Dinesh Kanigolla, Elizabeth A. Cudney, Steven M. Corns and V.A. Samaranayake
The aim of this research is to determine the importance and impact of project-based learning (PBL) on students' knowledge in Lean and Six Sigma courses where practical application…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to determine the importance and impact of project-based learning (PBL) on students' knowledge in Lean and Six Sigma courses where practical application of theoretical knowledge is necessary.
Design/methodology/approach
Students teams were given hands-on collaborative projects conducted with local companies. After the completion of the project, a student evaluation survey was conducted and the responses were analysed in two different phases. The first phase consisted of collecting responses from the Lean and Six Sigma courses; observing the impact of the semester project on students' knowledge based on the response percentages. The second phase analyses the responses from both the Lean and Six Sigma courses, by performing a Fisher's exact test to examine how similar the students received knowledge from the use of the semester project.
Findings
Results showed that the inclusion of the semester project in the courses had a positive impact on the students' knowledge in learning course concepts and the students were able to apply theoretical knowledge in solving real-world problems. It is also observed that the response patterns are different in most of the aspects between both the courses.
Research limitations/implications
This research evaluates student learning with statistical tests and is limited only for classroom teaching techniques. Further, this research states that application-oriented courses should be accompanied by projects as it helps in better understanding the course deliverables for the students.
Originality/value
Research evaluating the impact of PBL on students' knowledge in Lean and Six Sigma courses does not currently exist. Statistical analysis of survey responses from both the Lean and Six Sigma courses was performed using a χ2 test of independence to examine how similar the students received knowledge from the use of the semester project.
Details
Keywords
Wei Zou, Xiaokun Wang and Yiyi Wang
To address the safety concerns generated by truck crashes occurred in big cities, this paper analyzes the zip code tabulation area (ZCTA)-based truck crash frequency across four…
Abstract
To address the safety concerns generated by truck crashes occurred in big cities, this paper analyzes the zip code tabulation area (ZCTA)-based truck crash frequency across four temporal intervals – morning (6:00–10:00), mid-day (10:00–15:00), afternoon (15:00–19:00), and night (19:00–6:00) in New York City in 2010. A multivariate conditional autoregressive count model is used to recognize both spatial and temporal dependences. The results prove the presence of spatial and temporal dependencies for truck crashes that occurred in neighboring areas. Built environment attributes such as various types of business establishment density and traffic volume for different types of vehicles, which are important factors to consider for crashes occurred in an urban setting, are also examined in the study.
Details
Keywords
V. Raja Sreedharan and R. Raju
The purpose of this paper is to review Lean Six Sigma (LSS) literature and report different definitions, demographics, methodologies and industries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review Lean Six Sigma (LSS) literature and report different definitions, demographics, methodologies and industries.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper highlights various definitions by different researchers and practitioners. A total of 235 research papers has been reviewed for the LSS theme, research methodology adopted, type of industry, author profile, country of research and year of publication.
Findings
From the review, four significant LSS classifications were identified that deal with the spread of LSS in different industries followed by observation for classification.
Practical implications
LSS is a strategy for success, but it did not examine its presence in various Industries. From this paper, readers can understand the quantum of its spread before implementing LSS. For academicians, it will be a comprehensive list of papers for research.
Originality/value
This paper reviews 235 research papers for their year, author profile, research methodology and type of industry. Various characteristics of LSS definitions and their theme are also reviewed.
Details
Keywords
Daniela Lucangeli, Patrizio Tressoldi and Chiara De Candia
Italian epidemiological data reveal a large discrepancy between the incidence of learning disabilities in mathematics and simple difficulties in mathematics. The incidence of…
Abstract
Italian epidemiological data reveal a large discrepancy between the incidence of learning disabilities in mathematics and simple difficulties in mathematics. The incidence of dyscalculia (specific learning disability in mathematics) is about 2%, whereas the incidence of students with difficulties in arithmetic is surprisingly greater, estimated by teachers to be about five students out of 25 (that is, 20%). This unexpectedly high number of students with difficulties invites serious consideration of its cause and remedy. In this chapter, we try to answer to these questions in the light of two educational studies aimed at improving calculation abilities and the outcome of an intervention with three single cases with dyscalculia using the model and the materials of an innovative arithmetical curriculum. The results suggest that for most children, their arithmetic difficulties are simple consequences of their math instruction, which may be remediated by integrating traditional math curricula with information derived from the research on the cognitive arithmetical architecture and its development. There are also implications that even the arithmetical difficulties of dyscalculic children may be improved with special training focused on their specific impairments revealed after a detailed assessment.
Silvia Lanfranchi, Daniela Lucangeli, Olga Jerman and H. Lee Swanson
This chapter reviews research on math disabilities (MD) from two different points of view: Italian and American. Our goal is to gain consensus on identifying the cognitive…
Abstract
This chapter reviews research on math disabilities (MD) from two different points of view: Italian and American. Our goal is to gain consensus on identifying the cognitive deficits that underlie problems associated with MD as well as to provide an overview of some of the instructional approaches to remediate these deficits. The review outlines similarities and differences in the research perspectives between the two countries. Although the results show some consensus on the identification of MD and the cognitive mechanisms associated with this deficit (e.g., working memory), some differences remain between the two research perspectives (e.g., incidence of MD).
Surya Prakash, Satish Kumar, Gunjan Soni, Raj V. Mahto and Nitesh Pandey
This study aims to present an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) since its inception.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) since its inception.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyses articles published between 2010 and 2019 in IJLSS using the bibliometric technique. The results of data analysis identify the most prolific authors, their affiliation, citation trends and highly cited articles from the journal. Further, a graphical analysis involving bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis of the corpus enriches the investigation.
