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The purpose of this paper is to focus on the importance of the project selection process and its role in the successful deployment of Six Sigma within organizations.

A review of the literature is presented, highlighting the importance of project selection in Six Sigma deployment, which is an area of extreme importance that has been less researched in the past. The paper, through a real‐life case study, proposes a hybrid methodology, which combines the analytical hierarchy process and the project desirability matrix to select a project for Six Sigma deployment.

The paper demonstrates the efficacy of proposed methodology by its application in a small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) manufacturing die‐casting product. The example provided is a real‐life case study conducted by the authors in an organization embracing the Six Sigma business strategy within their day‐to‐day functioning.

The proposed methodology is tested only in a case study SME, which is the limitation of the paper. The robustness of the methodology can be tested by conducting several case studies in organizations and comparing the results with other existing methodologies for project selection such as project prioritisation matrix or the failure mode and effect analysis.

The paper accentuates the importance of the project selection process for Six Sigma deployment, which can have a tremendous effect on the business profitability of an organization. The paper is relevant to both industry practitioners and researchers.

The paper presents a methodology linking the project selection process to successful deployment of Six Sigma within organizations, an important topic that has been neglected in the past. The paper will enable managers and practitioners to emphasize the importance of project selection and to identify and focus on the critical success factors in successful deployment of Six Sigma projects.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effect of the combined (Federal and state) estate, inheritance, and gift (EIG) tax burden per decedent on the number of firms in the USA.

Estimates are based on a longitudinal panel of 50 American states from 1988 to 2006.

The paper finds that the growth in the EIG tax burden per decedent significantly reduces the growth in the number of firms, especially small firms. The higher dissolution rate among small firms can be attributed to the asymmetric liquidity effect, which limits the ability of small business owners to raise the funds needed to pay the estate tax without liquidating their estates.

The estimates suggest that the reductions in EIG taxes, brought about by the passage of 2001 EGTRRA, have lead to a higher growth in the number of firms, ceteris paribus.

As of this writing, the future of the Federal estate tax looks uncertain. Policymakers should note that the estate tax lowers competition and economic growth, which hurts both the poor and the rich.

This study is the first to examine the impact of the combined (Federal and state) EIG tax burden on the number of firms using state-level panel data.

The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology in which alternate Six Sigma projects are prioritized and selected using appropriate multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods in healthcare organizations. This study addresses a particular gap in implementing a systematic methodology for Six Sigma project prioritization and selection in the healthcare industry.

This study develops a methodology in which alternate Six Sigma projects are prioritized and selected using a modified Kemeny median indicator rank accordance (KEMIRA-M), an MCDM method based on a case study in healthcare organizations. The case study was hypothetically developed in the healthcare industry and presented to demonstrate the proposed framework’s applicability and validity for future decision-makers who will take place in Six Sigma project selection processes.

The study reveals that the Six Sigma project prioritized by KEMIRA-M assign the highest ranks to patient satisfaction, revenue enhancement and sigma level benefit criteria, while resource utilization and process cycle time receive the lowest rank.

The methodology developed in this paper proposes an MCDM-based approach for practitioners to prioritize and select Six Sigma projects in the healthcare industry. The findings regarding patient satisfaction and revenue enhancement mesh with the current trends that dominate and regulate the industry. KEMIRA-M provides flexibility for Six Sigma project selection and uses multiple criteria in two-criteria groups, simultaneously. In this study, a more objective KEMIRA-M method was suggested by implementing two different ranking-based weighting approaches.

This is the first study that implements KEMIRA-M in Six Sigma project prioritization and selection process in the healthcare industry. To overcome previous KEMIRA-M shortcomings, two ranking based weighting approaches were proposed to form a weighting procedure of KEMIRA-M. As the first implementation of the KEMIRA-M weighting procedure, the criteria weighting procedure of the KEMIRA-M method was developed using two different weighting methods based on ranking. The study provides decision-makers with a methodology that considers both benefit and cost type criteria for alternates and gives importance to experts’ rankings related to criteria and the performance values of alternates for criteria.

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast wine sales in neighboring franchise law and non‐franchise law states in order to determine impact on wine price, consumer choice, consumer satisfaction, and stakeholder perception.

The study used qualitative interviews with 14 wineries, distributors, and retailers, statistical analysis of Nielsen Scantrack data, and an online survey of 401 wine consumers in Georgia and Florida, USA.

