Ji Hyun Cho, Jae Hoon Lee, Dong Geun Ahn and Joong Soon Jang
The purpose of this paper is to determine the key ingredients of Six Sigma in order to grasp and understand its essential characteristics and then identify suitable ingredients…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the key ingredients of Six Sigma in order to grasp and understand its essential characteristics and then identify suitable ingredients and complements in consideration of vision, strategies, capability, and circumstance of a company.
Design/methodology/approach
The study outlines the range of research in Korean enterprises, suppliers, and SMEs. Potential ingredients collected from previous studies about critical success factors, ingredients of Six Sigma and TQM, and criteria of quality awards (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Award, Deming Prize, Korean National Quality Award) are classified into 11 categories based on Six Sigma expert opinions and affinity analysis. Also, questionnaires are surveyed from champions, master black belts and black belts in 90 Korean companies that have more than three years of experience in implementing Six Sigma. Statistical analysis with factor analysis and hypothesis testing has been done to select the key ingredients and to find the differences among the diverse types of companies.
Findings
By using factor analysis, three main factors are derived for each category respectively, and consequently 30 factors in 11 categories are concluded as the key ingredients of Six Sigma in Korean companies. There is a significant difference in importance of Six Sigma key ingredients according to company size, business type, and implementation phase.
Research limitations/implications
A study may be conducted to identify Six Sigma success factors according to corporate characteristics from key ingredients identified in this study in future.
Originality:/value
The paper investigates the key ingredients of Six Sigma based on a survey of diverse sizes, industries, and implementation phases of Korean companies. Compared with other studies conducted by empirical methods, the survey data are statistically analysed and the evaluation results are represented as quantitative indicators.
Details
Keywords
Purpose – The purpose of the research was to examine the process of new teacher evaluation policy development in South Korea, in order to gain insight into how a controversial…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the research was to examine the process of new teacher evaluation policy development in South Korea, in order to gain insight into how a controversial policy could be established in education. Research questions were about the process of the policy development, political actors involved and their influences, and the meaning of teacher evaluation in the newly established teacher evaluation policy.Methodology – The study uses a qualitative and descriptive-analytical process from a hermeneutics perspective that views policy as text to be interpreted. This perspective allows policy to be connected to a larger social context through interpretations of text. The main data sources included policy documents, statements by various organizations, research reports, and public media artifacts produced between 2000 and 2012. For data analysis, constant comparison and content analysis methods were used.Findings – The findings show that the process of developing a teacher evaluation system demonstrated an unsuccessful attempt to apply the Habermasian notion of discursive democracy. Relevant stakeholders were invited to deliberate on the reform, but official meetings ended prematurely without consensus. In the end, the government proceeded without full support of any stakeholders. During the deliberation process, teacher organizations and parent groups demonstrated conflicting perspectives on teacher work and the new evaluation system only partially accommodated both perspectives. The effectiveness of the new evaluation system remains to be researched.Value – The policy development process and the evaluation system shown in this study should inform similar efforts in other contexts.