Title: Successful implementation of Six Sigma in services: an exploratory research in India Inc.

Authors: Michael Sony, Subhash Naik

Addresses: Goa Electricity Department, Government of Goa, Amona, Goa 403407, India. ' Business Excellence Cell, Vedanta Organization, Sesa Goa Limited – Corporate Office, Goa 403001, India

Abstract: Six Sigma has received considerable attention in the service sector. The intention of this paper is the representation of the key findings obtained from a pilot survey carried out in Indian service organisations. It presents some of the difficulties, implementation issues and success factors, and also, the benefits of Six Sigma in service organisations, tools and techniques of Six Sigma in service performance improvement and key criteria for the selection of winning projects, illustrated with results of a Six Sigma pilot survey in Indian service organisations. The outcome of the research illustrates that the bulk of service organisations in the India has been engaged in a Six Sigma initiative for over three years. The average sigma quality level of the organisations was around 2.9. This is a first paper on status of Six Sigma in Indian service organisations and will be immense use for academia and practitioners.

Keywords: Six Sigma; service industry; critical success factors; implementation issues; India; performance measures; quality management; performance improvement; quality levels; business excellence.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2011.041059

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2011 Vol.4 No.4, pp.399 - 419

Published online: 27 Sep 2014 *

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