Implementing Lean Six Sigma in organizations

This thesis focuses on operational excellence following the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) method. As the popularity of implementing LSS grows, questions about implementing LSS in organizations arise, and this is where we aim to contribute. We study key questions about implementing LSS in organizations at two levels of analysis, being (1) the LSS project level and (2) the implementation of LSS as strategic organizational change initiative. Implementing LSS at the project level We find that the effect of implementing LSS projects on employee perception and attitude is scarcely addressed in the literature. Therefore we study the perceptions of LSS project implementations and find that there are several factors that have an effect on the attitude of managers and employees towards LSS projects. Additionally, research identified the clarity of project goals as an important reason for LSS project implementation failure. Therefore we investigate what LSS project objectives are most common and present generically applicable LSS project definitions for multiple industries. Implementing LSS at the organizational level We have identified and reviewed the current knowledge on LSS implementation at the organizational level. From this we learned that the current knowledge on implementing LSS is rather generic and therefore has a limited applicability for organizations. Most importantly we find that organizational learning patterns are required to make the LSS method suitable for organizations. Therefore we have studied organizational learning dynamics in LSS implementation processes and found how a LSS implementation process unfolds and what organizational learning patterns underlay the LSS implementation process