International Journal of Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma: a categorized review of the literature

Gunjan Yadav Tushar N. Desai
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Gunjan Yadav Tushar N. Desai , (2016),"Lean Six Sigma: a categorized review of the literature", International Journal of
Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 7 Iss 1 pp. -
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 Lean Six Sigma: A Categorized Review of the Literature
1. Introduction-
The question of how to meet the challenge of quality standard and removal of non-value
added activities has concerned researchers and practitioners ever since couple of decades. In the
last decade, quality improvement has been characterized by two major approaches: Lean
development, which aims to tackle process efficiency by eliminating non-value-adding steps and
activities in a process, and Six Sigma, which inhibits the process variation on priority by
imparting the entire process towards mean. Lean manufacturing implementation in organization
helps in proper structuring of processes and maximum waste reduction which leads to improved
performance (Womack and Jones, 1996). Schroeder et al. (2008) suggested that Six Sigma tools
implemented in organization resulted in improved organizational performance rather than other
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quality approaches.
Hybrid development of the two practices is their fusion, which is termed as Lean Six Sigma
(LSS). While understanding the requirement to deliver business value to the consumer in a
rapidly changing environment and considering the demands of end-users into account, the
integration of Lean development and Six Sigma seems to be a promising endeavour and has
received increasing attention in recent years. Various authors (Arnheiter and Maleyeff, 2005;
Karthi et al., 2011; Salah et al., 2010) proposed to combine the merits of both approaches in
order to design an expertise quality improvement tool. Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park (2006)
compared several quality improvement initiatives and concluded that roadmaps of lean
production and Six Sigma should be considered as new alternatives towards TQM roadmaps.
The modern view of quality development prevalent in earlier phase-based basic approaches has
been replaced by number of statistical tools and innovative techniques. This excogitated to
sporadic change by noticing drastic improvement in processes leading towards growth of entire
organizational productivity which later adds the business value for the customer.
Linderman et al. (2006) explained the direct effect of Six Sigma tools on team performance
along with moderating effect and interaction between organizational goals and Six Sigma. Hence
in order to implement any productive tool or methodology in the organization, prelude measure
includes its precise visualisation. Therefore congruous research output makes critical literature
reviews as essential instrument for evaluating and building up the knowledge base within a
research domain. Replicability of the research as well as attributes of the arguments and
conclusions, call for more crystal clear and systematic procedures. To the cognition of the
authors, very few studies are conducted in past which critically review the research articles in
LSS and categorized them over the different parameters. Hence there is a need of more
categorized reviews which reflects the present scenario, mentions the developments of LSS and
discusses the research over multiple parameters. The objective of this paper is to expatiate on
elucidating egressing vistas, trends and importance of LSS through reviewing the published
literature over multiple parameters for better understanding of the research domain.
The studies conducted under the conjugation of literature review are prominently considered
as qualitative synthesis. In this paper, the literature on LSS research is classified and a
comprehensive review of these studies is presented. The articles on the integrated LSS approach
came into existence after 2000; hence the review covers journal articles published between 2001
and 2014. The paper is organized into seven sections including introduction. Second section
highlights the background and emergence of LSS. Third section elaborates the research
methodology used in the study. This is followed by the classification framework in the fourth
 section. In the fifth section LSS articles are analysed and the classification results are reported.
Sixth section deals with discussions whereas in the seventh section conclusions and future
implications are presented along with limitations of the study.

2. Background of Lean Six Sigma-

LSS has evolved from scientific management and continuous improvement theories by
combining the finest elements of many former quality initiatives. According to Snee (2010)
Motorola was the first to launch a Six Sigma program in the 1980s and in early 2000s it got
integrated with lean methodology. Linderman et al. (2003) presented a roadmap for linking
organizational goals and performance through Six Sigma adoption. In early stages of Six Sigma,
many organizations though gained through Six Sigma by developing a better quality brand image
but also encountered certain issues regarding the improvement in productivity and product cost
as later the organizations raised their concern in acquiring and altering Six Sigma methodology
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and tools to fit their own operations (Besseris, 2014). Adoption of new quality improvement
methodologies results in enhancement of employee motivation as it helps in building healthy
working environment (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard, 2003). Kumar and Antony (2008) reported that
enormous efforts have been initiated by several organizations for merging these quality
improvement methodologies for betterment of industrial era. Franchetti and Yanik (2011) in their
case study showed the improvement in results obtained by post implementation of LSS. Many
other researchers (Al-Aomar, 2012; Gibbons et al., 2012) also proposed framework for
successful implementation of LSS in specifically manufacturing environment.

For the unified “Lean Six Sigma” there appears to be little unanimity on its definition.
Proposing a nascent definition of LSS based on a grounded theory approach, Laureani and
Antony (2012a) concluded that LSS is a business improvement methodology that aims to
maximize shareholder value by improving quality, speed, customer satisfaction, and costs: it
achieves this by merging tools and principles from both Lean and Six Sigma. They averred that
researchers are required to formulate more cryptical and fertile cognition of LSS so that it will
enhance towards development of better implementation strategies. In Table I various examples
of LSS definitions are shown that excogitate distinct perspectives. From the perspective of cost
reduction, Lean methodology helps in removal of wastes by excluding the non-value added
activities whereas from statistical perspective, Six Sigma focuses on counting the number of
opportunities within a process that could result in defects so that causes of quality problems can
be eliminated before they are transformed into defects (Antony et al., 2005). From a business
perspective, LSS could be described as an amalgam process that allows companies to drastically
identify the customer desires, eliminate all non-value added activities and reduce the variability
within the production process.

