A Lean Six Sigma execution strategy for service sectors: what you need to know before starting the journey

International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage

Volumn 4, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 395-408

  Waterbury, Theresa ^a   Bonilla, Claribel ^b  

^a WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO   (United States)

Author keywords

improvement methodology; Lean; levels of organisational readiness; service sectors; Six Sigma; strategy

Indexed keywords

EID: 77952624285     PISSN: 14792494     EISSN: 14792753     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1504/IJSSCA.2008.022951     Document Type: Article

References (28)

1. Abraham, S. (2006) Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide for Competitive Success, Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.
2. Anthony, J. and Banuelas, R. (2002) ‘Key Ingredients for the effective implementation of six sigma programs’, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp.20–27.
3. Bear, D., Dennis, D., Lee, J., Overholt, M., Vickers, M. and Williams, M. (2007) ‘The keys to strategy execution: a global study of current trends and future possibilities 2006 - 2016’, American Management Association, http://www.amanet.org/research/pdf.htm (accessed March 2007).
4. Benedetto, A. (2003) ‘Adapting manufacturing-based six sigma methodology to the service environment of a radiology film library’, Journal of Healthcare Management, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp.263–280.
5. Bossidy, L. and Charan, R. (2002) Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, New York: Crown Business.
6. Burtner, J. (2004) ‘The adaptation of six sigma methodology to the engineering education enterprise’, Paper presented at the ASEE Southeast Section Conference.
7. Emiliani, M.L., Stec, D., Grasso, L. and Stodder, J. (2003) Better Thinking, Better Results: Using the Power of Lean as a Total Business Solution, Kensington, CT: CLBM.
8. Frei, F. (2006) ‘Breaking the trade-off between efficiency and service’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, No. 11, pp.92–103.
9. Furterer, S. and Elshennawy, A. (2005) ‘Implementation of TQM and lean six sigma tools in local government: a framework and a case study’, Total Quality Management, Vol. 16, No. 10, pp.1179–1191.
10. George, M. (2003) Lean Six Sigma for Service, New York: McGraw Hill.
11. Ho, L. and Chuang, C. (2006) ‘A study of implementing six-sigma quality management system in government agencies for raising service quality’, The Journal of American Academy of Business, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.167–173.
12. Jones, D. and Mitchell, A. (2006) ‘Lean thinking from the NHS’, NHS Confederation Leading Edge Report, http://www.leanuk.org/articles/lean_thinking_for_the_nhs_leaflet.pdf (accessed October 2006).
13. Kotter, J. and Heskett, J. (1992) Corporate Culture and Performance, New York: The Free Press.
14. Liker, J. and Morgan, J. (2006) ‘The Toyota way in services: the case of lean product development’, Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp.5–20.
15. Locher, D. (2007) Lean Tools for the Office, in University of Michigan Lean Business Processes certificate program, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
16. Lynch, D.P. (2007) What Is Six Sigma?, in University certificate programme, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
17. Mathaisel, D. and Comm, C.L. (2000) ‘Developing, implementing and transferring lean quality initiatives from the aerospace industry to all industries’, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp.248–258.
18. Mintzberg, H. (1987) ‘Five Ps for strategy’, California Management Review, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp.11–14.
19. Mintzberb, H., Lampel, J., Quinn, J. and Ghoshal, S. (2003) The Strategy Process: Concepts Contexts Cases, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
20. Pande, P., Neuman, R. and Cavanagh, R. (2000) The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance, New York: McGraw-Hill.
21. Porter, M.E. (1996) ‘What is strategy?’, Harvard Business Review, November-December, Vol. 74, No. 6, pp.61–78.
22. Quinn, B. (1980) Strategies for Change: Logical Incrementalism, Homewood, IL: Irwin.
23. Spear, S. (2004) ‘Learning to lead at Toyota’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 82, No. 5, pp.78–86.
24. Spear, S. and Bowen, K. (1999) ‘Decoding the DNA of the Toyota production system’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 77, No. 5, pp.96–106.
25. Swank, C.K. (2003) ‘The lean service machine’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 81, No. 10, pp.123–129.
26. Thawani, S. (2004) ‘Six sigma: strategy for organizational excellence’, Total Quality Management, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp.655–664.
27. Womack, J., Jones, D. and Roos, D. (1990) The Machine That Changed the World, New York, NY: HarperPerennial.
28. Womack, J. and Jones, P. (1996) Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, New York: Simon and Schuster.