Title: Is personality a key element of Six Sigma project success?

Authors: Phillip W. Witt; Timothy Baker; Nancy W. Ashley; MaryAnne Winniford

Addresses: Department of Finance and Management Science, College of Business, Washington State University, Todd Hall 477, Pullman, WA 99163, USA ' Department of Finance and Management Science, College of Business, Washington State University, Tri-Cities, 2710 Crimson Way, West 207P, Richland, WA 99354, USA ' Department of Management, Information Systems, and Entrepreneurship, College of Business, Washington State University, Tri-Cities, 2710 Crimson Way, West 207N, Richland, WA 99354, USA ' 1202 Chipeta Ave., Grand Junction, CO 81501, USA

Abstract: Many quality improvement techniques, including Six Sigma, rely on teamwork. Little of the research on personality and teams has been incorporated into quality management theory and practice. This paper summarises the pertinent personality literature with Six Sigma research and describes the results of a multiple-case study. Two new personality variables relating to openness to new experiences and conscientiousness were found to have a potentially strong impact on project success. Also, a new variable that can be described as the overall level of creativity in the project team was determined to have significant potential. Finally, this work further confirms the critical nature of project complexity, project uncertainty, and team leadership to project success.

Keywords: Six Sigma; project management; project teams; case studies; logistic regression; exploratory data analysis; team composition.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2017.085213

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2017 Vol.27 No.4, pp.472 - 523

Received: 15 Sep 2015
Accepted: 26 Dec 2015
Published online: 17 Jul 2017 *

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