<-----Table I. Definitions of Lean Six Sigma-----

2.1 Summary of existing literature reviews-

Plenty of existing literature review articles are available on the stand alone methodologies of
Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma but availability in the integrated structure is in scarce. Still
some efforts have been made by the researchers in past to organize and replicate the existing
scenario of LSS. Prasanna and Vinodh (2013) studied about the literature analysis of LSS
implementation in SMEs. They also described the theoretical and application oriented researches
 done in past. The article was limited to only the types of researches, benefits and comparison of
existing frameworks of LSS. Assarlind et al. (2013) expands the theoretical foundation for
combining Lean and Six Sigma by studying and analyzing a practical application of the concept.
Their study provides new factors of importance for successful LSS applications, such as having a
clear structure that guides the company in terms of what components of LSS to apply and what
competences to involve in various projects, depending on the scope and complexity.
Albliwi et al. (2014) presented a systematic literature review of 56 papers that were published
on Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in well-known academic databases for LSS in different sectors,
such as manufacturing, services, higher education, etc. This paper discussed the top failure
factors from different angles, i.e. countries’ evolution, organizations’ size (small- and medium-
sized enterprises and large organizations) and industry nature. Näslund (2013) uses a literature
search and comparative analysis complemented with examples from previous case studies. The
paper also presents the comparison of certain aspects as goals, approaches, structure and tools
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and a detailed analysis of critical success factors.

Analyzing the related work, it was observed that none of the existing reviews broadly cover
LSS across its different dimensions, such as practices, industrial sectors, integration approaches,
research design, development areas and enablers for better implementation. Though the work of
Assarlind et al. (2013) highlighted the foundation for combining Lean and Six Sigma but none of
the reviews covered all the relevant dimensions of LSS in an integrated manner.

3. Research methodology
The literature review is a usual method to investigate thoroughly different approaches of the
topic to be studied. This paper follows the basic research steps including; literature review
regarding developments of LSS; formulating a classification framework; employing the
classification framework to conclude the developments of LSS; presenting the literature review
using the classification framework to organize the review; identification of gaps and suggestions
for future research. Figure 1 represents the research methodology adopted for this study.

<-----Figure 1. Research Methodology adopted for study -----

The aim of the review was to capture a snapshot of the diversity of research being conducted
in the field of LSS. For this purpose all the articles published in peer reviewed journals
containing the word “Lean Six Sigma” in the title as well as keywords are reviewed. Therefore,
editorials, news reports, book reviews, viewpoints, conference papers, masters and doctoral
dissertations, textbooks, and unpublished working papers are excluded. The review covers
journal articles published between 2001 and 2014. Taking the nature of the research on LSS into
account, it would be hard to merge the literature under any specific disciplines. Hence peer
reviewed journal databases are picked and explored to deliver a comprehensive bibliography on
LSS literature. The included journals are from well reputed publishers like Emerald Fulltext,
Science Direct, Inderscience, Taylor & Francis database, Springerlink and Wiley Publication.
These databases provide online delivery systems with full text access to thousands of high
quality articles and journals that cover a wide range of social and applied science titles including
business and management disciplines, engineering, healthcare and computer science. The search
 yielded 189 LSS articles from 58 journals in the above mentioned databases. Each article was
carefully reviewed and then the data was organized to produce a classification from several
perspectives. Although this research is not exhaustive still it serves as a comprehensive base for
an understanding of LSS research.

The compiling efforts have been made to include maximum number of articles, but it is
possible that there exist an article that is not surveyed in this paper. It is expected that the review,
proposed classification method, themes and parameters of classification and the resulting
analysis will be a beneficial resource for researchers and practitioners, who are interested in LSS
research, and will help to stimulate further research in this area.
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4. Classification framework
After the review of the works on LSS reported in the literature, a classification method was
proposed. The articles are reviewed, analysed and classified based on eight main dimensions, as
follows:
(1) Journals and publishers.
(2) Year of Publication.
(3) Contribution of countries worldwide.
(4) Research Method
(5) Research Design
(6) Industrial Sectors
(7) Enablers for Implementation
(8) Active authors in the research (In terms of articles published)
This framework will provide guidelines for pursuing rigorous research by explaining the
chronological growth, dominating research types and application areas, challenging themes of
LSS research and the major sources of LSS information.

5. Analysis of the classifications

5.1 Distribution of articles based on journals and publishers
There are journals from various business, engineering, statistics, information
systems/technology and healthcare disciplines that published LSS articles. Among the leading
journals, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma had by far the largest number of articles per
journal (20.6 %). Since 2010, the journal is devoted to advancing the understanding and practice
of LSS research. To reflect the close relationship between quality improvement and LSS
research, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage had the second largest
percentage (10.5 %) of LSS articles. It further includes The TQM Journal (previously, The TQM
Magazine) at third position (7.5 %). Besides, the engineering perspective to quality deployment
is noticeable in LSS articles since the fourth largest percentages of LSS articles are in
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management (5.8 %) and International
Journal of Quality & Reliability Management (5.8 %). Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence (5.3 %) had the fifth position.
 International Journal of Production Research holds the sixth position (4.2 %). The seventh
position is held by International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management (3.17 %).
Three journals including The Asian Journal on Quality, Production Planning & Control, Journal
of Chemical Health and Safety share the eighth largest percentages of LSS articles (2.12 %
each). Surprisingly, these 11 journals represent the main disciplines that construct LSS research;
business, engineering, and healthcare. A comprehensive list of all contributing journals is
illustrated in Table II.
In terms of publishers, Emerald fulltext contributed maximum articles (52%) on LSS followed
by Inderscience (20%), Taylor & Francis (15%), Science Direct (5%), Springerlink (4%) and
Wiley Publication (4%). Figure 2 represents the distribution of articles based on publishers. A
variety of research work was observed in literature search from above mentioned publishers.
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Articles from Emerald Fulltext (Antony, 2012; Arumugam et al., 2012; Besseris, 2011;
Psychogios et al., 2012) widely covered the areas including engineering, service, healthcare and
business management. Case studies related to manufacturing and service sectors, conceptual
model development and conducting survey based researches are the key issues emphasized by
the authors (Franchetti and Yanik, 2011; Fraser and Fraser, 2009; Hardeman and Goethals, 2011;
Jin et al., 2008; Mandahawi et al., 2011; Waterbury and Bonilla, 2008) of Inderscience. Articles
from Science Direct (Cournoyer et al., 2011, 2013; Lighter, 2014) dealt with the activities related
to chemical, health and safety sectors. Several articles from Wiley Publication (Gijo and Antony,
2013; Lee and Wei, 2010) presented their work in quality improvement of health and
manufacturing sectors. While articles from Springerlink (Atmaca and Girenes, 2011; Langabeer
et al., 2009; Pillai et al., 2012) mainly focused on process manufacturing and service sectors.

