Title: Identification of learning organisation key elements leading to successful implementation of Six Sigma: an empirical study

Authors: Anthony Bagherian; Mark Gershon; Vikas Swarnakar

Addresses: Vectrus System Corporation, Stuttgart, Germany ' Temple University, 533 Alter Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Raipur 492010, Chhattisgarh, India

Abstract: The objective of this research is to investigate what elements of the learning organisation (LO) culminate in the success of Six Sigma initiatives in the automobile sector. The study is driven by a research survey incorporated with a questionnaire crafted on a Likert scale of 1 to 7 and a simple random sampling (SRS) method. The survey was disseminated to 2,325 potential participants; across Europe, 573 displayed interest and ultimately, 260 answered questionnaires were returned. Based on various assessment tools of descriptive statistics, the study identified two essential key ingredients: 1) leadership behaviour that supports learning; 2) employees' competencies help in Six Sigma implementation success. The study reveals inherent insights into the successful execution of Six Sigma in conjunction with the learning organisation in the automotive industry in Europe, where exploitations of Six Sigma in this context are still in their nascent stage, and little research has been pursued.

Keywords: Six Sigma; learning organisation; key elements; empirical study; simple random sampling; SRS; mixed method approach; factor analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2023.129612

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2023 Vol.38 No.3, pp.361 - 387

Received: 27 May 2021
Accepted: 05 Jun 2021
Published online: 17 Mar 2023 *

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