Results show statistical proof that Florida offers more wine selection and lower wine prices on matching brands than Georgia. Qualitative interviews indicate wineries, distributors, and retailers perceive differences in wine choice, price, and overall operating costs in these two states. However, there was no statistical difference between a sample of 401 consumers from Georgia and Florida when asked about their satisfaction level with wine choice and pricing within their state.

For practical purposes, the research was limited to only two US states. It would be useful to duplicate this study in other states.

Practical implications include the need for new wineries desiring to enter franchise law states to carefully research regulations and distributors before making a commitment, as well as the social issue of less wine choice and higher prices for consumers in Georgia versus Florida.

This is the first empirical study in the USA to focus on the impact of wine franchise laws on consumer choice and wine price. It yields useful information that contributes to the body of knowledge for wine and policy research.

Information systems (IS) project failure has been a recurring problem for decades. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the key factors that influence project failure and an analysis of the major areas that can have a significant impact on success; and second, to explore some of the key aspects that have an impact on project management performance from the practitioner perspective and discusses the problems faced by organizations in the closer integration of change and project management.

This study critically reviews the IS failure literature developing a synthesized view of the key issues and common reasons for projects to fail. The approach taken in this study is one that focuses on a number of key questions that pull together the relevant themes in this genre of research whilst highlighting many of the implications for practitioners and organizations alike.

Key questions remain on the underlying causes of instances of poor project management as an IS failure factor. The literature has omitted to develop a deeper analysis of the associations between failure factors and the potential causal relationships between these factors. The realization of project benefits relies on the success of both change and project management yet the formal integration of these two disciplines is constrained by separate standards bodies and an immature body of research.

This study is limited by its theoretical nature lacking an empirical element to provide a deeper analysis of IS failure factors and their interrelationships. This specific area is a recommendation for future research, where causal relationships between failure factors could be developed via a mathematic-based method such as interpretive structural modeling.

With failure rates of IS projects still unacceptably high after decades of attempts to significantly change outcomes, a deeper analysis of this topic is required. The research gaps and recommendations for practitioners highlighted in this study have the potential to provide valuable contributions to this topic of research.

The intent of this study is to present a new perspective of this genre of IS research that develops the main arguments and gaps in the literature from the practitioner viewpoint.

Literature and research are emerging in an effort to contribute to strategy development and implementation to address these challenges. Currently, there is no readily identified study that combines examination of both academic and grey (i.e. media, government, and non-government reports) literature in a recent time frame (2019–2023) focused specifically on identification of the factors that influence attrition and retention rates; or detailed studies that have evaluated the implementation of strategies to address these challenges within the law enforcement and policing employment field. The study presented in this article seeks to add to the body of knowledge informed by recent (2019–2023) literature and in parallel offer insight into the critical areas of influence to be considered by police and law enforcement decision-makers.

The study utilised the PRISMA-P concept for systematic reviews as a general guide for identifying appropriate literature which revealed a total of 37 academic peer-reviewed articles and 21 grey literature documents contributing to identification of five overarching areas influencing attrition and retention.

The study identified the following factors contributing to attrition and retention: Job satisfaction and organisational factors; Supervision; Work-life balance; Recruitment, Training and Officer expectations; Financial compensation and job alternatives. There are differences in factors between this study and previous studies, i.e. recruitment strategies related to officer expectations was identified as a contributing factor. These additional factors offer a further contribution to future policy and strategy deliberations and implementations to address the workforce levels within police agencies.

Future research endeavours may include examining the outcomes of strategic endeavours addressing the five core influencing factors for retention of law enforcement and police officers.

The identification of these five factors drawn from the literature review offers potential direction/areas of concentration for law enforcement and policing agencies to direct their efforts in addressing retention and attrition of staff.

Currently, there is no readily identified study that (a) combines examination of both academic and grey (i.e. media, government and non-government reports) literature in a recent time frame (2019–2023) focused specifically on identification of the factors that influence attrition and retention rates; or detailed studies for addressing these challenges within the law enforcement and policing employment field. The study presented in this article seeks to address this gap in the literature and in parallel offer insight into the critical areas of influence to be considered by police and law enforcement decision-makers.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new data set documenting various costs to starting a business across the 50 US states for the year 2011.

The first ranking weights and organizes measures using principal components analysis. The second ranking averages subcomponents of the data across groups of variables with common themes.

Most states largely maintain their relative position across both Methods 1 and 2 despite the difference in organization and weight of variables and groups across the two ranking methods – 21 of the top 25 states remained in the top 25 in both the Methods 1 and 2 rankings. Some states experience not insignificant changes between the two indexes and a few experience substantial changes. These changes can be attributed to the importance Method 1 places upon final fees, final processing time, and application formats for the Secretary of State.