< -----Table II. Distribution of articles based on journals-----

<-----Figure 2. Distribution of articles based on publishers-----

5.2 Distribution of articles based on year of publication
Figure 3 shows the distribution of LSS articles published over the period from 2001 to 2014.
There appears to be limited research outputs before 2000, as the researchers and practitioners
used the two methodologies on standalone. The blooming years for LSS research seems to be
after 2010, since the number of journal articles has increased significantly over this period. These
articles reported applications of LSS in manufacturing (Hardeman and Goethals, 2011; Panat et
al., 2014), service (Delgado et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2013), education (Antony, 2012; Kanigolla et
al., 2014), healthcare (Laureani et al., 2013; Mandahawi et al., 2011), finance (Delgado et al.,
2010; Koning et al., 2008), construction (van den Bos et al., 2014; Matt, 2014) However, the
escalation in number of LSS articles in various fields is noteworthy.

<-----Figure 3. Distribution of articles based on Year of publication-----

5.3 Distribution of articles based on countries

 The findings on LSS research across the literature have covered 27 major countries around the
world as shown in Table III. Out of 189 articles United States of America (USA) contributed
most number of articles. Apart from USA many other countries like United Kingdom (UK),
India, Sweden, Netherland, Malaysia, Italy etc. are also the major countries who have
contributed a substantial number of publications. In the countries such as Egypt, Ireland, Korea,
Spain, Turkey etc. are the locations where number of publications are comparatively low. This
indicates that there are ample opportunities in these countries to do research and further expand
the LSS base. USA and UK collectively contributed around 47% of the total research on LSS.
Articles from USA (Duarte, 2012; Hoerl and Gardner, 2010; Iii, 2010; Roth and Franchetti,
2010) helped in developing LSS base by building theoretical background for other researchers.
While most of the articles from UK (J. Thomas et al., 2014; Laureani et al., 2013;
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Lertwattanapongchai and William Swierczek, 2014; Manville et al., 2012) concentrated on

strategy development for fluent practice of LSS in several organizations.

<-----Table III. Distribution of article based on countries-----

5.4 Distribution of articles based on research method

Each article of LSS is observed, analyzed and the research methods are noted down. The
major research articles focus on the methods such as survey, interviews, mathematical
modelling, conceptual model, case studies and various other methods as literature review,
insights from industries etc.
Information about all the research methods found is shown in Figure 4. As we know that the
case study is most common method generally used in LSS research, hence it counts the highest
in numbers in terms of articles publications (58), followed by articles on conceptual model (54),
the combination of survey and interview includes 32 articles. Only 12 articles proposed
mathematical models which are developed by simulation and various decision making methods.
According to Näslund (2013), “One reason that organizations abandon the change effort is if
the method does not seem to provide evidence of clearly positive results in terms of improved
performance”. Noticeable case studies (Al-Aomar, 2012; Bailey et al., 2012; Franchetti and
Yanik, 2011; Jasti and Sharma, 2014; Matt, 2014) have been reported in the literature which
highlights variety of work design used in several working environments. Many articles (Garzella
and Fiorentino, 2014; Gibbons et al., 2012; Hilton and Sohal, 2012; Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010)
suggested conceptual models, but they are limited to specific organizational domain. There are
many articles in which mathematical papers are endured by the cases to prove their implication.
All the methods are susceptible, their needs are great and their permissibility is proven. By
expanding the collection of methodologies for constructing the true contributions to both
research and practices, employ for those which are most competent, appropriate and effective.

<-----Figure 4. Distribution of articles based on Research Method-----

 5.5 Distribution of articles by research design
The methodology applied for research design in the study is based on empirical work or desk
research. The articles are categorized into five major sections such as empirical qualitative, desk
qualitative, empirical quantitative, desk quantitative and empirical triangulation. The articles in
each category of research design are shown in Figure 5. This shows that desk qualitative (78) has
highest number of articles published in peer reviewed journals and they are mostly based on
conceptual models and theoretical studies. The empirical qualitative research is done in 53
articles indicating the case studies, action based approaches and practical applications. While
empirical quantitative research was carried out in 27 articles; this type of research comprises of
survey and interviews conducted for research. A multi method approach also called as empirical
triangulation is used in 19 articles in which more than two methods are used to formulate the
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required models. The desk quantitative contains mathematical modelling where only 12 articles
have been published. Figure 5 represents the distribution of articles based on research design.
Most of the authors (Chiarini, 2012; Delgado et al., 2010; Maleyeff, 2012; Sarkar et al.,
2013a; Shah and Shrivastava, 2013) carried out desk qualitative research which include
conceptual models, archival studies, developing proposition for future research. Some articles
(Al-Aomar, 2012; Besseris, 2011; Franchetti and Barnala, 2013; Sarkar et al., 2013b) specifically
focused on action research approaches based on case studies and are grouped under empirical
qualitative research. The researchers should work on desk quantitative research containing
mathematical model, fuzzy logic etc. as it was observed in very limited articles in the literature.

<-----Figure 5. Distribution of articles based on Research Design-----

5.6 Distribution of articles based on industrial sectors

Industries are one of the most important considerations to perform any research. When the
research holds the content for quality improvement then industrial applications acts as a vital
role. Various arguments regarding case studies have been discussed in previous sections. The
articles reported in literature explore a wide range of application of LSS in multiple industrial
sectors. Figure 6 represents the industrial sectors describing LSS applications. Manufacturing
and Engineering sector holds the highest amount of LSS application (42 %) followed by Service
(32%), Healthcare (18%) and other sectors (8%). Table IV shows the major industries which are
focused for LSS research mainly concern with the implementation and adoption of LSS.
Automobile industries are focused in large number (14) followed by Electronics industries (12)
and Hospital industries (12). Almost all the types of industries such as Logistics and Supply
chain, Education industry, Insurance and Finance industry, IT and Software industry,
Construction industry, Process industry, Pharmaceutical industry etc. are considered by various
researchers and practitioners. Reflected from literature, it can be clearly observed that most of
the articles are from manufacturing environment but still, McLean and Antony (2014) argued
about failing of continuous improvement initiatives in manufacturing environment and presented
a systematic review of evidence.

