Table 1 Potential research questions
Issues | SSQI & TQM |
|---|---|
Integration | - Which factors in SSQI enable its integration with the business strategy? |
- How can SSQI be integrated with administrative or service processes? | |
Leadership | - Is the nature of top management’s support for Six Sigma initiatives fundamentally different from their support for TQM initiatives? What are the reasons for the difference? |
Fuzziness | - What are the factors that contribute to the fuzziness of TQM? |
- Integration of practices and philosophies professed in TQM literature with Six Sigma. | |
Goal-orientation | - What are the feedback mechanisms to dynamically adapt Six Sigma goals with changing conditions? |
Use of tools | - Impact of “quality purism” on TQM success. |
- Implications of technical zealotry in Six Sigma implementation. | |
Cross-functional orientation | - Cross-functional collaboration in Six Sigma vs. departmentalized approach in TQM. |
“OR” vs. “AND” orientation | - What are the unique governance mechanisms in Six Sigma that enable firms to undertake both small improvements (as in TQM) and major process redesigns (as in re-engineering)? |
Training | - What is the significance of context in Six Sigma training? |
Focus | - What is the evolutionary nature of focus of Six Sigma project goals? |
Issues | SSQI Readiness Level |
Strategic intent | - Six Sigma implementation as a proactive means for improving competitive position vs. Six Sigma as a reactive strategy to stave off future disaster (e.g. the case of Motorola). |
- Six Sigma readiness indicators for a proactive and a reactive approach. | |
Relationship with implementation success | - What is the relationship between Six Sigma readiness level and Six Sigma implementation success? |
- What is the relationship between number of Six Sigma projects implemented and Six Sigma readiness level of a firm? | |
Issues | Top Management Support |
Role of top management | - Top management’s role in supporting: (i) the development of a strong rationale for Six Sigma; (ii) for setting clear objectives and, (iii) for continued Six Sigma initiatives. |
- Top management’s role in instituting “hard” measures to gauge the impact | |
- Top management’s role in ensuring accountability at all levels. | |
Rewards, penalties & motivation protocols | - Rewards and penalties for successful Six Sigma implementation. |
- Mechanisms for communicating favorable as well as unfavorable results and for maintaining the momentum towards Six Sigma quality. | |
Issues | Choice of Appropriate Metrics |
Integration & Aggregation | - Integration of Six Sigma measures with observed data. |
- Integration of continuous and discrete measures of performance. | |
- Mechanisms for streamlining the process for measurement for effective and efficient Six Sigma implementation. | |
- Aggregation of metrics at different organizational levels. | |
- Integration of Six Sigma project metrics with the real or perceived reward structure. | |
- Tradeoff between richness and complexity of Six Sigma metrics. | |
Theoretical issues | - Links between process-based view of SSQI and the resource-based view. |
- Dynamic evolution of Six Sigma process measures of performance. | |
- What is the “metrics typology” of SSQI? | |
Strategic & Operational Intent | - Fit between Six Sigma metrics system and the strategic intent of a firm. |
- How is the rotation or change in Six Sigma metrics associated with the dynamics of demands placed on the operating system? | |
- What is the level of consistency among the set of Six Sigma metrics used in an organization? What is the level of consistency between the Six Sigma metrics and the corporate strategy? How is consistency related to performance? | |
Cross-functional collaboration | - Role of Six Sigma process metrics in fostering cross-functional and inter-firm decision-making. |
- How should Six Sigma metrics be designed so that they reflect the interdependencies of different functional areas and interconnected firms in a supply chain? | |
Measure validation and relatedness | - Relationship between financial and operational measures |
- Measures to capture the cost of poor quality | |
Constraints & bottlenecks | - What are the constraints in moving from traditional measures of performance to Six Sigma process measures of performance? |
Issues | Project Selection |
Strategic cost-benefit analysis | - Cost-benefit analysis for Six Sigma implementations. |
- Project “scoping” approaches to ensure that the projects are meaningful and manageable. | |
- What are the strategic approaches for creating a pilot Six Sigma project? | |
Context dependence | - Contextual conditions to consider while selecting Six Sigma projects. |
Managing trade-offs | - Balancing short-term and long-term resource and performance considerations. |
- Relationship between the size of Six Sigma projects and the number of simultaneous Six Sigma projects initiated by a firm. | |
Issues | Project Management |
Project team structure | - Impact of hierarchical Six Sigma project team structure on successful project management. |
- Factors influencing the titles, roles and responsibilities of the Six Sigma project team. | |
- Mechanisms for representation of different organizational levels in Six Sigma projects. | |
Project staffing, role definition and incentives | - Six Sigma project team members selection policies. |
- Management of role clarity and role conflicts. | |
- Staffing requirements for Six Sigma projects and the long-term value of the team members. | |
- What are the potential incentive schemes that can foster successful Six Sigma implementation? | |
Knowledge management | - What are the modes of knowledge integration and knowledge management? |
Relationship with other quality management approaches | - Comparing DMAIC approach with TQM implementation approaches. |
- Distinctions/similarities between the PDCA/ PDCS cycle and the DMAIC cycle. | |
Key constructs | - The operationalization of Six Sigma project management constructs: Identification (Recognize and Define); Characterization (Measure and Analyze); Optimization (Improve and Control); Institutionalization (Standardize and Integrate), presents an opportune area for future research. |
- The operationalization of Six Sigma implementation “rigor.” | |
Issues | Context Dependence |
Role of moderating variables in Six Sigma success | - Moderating variables influencing the relationship between implementation and success of SSQI initiatives. |
- Moderating role of organizational context on the relationship between Six Sigma implementation “rigor” and Six Sigma implementation success. | |
Issues | Process Design/ Redesign |
Conceptualizing DFSS | - Criteria for initiating Six Sigma Process Design/Redesign. |
- Milestones for evaluating the success of Six Sigma Process Design. | |
Comparison with Re-engineering | - Comparing Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and the Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) approach. |
Issues | Ongoing Improvement |
Institutionalization | - Institutional norms enabling ongoing improvement. |
- Constraints in institutionalizing continuous improvement. | |
- Influence of centralization/decentralization on the role and responsibilities of Process Owner responsible for continuous improvement. | |
Hierarchy of measures and inter-relationship | - Relationship between maintenance-oriented, situational and improvement focused measures for ongoing improvement. |
Issues | Increasing/ Diminishing Returns |
Increasing returns and trade-offs | - Theoretical explanation for the relationship between returns from Six Sigma implementation and sigma level of a firm. |
Contingent factors | - Timing consideration for DFSS implementation. |
- Relationship between product capability and Six Sigma/DFSS Relationship between process complexity and Six Sigma/DFSS |