Findings
The results of the bibliometric analysis suggest that the number of IJLSS’s publications and citations grew markedly over time (from 4 citations in 2010 to nearly 1,324 in 2019). The organizational diversity and collaboration among authors publishing in IJLSS are trending upwards. Case study and focus group are the two most common research designs in publications. In the study, three major themes emerged: implementation of lean on business, integration of lean and six sigma and the effects of lean six sigma on businesses.
Practical implications
The study finding informs and educates practitioners and scholars about various qualitative research tools, applications and methods of implementing lean six sigma tools in different industry sectors.
Originality/value
The study uses bibliometric analysis to propose a novel categorization of research published in IJLSS and to report on the utilization of various lean tools in the journal. The study provides guidance for new future research besides offering a thorough introspection of the lean and six sigma domains.
Details
Keywords
Jiju Antony, Stavros Karamperidis, Frenie Antony and Elizabeth A. Cudney
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the power of experimental design as a technique to understand and evaluate the most important factors which influence teaching…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the power of experimental design as a technique to understand and evaluate the most important factors which influence teaching effectiveness for a postgraduate course in a higher education (HE) context.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology involves the execution of a case study in the form of an experiment in a business school setting. The experiment was carried out with the assistance of over 100 postgraduate students from 26 countries. The data were collected over a two year period (2015 and 2016) from a postgraduate course offered by the same tutor for repeatability reasons.
Findings
The key findings of the experiment have clearly indicated that students’ perceptions of teaching effectiveness based on intuition and guesswork are not identical to the outcomes from a simple designed experiment. Moreover, the results of the experiment provided a greater stimulus for the wider applications of the technique to other processes across the case study HE sector.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of the study is that the experiment was conducted for a popular postgraduate course. It would be beneficial to understand the results of the experiment for less popular postgraduate courses in the university in order to drive improvements. Moreover, this research was conducted only for postgraduate courses and the results may vary for undergraduate courses. This would be an interesting study to understand the differences in the factors between undergraduate and postgraduate teaching effectiveness.
Practical implications
The outcome of this experiment would help everyone who is involved in teaching to understand the factors and their influences to improve students’ satisfaction scores during the delivery of teaching.
Originality/value
This paper shows how experimental design as a pure manufacturing technique can be extended to a HE setting.
Details
Keywords
Mihir Patel and Darshak Arunbhai Desai
The purpose of this paper is to capture the status of implementation of Six Sigma in various manufacturing industries and also examine the success of the Six Sigma by using…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to capture the status of implementation of Six Sigma in various manufacturing industries and also examine the success of the Six Sigma by using different performance indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of critical review involves the selection and classification of 112 research articles on the implementation of Six Sigma in different manufacturing industries. The selected articles are categorized by the following: articles distribution based on the year of publication, publication database, various journals, contribution of authors, continent, scale of industry, implemented approaches, focused industry, tools and techniques used in phases of Six Sigma methodology, and performance indicators used in Six Sigma implementation. Then after, future scopes of research opportunities are derived based on significant findings.
Findings
The literature revealed that: Very few work was undertaken on the implementation of Six Sigma in various manufacturing industries like ceramic, paper, gems and jewelry, cement, furniture, stone, fertilizer, forging, paper and surface treatment industries. Most of the researchers have considered very few performance indicators to identify the improvement after Six Sigma implementation. But, there is no clue regarding overall improvement in different perspectives after the implementation of Six Sigma. The financial indicators, personnel indicators, process indicators and customer indicators are useful to measure the overall improvement after the implementation of Six Sigma in the manufacturing sector.
Research limitations/implications
The study was carried out on the implementation of Six Sigma methodology in various manufacturing industries, and various performance indicators were identified while implementing the Six Sigma methodology. Case studies pertaining to service industries were not covered here.
Originality/value
Very little research has been carried out to measure the overall success of implementing Six Sigma methodology in manufacturing industries. This paper will provide value to students, researchers and practitioners of Six Sigma by providing insight into the implementation of Six Sigma in manufacturing industries.
Details
Keywords
Shruti J. Raval, Ravi Kant and Ravi Shankar
The purpose of this paper is to examine and introduce comprehensive insights into the field of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) by reviewing the existing literature and identifying the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine and introduce comprehensive insights into the field of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) by reviewing the existing literature and identifying the research gap. The state of LSS research is assessed by critically examining the field, along with a number of dimensions, including time horizon, year, journal and publisher, university, country, author, geographic analysis, research design, research affairs, research methods, tools/techniques used, focus industries, major research area, benefits gained by LSS, critical success factors and barriers of LSS implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a systematic literature review of 190 articles containing the word LSS in their title, which are published in a well-known database, such as Elsevier ScienceDirect, Taylor and Francis, Emerald Full Text, Springer Link, Wiley InterScience and Inderscience from January 2000 to September 2016.
Findings
This analysis reveals 15 significant dimensions to identify the state of LSS research. Authors find a noticeable rise in the attention of LSS research in the available literature. Major findings show that, the empirical research holds greater credibility. Statistics prove that the case study method scores the highest among all the research methods used in the discipline. The largest number of studies have investigated research issues related to implementation and process of LSS. The LSS uses a wide range of tools/techniques/methodologies: the choice of tools is situation-specific. Manufacturing and health-care sectors have been the focus of LSS research, but LSS has also been adopted by other types of industries. The organizations following LSS have improved bottom-line results, improved company profitability and growth and enhanced customer satisfaction. In general the research is more interpretive in nature; there is still a lack of standard in the LSS implementation framework.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to reviewing those articles which contain the word LSS appeared in the title.
Originality/value
This study will help understand the current state of research on LSS, various trends in the field, its applicability and future prospects of investigation in the field.