<----- Figure 6. Distribution of articles based on industrial sectors -----



<----- Table IV. Distribution of article based on focused industries -----

Shahin and Jaberi (2011) designed an integrated model for auto parts based manufacturing
company and analyzed the influence of LSS implementation on the quality. Yi (2012) applied
LSS to an electronic components assembling firm and reported improvement in terms of
reduction in electronic component losses. Thomas et al. (2009) executed LSS program in small
engineering company and suggested a strategic framework for increasing productive efficiency
and output. Whereas Sarkar et al. (2014) outlined specifically “Control Phase” for implementing
LSS. Several authors (Gibbons and Burgess, 2010; Setijono and Dahlgaard, 2007; Shah and
Shrivastava, 2013) discussed performance measures for small and medium sized enterprises. The
articles identified in literature not only emphasized on case studies but also included strategic
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planning, model development, frameworks and practices in industrial environment.

5.7 Enablers for successful implementation

Enablers which are also termed as critical success factors (CSFs) are considered as one of the
important parameters in order to achieve effective quality management (Habidin and Mohd
Yusof, 2013), organizational target and goal (Jayaraman et al., 2012; Jin et al., 2008; Kornfeld,
2013; Laureani and Antony, 2012b), and organizational performance (Montgomery, 2010; Ray
and John, 2011). Many studies investigate on CSFs as a quality initiative. Most of the studies of
CSFs related to quality improvement concerned on successful implementation of total quality
management (TQM) (Chiarini, 2011), lean production (Arumugam et al., 2012), and Six Sigma
(Antony, 2011) but very few studies are focused on LSS implementation.
In order to be successful in implementing the LSS, first, one needs to know the crucial CSFs
of LSS. According to Antony (2012), to understand on how to implement Six Sigma
successfully, the CSFs need to be identified. Several researches have discussed the CSFs for
implementing Six Sigma such as management commitment, cultural change, organization
infrastructure, training and education, business strategy, customer focus, human resource
management, supplier management project management skill, project selection and priority, and
understanding tool, techniques and define-measure-analyze-improve and control (DMAIC)
methodology.
Enablers related to LSS are discussed by several authors (Habidin and Mohd Yusof, 2013;
Hilton and Sohal, 2012; Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010; Laureani and Antony, 2012a; Manville et al.,
2012; Näslund, 2013) in literature. Laureani and Antony (2012a) reported a list of 19 essential
CSFs of LSS which were identified from 9 books and 22 articles. Habidin and Mohd Yusof
(2013) explored CSFs for LSS in Malaysian automotive industries under 6 constructs
(leadership, structured improvement procedure, quality information and analysis, supplier
relationship, just in time, customer focus and focus in metric). Jeyaraman and Teo (2010)
proposed a conceptual framework for CSFs of LSS and identified ten crucial factors of LSS
implementation by assessing the performance of electronic manufacturing service industries.
Näslund (2013) conducted review of CSFs and highlighted three additional important CSF:
 strategic alignment, project management and training. Hence based on literature search various
enablers of LSS are identified and shown in Table V.


<----- Table V. Enablers for successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma -----

5.8 Active authors in Lean Six Sigma research

LSS studies have also identified the active involvement of authors, who participated in the
publication of articles. A total of 368 authors contributed to 189 articles on LSS research. All the
authors from 189 articles including main author and co-author are considered. Table VI shows
the top 16 authors with four or more articles each, who are most active in publishing and
conducting LSS related research. Jiju Antony with 20 articles appears to be the most productive
author in terms of journal publication across the journals in LSS research, followed by Maneesh
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Kumar with 7 articles. Arup Ranjan and Devadasan contributed 6 articles each whereas Andrea
Chairni, Ashok Sarkar, Ronald Does and Sadhan Kumar contributed 5 articles each. Other
authors from Table VI contributed 4 articles each. While remaining 352 authors contributed with
one to three articles, they are not listed in the table due to limitation of space.

<----- Table VI. Active authors in Lean Six Sigma research -----

6. Discussion
The literature review performed within the analysis of LSS helps to identify various key
issues and trends presently being practiced. From the analysis of world web science on LSS, it is
highlighted that there is splitting views in terms of range of subject areas which accost this topic.
Despite of many studies conducted in the area of LSS, there was lack of mutual understanding of
the discipline regarding theoretical and methodological dimensions. However around 189 LSS
articles have been published containing the word “Lean Six Sigma” in the title and keywords of
the article in highly regarded peer reviewed journals across last 14 years. Despite of the findings
published in these journals, both rationalist and non-rationalist research approaches in terms of
common research approach usage and balance used in these studies do not provide any firm
indication. The empirical test presented by the authors in LSS studies are often linked with the
question and methodology used to conduct research. To some concern the LSS authors convince
readers regarding the validity and approaches used for implementation of LSS in various sectors.
There is a noticeable increase in the popularity of LSS and the level of LSS deployment in the
industrial world, especially in large organizations in western countries such as the USA and the
UK and in some SMEs in developing countries such as India.

