The origin, history and definition of Six Sigma: a literature review
by G.V. Prabhushankar, S.R. Devadasan, P.R. Shalij, V. Thirunavukkarasu
International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage (IJSSCA), Vol. 4, No. 2, 2008

Abstract: Six Sigma has set a new paradigm of excellence in the business environment and is enjoying great popularity. Even though Six Sigma has been in practice in the last two decades, no effort has been made to develop a holistic definition that includes all of the dimensions of Six Sigma. In this paper, the various definitions that exist in the literature have been critically evaluated and a new holistic definition has been proposed. Also, there is a lot of ambiguity in the literature with respect to the origin of Six Sigma. An effort is made to eliminate such confusion by tracking the origin and growth of Six Sigma. Furthermore, in order to facilitate effective implementation, the principles of Six Sigma were identified from the literature. Finally, the misconceptions of Six Sigma are cleared by demystifying its myths.

Online publication date: Sun, 14-Sep-2008

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