A lack of empirical evidence, additional data, and a definitive theory on the impacts of barriers to entry measures for the USA constrains both how the data are presented as well as which measures were collected. This paper attempts to accommodate for this by presenting rankings derived from different methodologies.

The composite barriers to entry measures can be used in policy analysis and possible research on rent-seeking. These data can also be used to study the determinants and relative costs of entrepreneurship.

This paper presents entry-specific regulatory measures currently undocumented in the literature.

This study aims to propose a novel approach to select and prioritize performance indicators in Lean Manufacturing depending on whether they are influencing or being influenced by others, thereby assisting in the decision-making process for improving overall performance.

The methodology comprises two stages. First, a literature review was conducted to identify the performance indicators, and then their interrelationships were analyzed by means of the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method.

The results provide a comprehensive visualization of the performance indicators in Lean Manufacturing, with a total of 50 identified indicators. Among these, 29 were categorized as causal, meaning that their results mainly influence the others, and 21 as influenced, with their results mostly being influenced by others. Among the causal indicators, those related to the human factor (eight indicators) were the most predominant. However, the most-cited performance families in the literature do not stand out as being causal, but rather as mostly influenced.

This study can help managers improve and analyze performance more effectively, while focusing on the importance of choosing causal over influenced indicators.

Performance measurement plays a crucial role for organizations, but because of the increasing number of metrics, there lacks an established framework. This exploratory study thus opens the discussion on relevance to determine a group of coherent and connected indicators that could help measure performance in a more comprehensive manner, rather than in several isolated parts.

The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate university leadership performance using the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) framework. University leadership performance management (PM) framework incorporates strategy formulation, lecturers, administrative services and the learning outcomes to achieve service quality excellence.

A theoretical investigation in literature was accomplished comparing PM and LSS frameworks. Through extant literature review, the authors identified five constructs (lecturers, administration staff, projects, programs and facilities) being offered by a university to evaluate the service quality excellence. Using these constructs, a student exit survey was conducted yielding a response rate of 56%. Five hypotheses were tested. The survey results evaluated reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity of the constructs and were found to be satisfactory. To test the model fit and hypotheses between the constructs, the authors used structural equation modelling (SEM).

The LSS framework was found to be effective when compared with the PM framework, and for aligning university processes to achieve service quality excellence. The SEM result shows that there is a strong evidence to support the hypothesized model where facilities, projects and program had significant relationship with service quality excellence. The empirical evidence strongly supports that there is a relationship between the PM and the LSS frameworks.

This research is based on a cross-sectional exit survey; future research could explore a longitudinal survey with treatment conditions to consider different genre of university leadership.

To achieve service quality excellence, university leadership will need to embrace LSS framework to satisfy their stakeholders. This could bring multifold organizational and social benefits.

Not too many studies have used the PM and the LSS framework to evaluate university leadership performance in terms of service quality excellence. This study identified constructs associated with LSS and empirically validated the scales to build on theory.

Lean Six Sigma in public and private healthcare organisations has received considerable attention over the last decade. Nevertheless, such process improvement methodologies are not generalizable, and their effective implementation relies on contextual variables. The purpose of this study is to explore the readiness of Italian hospitals for Lean Six Sigma and Quality Performance Improvement (LSS&QPI), with a focus on gender differences.

A survey comprising 441 healthcare professionals from public and private hospitals was conducted. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine the mean scores on the LSS&QPI dimensions based on hospital type, gender and their interaction.

The results showed that public healthcare professional are more aware of quality performance improvement initiatives than private healthcare professionals. Moreover, gender differences emerged according to the type of hospital, with higher awareness for men than women in public hospitals, whereas for private hospitals the opposite was true.

This study contributes to the Lean Six Sigma literature by focusing on the holistic assessment of LSS&QPI implementation.

This study informs healthcare managers about the revolution within healthcare organisations, especially public ones. Healthcare managers should spend time understanding Lean Six Sigma as a strategic orientation to promote the “lean hospital”, improving processes and fostering patient-centredness.

This is a preliminary study focussing on analysing inter-relationship between perceived importance of soft readiness factors such as gender dynamics as a missing jigsaw in the current literature. In addition, the research advances a holistic assessment of LSS&QPI, which sets it apart from the studies on single initiatives that have been documented to date.