7. Conclusion
The purpose of this study is to examine status of LSS research in terms of units of analysis,
existing methodologies employed and research topics/ issues investigated. A range of online
databases (2001-2014) are searched to provide a comprehensive listing of journal articles on
LSS. The articles must contain the word “Lean Six Sigma” in their title and keywords of the
articles. Based on this a total of 189 articles are found and the information on a series of
variables is gathered are further reviewed and classified. The review and classification process is
 independently verified. All papers are allocated to the main and sub-categories based on the
major focus of each. The major findings shows that conceptual models holds greater credibility
and the trend is moving towards mathematical model building as well as testing. Most advanced
techniques are being used for data analysis in empirical studies and a subsequent increase in
hypothesis testing is observed. This is one of the unique study that comprehensively explains the
LSS and contributes the extensive literature review. The categorized review conducted in the
study will provide better understanding of the existing state of research in the discipline. In spite
of the ample amount of literature available on LSS among the journals considered in this review;
the topic is still under development and offers potential opportunities for further research and
applications.
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7.1 Significant findings

• During the literature search only four articles were found in which review was conducted.
First article described the theoretical and application oriented researches done in past.
This article was limited to only the types of researches, benefits and comparison of
existing frameworks of LSS, second article expands the theoretical foundation for
combining Lean and Six Sigma by studying and analyzing a practical application of the
concept, third article discussed the top failure factors from different angles in industrial
perspective and fourth article presents the comparative analysis complemented with
examples from previous case studies.
• Manufacturing and Engineering sector holds the highest percent (42%) of articles
published on LSS industrial applications, followed by service sector (32%) and
healthcare (18%).
• USA and UK collectively holds almost half of the creditability towards the research on
LSS.
• Authors like Jiju Antony and M. Kumar and A.R. Mukopadhyay have done significant
research in the area of LSS.
• Case study based research and conceptual models are reported in around 60 percent of the
articles. Most of the models reported are theoretical and are not supported mathematically
and through simulation.
• Most of the research articles are desk qualitative and empirical qualitative, whereas very
few articles emphasized on desk quantitative research which includes mathematical
model, fuzzy logic etc.
• Paradigm shift of LSS practices from manufacturing to service and healthcare are clearly
observed in the literature. Various authors showed gains from LSS practices through case
studies in several IT, banking, product development and medical industries. However
recent articles imply the return of LSS to manufacturing as its initial base.
 7.2 Gaps identified
• Most of the articles have presented the theoretical model but techniques such as
simulation and structural equation modelling for the support has been used in very
limited articles.
• Despite of many studies conducted regarding the identification of enablers and barriers,
no such study has been recorded which used any modelling technique for prioritizing or
ranking the enablers and barriers for LSS implementation.
• Very few studies discussed the LSS practices successfully implemented across different
types of organizations.
• Although there are many articles available on LSS implementation for manufacturing
environment but these articles lack in presenting a standardize model for better
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implementation.
• Limited articles presented the LSS processes, financial and strategic aspects and its
impact on performance measurements through validated model.
• Mathematical modelling and structural equation modelling is carried out in very few
articles as most of the authors have done only theoretical study, while the research within
the organization level is very less and in many articles the secondary data is not used in
innovative way.

7.3 Future research directions and limitations

Future research in the field of LSS requires studies related to unifying different LSS models in
the current and existing literature and also to understand the determinants of the implementation
and adoption of LSS in various organizations. Another theme of LSS research is the need to
understand the priorities of the enablers as they are of the prime importance and its impact on the
firm’s performance measurements. Also researchers and practitioners of LSS should aim to
develop a deeper understanding of LSS practices applied in the organization.

This study presents the current status of LSS research from point of view of research methods,
techniques used and various parameters for analysis. It has been shown that present research is
more accurate than past research. Still the following points show the limitations of this study and
directions for future research:

• This study is limited in reviewing those articles which contains the word “lean six sigma”
in the title and keywords of the article and we admit that there are numerous studies,
which might not have included the “lean six sigma” in keyword and the title but still
focus on the lean six sigma in the main context.
• This research is limited to the journals from Emerald full text, Science Direct/Elsevier,
Inderscience, Taylor & Francis, Wiley Publication and Springerlink. But there are more
journals which are well known and particularly devoted to LSS research can be used. The
list may not be exhaustive, but it is believed to be comprehensive, since it includes a
comprehensive coverage of scientific journals, including many highly ranked journals.
 • Although in this study all the efforts have been made to include various parameters and
bases for comparison of articles, still in future more comprehensive research can be done
to provide better understanding of the LSS research.

REFERENCES
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Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 299–314.

Albliwi, S., Antony, J., Abdul Halim Lim, S. and van der Wiele, T. (2014), “Critical failure
factors of Lean Six Sigma: a systematic literature review”, International Journal of Quality
& Reliability Management, Vol. 31 No. 9, pp. 1012–1030.
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Antony, J. (2011), “Six Sigma vs Lean and practitioners: Some perspectives from leading
academics and practitioners", International Journal of Productivity and Performance
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Antony, J. (2012), “Lean Six Sigma for higher education institutions (HEIs): Challenges,
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Antony, J., Kumar, M. and Madu, C.N. (2005), “Six sigma in small- and medium-sized UK
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Arnheiter, E.D. and Maleyeff, J. (2005), “The integration of lean management and Six Sigma”,
The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 5–18.

Arumugam, V., Antony, J. and Douglas, A. (2012), “Observation: a Lean tool for improving the
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Assarlind, M., Gremyr, I. and Bäckman, K. (2013), “Multi-faceted views on a Lean Six Sigma
application”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp.
387–402.

Atmaca, E. and Girenes, S.S. (2011), “Lean Six Sigma methodology and application”, Quality &
Quantity, No. Vol. 47 No. 4, pp. 2107–2127.

Bailey, A.Y.A., Motwani, J. and Smedley, E.M. (2012), “When Lean and Six Sigma converge: a
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Besseris, G. (2014), “Multi-factorial Lean Six Sigma product optimization for quality, leanness
and safety”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 253–278.
 Besseris, G.J. (2011), “Applying the DOE toolkit on a Lean-and-Green Six Sigma Maritime-
Operation Improvement Project”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp.
270–284.

Chiarini, A. (2011), “Japanese total quality control, TQM, Deming’s system of profound
knowledge, BPR, Lean and Six Sigma: Comparison and discussion”, International Journal
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Chiarini, A. (2012), “Risk management and cost reduction of cancer drugs using Lean Six Sigma
tools”, Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 318–330.

Cournoyer, M.E., Garcia, V.E., Gallegos, U.F. and Wilburn, D.W. (2011), “Investigation of
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injury/illness data at a nuclear facility”, Journal of Chemical Health and Safety, ACS
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Cournoyer, M.E., Nobile, A.O., Williams, G.M., Monsalve-Jones, R. A., Renner, C.M. and
George, G.L. (2013), “Application of lean six sigma business practices to an Air Purifying
Respirator process”, Journal of Chemical Health and Safety, ACS Division of Chemical
Health and Safety, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 34–39.

