Title: Six Sigma paradigm shift

Authors: Vincent W.S. Yeung

Addresses: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Abstract: Six Sigma is a company-wide improvement programme that adopts new management philosophies. While new commitment, applications, techniques, infrastructure and culture are introduced into the Six Sigma companies, cases of failures are revealed. To be successful, companies need to go through a paradigm shift to Six Sigma. Otherwise, Six Sigma will become another |programme of the month| when the initial thrusts from Black Belts| charm and projects of quick benefit die off. The perspectives and their attributes required in the Six Sigma paradigm are identified in this study. The implications of the paradigm shift and its effect on Six Sigma success are discussed.

Keywords: paradigm shift; six sigma; quality improvement; programmes; black belts; total quality management; TQM

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSCA.2007.017175

International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, 2007 Vol.3 No.4, pp.317 - 332

Published online: 17 Feb 2008 *

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