Su Mi Dahlgaard-Park

Lean Production, Six Sigma Quality, TQM and Company Culture

Purpose - The authors analyze the principles and results of lean production and compare the lean production philosophy with the six sigma quality process and the principles of total quality management (TQM). At the end of the paper, it is discussed how to build the necessary company culture for having success with these principles/management philosophies. Design/methodology/approach - Literature search and comparative analysis complemented with a Danish case on wastage in a core process. Findings - It is shown that the lean production philosophy and the six sigma steps are essentially the same and both have developed from the same root - the Japanese TQM practices. The improvement process from six sigma, the DMAIC process, can be regarded as a short version of the Quality Story, which was developed in Japan in the 1960s as a standard for QC-circle presentations. We conclude that the roadmaps of lean production and six sigma quality are examples of new alternative TQM roadmaps. We also conclude that especially with lean production and six sigma quality there seems to be too much focus on training people intools and techniques and at the same time too little focus on understanding the human factor, i.e. how to build the right company culture. Originality/value - The detailed and historical analysis of six sigma quality, lean production and TQM combined with a focus on the human factor and the needed corporate culture.

Quality and lean health care: a system for assessing and improving the health of healthcare organisations

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss the development of a system for assessing and improving healthcare organisations. The system components comprise (1) a framework or model for assessing, measuring, diagnosing and improving healthcare organisations, (2) a simple methodology for data collection, data analysis and prioritising improvement areas and (3) an index named ILL (innovativeness, learning and lean) for measuring the level of excellence (the ‘health level of the organization’) and the potentials to increase that level. The system has been based on a simplified excellence model called the ‘4P Excellence Model’ which contains both intangible systemic factors (Leadership, People Management and Partnerships) and more logical tangible factors (Processes and Product/Service Results). The suggested system can be used for assessing the existing organisational culture in relation to ILL and for identifying necessary improvement areas. The suggested system has originally been developed for healthcare organisations, but also been used within other types of organisations such as manufacturing and service companies. This article will only show and discuss the use of the suggested system within healthcare organisations.

Lean‐kaizen public service: an empirical approach in Spanish local governments

Purpose – Recently, the operations management academic literature has seen articles focusing on the transfer of “lean” thinking or kaizen concept from the private to the public sector. In Spain, during the last 15 years, some local councils have also followed similar improvement initiatives sometimes under the umbrella of “global quality programmes” trying to support continuous process and service improvement. The research question for this article is: How is lean‐kaizen applied in local councils in Spain? The aim is to shed light on how lean thinking is applied in order to improve those services provided to the public by local councils by describing empirical studies in specific Spanish contexts.Design/methodology/approach – The case study approach was adopted in this research. The research design conducted was of the longitudinal and retrospective type.Findings – The results of the empirical evidence show that three techniques related to lean‐kaizen have a direct effect on the processes and management s...

Diagnosing and prognosticating the quality movement – a review on the 25 years quality literature (1987–2011)

The purpose of this article is to create a snapshot of 25 years’ quality movement. The creation process of the snapshot, as well as the result of the study, aims to help in diagnosing the current status of quality management (QM) and further contribute in understanding and shaping its future direction. For this purpose, all published articles during the last 25 years’ period (1987–2011) under the subject of Total Quality Management (TQM), Business Excellence (BE), quality tools, techniques as well as core values/principles have been collected through the ABI/INFORM complete periodical database. The collected data were analysed and reflected in order to show the current status, evolution trends of the past, and the predicted future directions. The results show that the total number of articles under the subject of TQM has been decreasing after having reached its peak in 1995. However, papers focusing on techniques and tools within the QM framework in terms of Lean, Just-in-Time/Toyota Production System, Benchmarking, and Six-Sigma Quality have been increasing. In addition, papers focusing on core values/key principles needed to build a quality culture in terms of leadership, people-based management, continuous improvements, management based on facts, and focus on the customer have been slightly increasing during the last decade. The findings indicate that QM is now at a more mature stage where focuses have shifted from being initially on TQM to tools, techniques, and core values which are needed for building a quality and BE culture. Based on its evolution, it is concluded that TQM can be understood as a management innovation, if not a management revolution.