Dahlgaard, S.M.P. and Dahlgaard, J.J. (2003), “Towards a holistic understanding of human
motivation: Core values - The entrance to people’s commitment?”, AI and Society, Vol. 17
No. 2, pp. 150–180.

Dahlgaard , J.J. and Dahlgaard-Park , S.M. (2006), “Lean production, six sigma quality, TQM
and company culture”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 263–281.

Delgado, C., Ferreira, M. and Branco, M.C. (2010), “The implementation of lean Six Sigma in
financial services organizations”, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol.
21 No. 4, pp. 512–523.

Duarte, B. (2012), “Deploying LSS in a global enterprise – project identification”, International

Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 187–205.

Franchetti, M. and Barnala, P. (2013), “Lean six sigma at a material recovery facility: a case
study”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 251–264.

Franchetti, M. and Yanik, M. (2011), “Continuous improvement and value stream analysis
through the lean DMAIC Six Sigma approach: a manufacturing case study from Ohio,
USA”, International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 6 No. 4, p. 278-
300.

Fraser, N. and Fraser, J. (2009), “Lean Six Sigma applied to an accounting process within a
client of a commercial finance organisation- an empirical case study”, International Journal
of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 5 No. 3, p. 272-289.
 Garzella, S. and Fiorentino, R. (2014), “An integrated framework to support the process of green
management adoption”, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 68–89.

Gibbons, P.M. and Burgess, S.C. (2010), “Introducing OEE as a measure of lean Six Sigma
capability”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 134–156.

Gibbons, P.M., Kennedy, C., Burgess, S. and Godfrey, P. (2012), “The development of a value
improvement model for repetitive processes (VIM): Combining Lean, Six Sigma and
systems thinking”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 315–338.

Gijo, E. V. and Antony, J. (2013), “Reducing patient waiting time in outpatient department using
lean six sigma methodology”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 30
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No. 8, pp. 1481–1491.

Habidin, N.F. and Mohd Yusof, S. (2013), “Critical success factors of lean six sigma for the
Malaysian automotive industry”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 4, pp. 60–
82.

Hardeman, C. and Goethals, P.L. (2011), “A case study: applying Lean Six Sigma concepts to
design a more efficient airfoil extrusion shimming process”, International Journal of Six
Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 173-196.

Hilton, R.J. and Sohal, A. (2012), “A conceptual model for the successful deployment of Lean
Six Sigma”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp.
54–70.

Hoerl, R.W. and Gardner, M.M. (2010), “Lean Six Sigma, creativity, and innovation”,
International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 30–38.

Iii, F.W.B. (2010), “Process improvement projects shortcomings and resolution”, International
Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 92–98.

Jasti, N.V.K. and Sharma, A. (2014), “Lean manufacturing implementation using value stream
mapping as a tool: A case study from auto components industry”, International Journal of
Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 89–116.

Jayaraman, K., Kee, T.L. and Soh, K.L. (2012), “The perceptions and perspectives of Lean Six
Sigma (LSS) practitioners: An empirical study in Malaysia”, The TQM Journal, Vol. 24 No.
5, pp. 433–446.

Jeyaraman, K. and Teo, L.K. (2010), “A conceptual framework for critical success factors of
lean Six Sigma: Implementation on the performance of electronic manufacturing service
industry”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 191–215.
 Jin, M., Switzer, M. and Agirbas, G. (2008), “Six Sigma and Lean in healthcare logistics centre
design and operation: a case at North Mississippi Health Services”, International Journal of
Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 270-288.

Kanigolla, D., Cudney, E.A. and Corns, S.M. (2014), “Enhancing engineering education using
project-based learning for Lean and Six Sigma”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma,
Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 45–61.

Karthi, S., Devadasan, S.R. and Murugesh, R. (2011), “Integration of Lean Six-Sigma with ISO
9001:2008 standard”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 309–331.

Koning, H. De, Does, R.J.M.M. and Bisgaard, S. (2008), “Lean Six Sigma in financial services”,
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Int. J. Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 1–17.

Kornfeld, B. (2013), “Selection of Lean and Six Sigma projects in industry”, International
Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 4–16.

Kumar, M. and Antony, J. (2008), “Comparing the quality management practices in UK

SMEs”, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 108 No. 9, pp. 1153–1166.

Langabeer, J.R., DelliFraine, J.L., Heineke, J. and Abbass, I. (2009), “Implementation of Lean
and Six Sigma quality initiatives in hospitals: A goal theoretic perspective”, Operations
Management Research, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 13–27.

Laureani, A. and Antony, J. (2012a), “Standards for Lean Six Sigma certification”, International
Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 110–120.

Laureani, A. and Antony, J. (2012b), “Critical success factors for the effective implementation of
Lean Sigma: Results from an empirical study and agenda for future research”, International
Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 274–283.

Laureani, A., Brady, M. and Antony, J. (2013), “Applications of Lean Six Sigma in an Irish
hospital”, Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 322–337.

Lee, K., Tai, C.T. and Sheen, G.J. (2013), “Using LSS to improve the efficiency and quality of a
refund process in a logistics center”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 4 No. 4,
pp. 409–424.

Lee, K.L. and Wei, C.C. (2010), “Reducing mold changing time by implementing Lean Six
Sigma”, Quality and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 387–395.

Lertwattanapongchai, S. and William Swierczek, F. (2014), “Assessing the change process of

Lean Six Sigma: a case analysis”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp.
423–443.
 Lighter, D.E. (2014), “The application of Lean Six Sigma to provide high-quality, reliable
pediatric care”, International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Elsevier Ltd,
Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 8–10.

Linderman, K., Schroeder, R.G. and Choo, A.S. (2006), “Six Sigma: The role of goals in
improvement teams”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 779–790.

Linderman, K., Schroeder, R.G., Zaheer, S. and Choo, A.S. (2003), “Six Sigma: A goal-theoretic
perspective”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 193–203.

