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The purpose of this paper is to establish a link between Six Sigma and organizational change theory. Specifically, a framework that aligns Six Sigma critical success/hindering factors and the antecedents of successful organizational change process.

A theory‐derived framework containing Six Sigma's critical success and hindering factors at each stage of Lewinian change process is first proposed. Then, the framework is compared against the findings from a case study of Six Sigma improvement project in a UK, make‐to‐order, small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME).

There is a great deal of congruence (consistency) between Six Sigma's critical success factors and the antecedents of successful organizational change. Addressing people's “soft” skills (e.g. commitment, involvement, and communication) is necessary to “unfreeze” the equilibrium. The actual change and confrontation, which occur during “move” stage, requires a combination of both “software” and “hardware” of the organization (i.e. teamwork, methods/tools, organizational structure and culture). It is important for SMEs to provide resources during the “freeze” stage and justify the benefits of change, in order to sustain the change efforts.

This research was based on a single case of Six Sigma improvement project. However, future research will be conducted as a longitudinal study, to capture richer insights from the change process.

This paper offers a practical overview of how Six Sigma can be utilized as a change driver in SMEs and the enablers and barriers of success to be considered, especially during the early stage of adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology that can help small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in the manufacturing sector, to select an appropriate lean tool for the company which will maximum benefits from adopting the tool.

This study focuses on the selection of an appropriate lean tool for manufacturing SMEs. The methodology contains a quantitative approach that can assist SMEs in identifying the appropriate lean tool. A literature review, collation of experts’ opinions via a questionnaire and a case study (to provide a guideline as to how the developed methodology may work) are presented in this research.

The findings revealed that the proposed methodology was effective in identifying the appropriate lean tools for companies, according to the key performance indicators in the manufacturing SME sector.

The developed methodology can be used by manufacturing SMEs as a decision support system to enable the representatives of the company to make an informed decision regarding the selection of the most appropriate lean tool (i.e. that will address the most important issue that the company is experiencing). The strength of using this methodology is that appropriate lean tool can be ascertained relatively easily and inexpensively. There is the prospect of this methodology being applicable to most types of SMEs.

This methodology has proven to be useful for recommending the application of lean tools in a company’s attempt to become lean, bridging the gap identified in the literature review.

The purpose of this study is to identify, evaluate and develop a structured model to measure the interrelation between critical failure factors (CFFs) that affects the implementation of the sustainable Lean Six Sigma (SLSS) framework in a manufacturing organization. Further solution approaches have been provided that inhibit those CFFs and help in successful implementation of the framework.

To find the interrelation among the selected CFFs and develop a systematic structured model, a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach has been used. A 13-level model for selected CFFs has been formed after the application of the TISM approach. Further classification of CFFs has been performed for a better understanding of their nature through MICMAC analysis.

A total of 26 SLSS CFFs have been identified through a detailed study of case organization, various literature reviews and experience of panel experts toward developing a systematic model of CFFs. The solution approach has been provided by panel experts based on their industrial experiences after observing the role of CFFs in the developed model. Based on the analysis, it was found that most dependent and dominant CFFs affect the implementation of the SLSS framework in the case organization.

This study helps SLSS practitioners, project managers, decision-makers and academicians of manufacturing industries to a better understanding of the failure factors and their interrelations while implementing the SLSS framework in manufacturing organizations. This study also guides the systematic solution approach which helps in tackling such problems that occurred in manufacturing organizations.

In this study, the TISM-based structural model of CFFs for implementing the SLSS framework in manufacturing organizations has been proposed which is a very new effort in the area of a manufacturing environment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how successful lean six sigma (LSS) manifests in the Australasian (Australian and New Zealand) context relative to the context in the USA in terms of LSS project definition, structure and practices.

In-depth investigation through case studies – 12 Australian/New Zealand cases and 4 US cases – on the implementation mechanisms of successful LSS initiatives.

A significant difference was found between Australasian and US definitions of an LSS project. However, firms in both regions followed similar project selection, initiating and execution practices. LSS reporting structures were found to be well-established in US organizations, but none of the Australasian organizations were found to be equipped with such a structure, although the effectiveness of LSS implementation success remained unaffected.

Sufficient uniformity of LSS was found across two regions implying its usefulness/generalizability, but the findings are based only on 12 cases.

The paper provides the groundwork to develop a unique LSS model for Australasian organizations to improve processes in an effective and efficient manner.

A rich agenda for future research in the field of Lean Manufacturing (LM) is available in the academic literature. The purpose of this paper is to determine the LM future research methodologies suggested in the literature and to classify them into themes. Classifying these themes into broad categories is also an aim of the present study.

For the purpose of the present study, a systematic literature review (SLR) of peer reviewed journal articles in LM was conducted. A total of 214 articles published in 46 journals during 2010–2020 were collected from four major management science publishers, namely, Emerald Online, Elsevier/Science Direct, Springer Link and Taylor and Francis. To organize the qualitative data into meaningful themes and these themes into broad categories, the quality tool “affinity diagram” was applied.

The review of LM articles that are increasing over time reveals the “vital few” academic journals, which have published most of the sample articles. The plethora of the suggested future research methodologies are analytically presented and classified into meaningful themes, namely, the size of the research sample and its composition, several types of study (other than surveys), longitudinal studies, applying advanced statistical analysis and (mathematical) modeling techniques, objective, real and quantitative data, surveys, mixed/multiple research studies, reliability and validity analysis, using computer-aided technology for data collection and processing and research collaborations. These themes in turn are classified into broad categories, namely, study, data and statistical analysis and modeling.

This SLR is not comprehensive because the number of the databases searched is restricted to four. Moreover, the literature review is limited to peer reviewed journal articles regarding Lean only in the manufacturing sector, while the subject reviewed is limited to the future research methodologies. The subjectivity of classifying the large number of the future research methodologies into themes and these themes into broad categories is also a limitation of the present SLR. Based on these limitations, future literature review studies can be carried out.

Researchers can be analytically informed about the future research methodologies suggested in the literature and their respective key themes and broad categories, to design original research studies of high academic and practical value.

This study goes beyond previous SLRs on LM by presenting analytically the plethora of the future research methodologies suggested in the literature as well as by identifying natural patterns or groupings of these methodologies.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the barriers for implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and present a framework that provides prioritized strategies to overcome the barriers.

The barriers and strategies are identified via a comprehensive literature review and validated by industry experts. The study uses the fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (fuzzy TOPSIS) to analyze the barriers and strategies for determining the prioritized list of strategies.

The findings reveal that there are sixteen barriers to LSS implementation in Indian SMEs. To overcome these barriers, this study reveals twelve strategies. The analysis shows that “effective management” is the most crucial strategy to overcome the barriers for implementing LSS in Indian SMEs.

This research guides SMEs practitioners to efficiently and effectively implement LSS, which, in turn, can enhance the performance of SMEs.

This study contributes to the literature by integrating the strategies with the barriers for implementing LSS in Indian SMEs. Besides, this study provides the prioritized list of strategies to overcome the barriers for implementing LSS in Indian SMEs.