Business excellence models: limitations, reflections and further development

The use of business excellence models (BEM) has become popular in the last two decades, and several companies have learned how to use them and gained from such models. More companies, we assume, have experienced problems when using such models because of various weaknesses such as too-sophisticated assessment criteria, excessive paperwork, cumbersome procedures and a lack of focus, which have limited its use in practice. To respond to some of those problems, a new overall business excellence framework (BEF) has been developed which recommends adaption instead of adoption of existing BEM. The suggested overall BEF helps to integrate BEM with management tools/techniques and the organisational culture/characteristics for guiding an organisation towards business excellence. A document-based empirical case of a world-class company, Boeing Aerospace Support, was investigated to illustrate how the overall BEF may work in practice as a complement to an existing BEM when companies adapt such models to their specific contexts.

Lean Service: A literature analysis and classification

The service sector in the USA accounts for 80% of gross domestic product. However, in spite of the pivotal role of the service sector in the US economy and its impact on daily life, the level of productivity in this sector has been much lower than that of the manufacturing area. This situation has been in existence for some time, but in the current context, there are growing external pressures to reduce costs, increase flexibility, improve quality and cut down on lead times. Companies are thus turning their attention to the manufacturing sector with the aim of implementing their techniques and methods which encourage a ‘lean’ approach. The purpose of this article is to review the extant literature on the subject that goes under the umbrella-title of ‘Lean Service’, analyse it, classify it into preliminary categories and suggest possible gaps in the research literature from the point of view of researchers and practitioners. The paper systematically categorises the published literature where the term Lean Service appears, including the early publications on the subject. Then, the categories are revised and analysed methodically. The research found that the literature referring to Lean Service can vary widely from the exploration of the meaning of the concept, its applications (case studies), the setting up of theoretical concepts (models) to the generation of new definitions. Within each category, certain gaps have been identified and possible future lines of research which clarify and distinguish the concept of Lean Service. In addition, within the category of ‘applications’, sub-categories have been identified such as banks and financial institutions, the health sector, education, the airline industry, and hotels and restaurants. The paper aspires to be of interest as much to researchers as to professionals in the service industry, whether they have middle management responsibilities, or are service managers, and also to all those employees whose work is related to this sector, with the object of understanding the management of service organisations from the Lean Service perspective.

Core values – the entrance to human satisfaction and commitment

The aim of this article is to explore and discuss the role of trust and closely interrelated ethical core values such as respect, fairness, and honesty in a managerial and organisational context and to link these factors further to employee motivation, commitment and loyalty. From an identified shortage and limitation of existing frameworks of human needs and motivation, the author suggests an alternative conceptual framework where trust and other core values are incorporated along with physiological and psychological needs. Empirical research and several findings regarding relationships with the new conceptual framework are presented, discussed and reflected upon.

Organizational learnability and innovability: A system for assessing, diagnosing and improving innovations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the development of a system for assessing and improving technology development and innovations. The system components comprise: a framework or model for assessing, measuring, diagnosing and improving innovation enablers and results; a simple methodology for data collection, data analysis and prioritizing improvement areas; and an index for measuring the performance level of innovation, learning and lean (ILL) and the potentials to increase that level. To improve innovation, which is the most complex challenge for todays organizations, there is a need for such a system.Design/methodology/approach – The first two system components have been developed and tested during a period of ten to 15 years in several industrial companies as well as service organizations. The last component has recently been developed to satisfy a need of all types of organizations.Findings – With the last development, the ILL index, the three components comprise a system f...

Kanse/Affective engineering design: a methodology for profound affection and attractive quality creation

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to present and discuss the Kansei engineering (KE) methodology, and to reflect on the future development of KE. The paper presents a model of the KE methodolog ...

Reviewing the European excellence model from a management control view

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review and identify the dominating paradigms within management control theories in order to investigate adoptability of the European excellence model (EEM) as an alternative management control model or a framework.Design/methodology/approach – The paper has conceptual character based on a literature survey.Findings – The six dominating paradigms are identified within management control theories and based on the analysis it is concluded that EEM can be adapted as a management control model if its limitations are supplemented with other ideas or frameworks.Originality/value – This is the first study which investigates adaptability and adoptability of EEM as a management control model.