Maleyeff, J. (2012), “The continuing evolution of Lean Six Sigma”, The TQM Journal, Vol. 24
No. 6, pp. 542–555.
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Mandahawi, N., Araidah, O. Al, Boran, A. and Khasawneh, M. (2011), “Application of Lean Six
Sigma tools to minimise length of stay for ophthalmology day case surgery”, International
Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 156-172.

Manville, G., Greatbanks, R., Krishnasamy, R. and Parker, D.W. (2012), “Critical success
factors for Lean Six Sigma programmes: a view from middle management”, International
Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 7-20.

Matt, D.T. (2014), “Adaptation of the value stream mapping approach to the design of lean
engineer-to-order production systems: A case study”, Journal of Manufacturing Technology
Management, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 334–350.

McLean, R. and Antony, J. (2014), “Why continuous improvement initiatives fail in

manufacturing environments? A systematic review of the evidence”, International Journal
of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 63 No. 3, pp. 370–376.

Montgomery, D.C. (2010), “A modern framework for achieving enterprise excellence”,

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 56–65.

Näslund, D. (2013), “Lean and six sigma - critical success factors revisited”, International
Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 86–100.

Panat, R., Dimitrova, V., Selvy Selvamuniandy, T., Ishiko, K. and Sun, D. (2014), “The
application of Lean Six Sigma to the configuration control in Intel’s manufacturing R&D
environment”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 444–459.

Pillai, A.K.R., Pundir, A.K. and Ganapathy, L. (2012), “Implementing Integrated lean six sigma
for software development: A flexibility framework for managing the continuity: Change
dichotomy”, Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 107–116.

Prasanna, M. and Vinodh, S. (2013), “Lean Six Sigma in SMEs: an exploration through literature
review”, Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 224–250.
 Psychogios, A.G., Atanasovski, J. and Tsironis, L.K. (2012), “Lean Six Sigma in a service
context: A multi-factor application approach in the telecommunications industry”,
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 122–139.

Ray, S. and John, B. (2011), “Lean Six-Sigma application in business process outsourced
organization”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 2 No. 4, pp. 371–380.

Roth, N. and Franchetti, M. (2010), “Process improvement for printing operations through the
DMAIC Lean Six Sigma approach: A case study from Northwest Ohio, USA”, International
Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 119–133.

Salah, S., Rahim, A. and Carretero, J. A. (2010), “The integration of Six Sigma and lean
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management”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 249–274.

Sarkar, A., Mukhopadhyay, A.R. and Ghosh, S.K. (2013a), “Root Cause Analysis, Lean Six
Sigma and Test of Hypothesis”, The TQM Journal, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 170-185.

Sarkar, A., Ranjan Mukhopadhyay, A. and Kumar Ghosh, S. (2014), “An outline of the ‘Control
Phase’ for implementing Lean Six Sigma”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 5
No. 3, pp. 230–252.

Sarkar, S.A., Mukhopadhyay, A.R. and Ghosh, S.K. (2013b), “Improvement of claim processing
cycle time through Lean Six Sigma methodology”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma,
Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 171–183.

Schroeder, R.G., Linderman, K., Liedtke, C. and Choo, A.S. (2008), “Six Sigma: Definition and
underlying theory”, Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 536–554.

Setijono, D. and Dahlgaard, J.J. (2007), “The Added-Value Metric - A Complementary

Performance Measure for Six Sigma and Lean Production”, Asian Journal on Quality, Vol.
8 No. 1, pp. 1–14.

Shah, P.P. and Shrivastava, R.L. (2013), “Identification of performance measures of Lean Six
Sigma in small- and medium-sized enterprises : a pilot study”, International Journal of Six
Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 1–21.

Shahin, A. and Jaberi, R. (2011), “Designing an integrative model of leagile production and
analyzing its influence on the quality of auto parts based on Six Sigma approach with a case
study in a manufacturing company”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 2 No. 3,
pp. 215–240.

Snee, R.D. (2010), “Lean Six Sigma – getting better all the time”, International Journal of Lean
Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 9–29.
 Thomas, A., Barton, R. and Chuke-Okafor, C. (2009), “Applying lean six sigma in a small
engineering company – a model for change”, Journal of Manufacturing Technology
Management, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 113–129.

Thomas, A.J., Ringwald, K., Parfitt, S., Davies, A. and John, E. (2014), “An empirical analysis
of Lean Six Sigma implementation in SMEs – a migratory perspective”, International
Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 31 No. 8, pp. 888–905.

Van den Bos, A., Kemper, B. and de Waal, V. (2014), “A study on how to improve the
throughput time of Lean Six Sigma projects in a construction company”, International
Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 212–226.
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Waterbury, T. and Bonilla, C. (2008), “A Lean Six Sigma execution strategy for service sectors:
what you need to know before starting the journey”, International Journal of Six Sigma and
Competitive Advantage, Vol. 4 No. 4, p. 395-408.

Womack, J.P. and Jones, D.T. (1996), Lean Thinking – Banish Waste and Create Wealth in your
Corporation, Simon & Schuster, London.

Yi, T.P. (2012), “Reducing electronic component losses in lean electronics assembly with Six
Sigma approach”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 206–230.
 Literature Search on LSS from Scopus

Including the articles containing "Lean Six 1046 Articles found

Sigma" in the title and keywords

Inclusion of only Journal articles (excluding

Conference paper, short survey, book
458 Articles found
chapter, conference review, editorial note,
etc).
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Including only English language articles 410 Articles found

Including articles from Emeraldfulltext,

Inderscience, Taylor & Francis, Science
189 Articles found
Direct(Elsevier), Springerlink, Wiley
Publication

Final Review to be conducted of 189

shortlisted LSS articles

Classification for Review of 189 shortlisted LSS articles based on

Year, Journalwise, Publisherwise, Country, Authors actively involved, Research
method, Research design, Industrial sector, Enablers

Identification of Gaps and Suggestions for future work based on the results obtained
through analysis

Figure 1. Research Methodology adopted for study

 Springerlink Wiley
Science Direct 4% Publication
5% 4%
Taylor &
Francis
15%
Emerald
Fulltext
52%
Inderscience
20%
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Figure 2. Distribution of articles based on publishers

