engage in exploitation to the exclusion of exploration are likely to find themselves trapped in suboptimal condition. In other words, maintaining an appropriate balance between exploration and exploitation is a primary factor in system survival and prosperity. In studies of organizational learning, the problem of balancing exploration and exploitation is exhibited in distinctions made between refinement of an existing technology and invention of a new one (Winter 1971; levinthal & March, 1981). Operations management should not be understood as a purely technical problem but must be considered simultaneously with behavioral underpinnings (Linderman, Schroeder, Zaheer, & Choo, 2003). Recent studies have now re-focused research attention to incorporate psychological, and contextual human side of Six Sigma (Buch & Tolentini, 2006), goal setting (Linderman et al., 2006), organizational context, and psychological safety (Choo, Linderman, Schroeder, 2007). Incorporating Six Sigma methodology with other strategic and tactical

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