45
40 39
35
Number of Articles

30 31
27
25 24
22
20
15 14
10 11
7 8
5 5
0 1 0 0 0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Year of Publication

Figure 3. Distribution of articles based on year of publication

 58
60 54

50

40 33
28.57 30.69
30
17 15 17.46
20 No. of Articles
12
8.99
7.94 6.35 % of Articles
10

0
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Figure 4. Distribution of articles based on research method

78
80

70

60 53

50 41.27
40 No. of Articles
27 28.04 % of Articles
30
19
20 14.29 12 10.05
6.35
10

0
Empirical Empirical Desk Desk Empirical
quantitative qualitative quantitative qualitative triangulation

Figure 5. Distribution of articles based on research design

 8% Manufacturing and
Engineering Sector
18% 42%
Service Sector

Healthcare Sector
32%
Other Sectors
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Figure 6. Distribution of articles based on industrial sectors

 Table I. Definitions of Lean Six Sigma

Definitions Author
Lean Six Sigma is an integrated vital strategy that enables companies to (Andersson et
meet and exceed customer expectations in a changing and competitive al., 2014)
global environment.
Lean Six Sigma uses tools from both toolboxes to get the best from the (Assarlind et
two methodologies, increasing speed while also increasing accuracy. al., 2013)
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is modern business excellence initiative that (Besseris,
offers a great wealth of continuous improvement tools and techniques to 2014)
combat process instabilities and product malfunction.
Lean Six Sigma is a hybrid methodology that organisations adopt for (Corbett, 2011)
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sustaining high production rates and high quality, or reducing waste in

their processes.
Lean Six Sigma provides the concepts, methods and tools for changing (Gibbons and
processes hence it acts as an effective leadership development tool in Burgess, 2010)
that prepares leaders for their role, leading change.
Lean Six Sigma focuses on operational excellence for continually (Habidin and
seeking better improvement in customer satisfaction, saving in quality Mohd Yusof,
cost, process speed and in turn against competitive advantage. 2013)
Lean Six Sigma is a philosophy comprising a number of organizational (Hilton and
factors that are critical to the successful deployment in which the senior Sohal, 2012)
Six Sigma facilitators adopt the Six Sigma methodology referred to as
define-measure-analyse-improve-control (DMAIC) phases and within
each phase various statistical and lean tools are selected as appropriate.
A systematic approach to improvement to improve performance as (Nicoletti and
measured by quality, cost, delivery and customer satisfaction. Vergata, 2013)
LSS is the latest managerial practice which helps in creating value by (Kumar and
eliminating waste form the process, removing the causes of defect in the Antony, 2008)
product.
Lean Six Sigma is a well-structured methodology that aims to eliminate (Ray and John,
waste or non-value-adding activities and focuses on the reduction of 2011)
variation in critical processes to achieve bottom-line benefits or
customer satisfaction.
Lean Six Sigma is highly esteemed for formulating quick-results (Roth and
improvement strategies that translate to tangible corporate-wide Franchetti,
economic returns. 2010)
Lean Six Sigma can be described as a methodology that focuses on the (Salah et al.,
elimination of waste and variation, following the DMAIC structure, to 2010)
achieve customer satisfaction and better financial results for the business
with regards to quality, delivery and cost.
Lean Six Sigma is a business strategy and methodology that increases (Snee, 2010)
process performance resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction and
improved bottom-line results.
Lean Six Sigma is a quality improvement technique that enables to (Thomas and
achieve the benefits of waste reduction and responsive manufacturing Barton, 2011)
offered by Lean with developing robust, error free and fault tolerant
production offered by Six Sigma.
 Table II. Distribution of article based on journals

Journal Total Publisher

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma 39 Emerald Fulltext
International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage 20 Inderscience
The TQM Journal (TQM Magazine) 14 Emerald Fulltext
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 11 Emerald Fulltext
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 11 Emerald Fulltext
Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 10 Taylor & Francis
International Journal of Production Research 8 Taylor & Francis
International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management 6 Inderscience
The Asian Journal on Quality 4 Emerald Fulltext
Production Planning & Control 4 Taylor & Francis
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Journal of Chemical Health and Safety 4 Science Direct

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 3 Emerald Fulltext
Leadership in Health Services 3 Emerald Fulltext
Journal for Healthcare Quality 3 Wiley Publication
Industrial Management & Data Systems 2 Emerald Fulltext
Benchmarking: An International Journal 2 Emerald Fulltext
International Journal of Services and Operations Management 2 Inderscience
Journal of the American College of Radiology 2 Science Direct
Quality and Reliability Engineering International 2 Wiley Publication
Journal of Advances in Management Research 1 Emerald Fulltext
Journal of Business Strategy 1 Emerald Fulltext
International Journal of Quality & Service Sciences 1 Emerald Fulltext
Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology 1 Emerald Fulltext
Journal of Facilities Management 1 Emerald Fulltext
American Journal of Business 1 Emerald Fulltext
Business Process Management Journal 1 Emerald Fulltext
Journal of Corporate Real Estate 1 Emerald Fulltext
Strategy & Leadership 1 Emerald Fulltext
European Journal of Industrial Engineering 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Technology Management 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Agile Systems and Management 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Knowledge and Learning 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Transitions and Innovation systems 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Manufacturing Research 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking 1 Inderscience
International Journal of Information Systems and Change Management 1 Inderscience
Public Money & Management 1 Taylor & Francis
Quality Engineering 1 Taylor & Francis
Journal of Enterprise Transformation 1 Taylor & Francis
Journal of Decision Systems 1 Taylor & Francis
The Journal of The Textile Institute 1 Taylor & Francis
 International Journal of Construction Management 1 Taylor & Francis
Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal 1 Science Direct
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 1 Science Direct
The Surgeon 1 Science Direct
International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 1 Science Direct
Operations Management Research 1 Springerlink
Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management 1 Springerlink
Quality & Quantity 1 Springerlink
International Journal of Automotive Technology 1 Springerlink
OPSEARCH 1 Springerlink
Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering 1 Springerlink
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 1 Springerlink
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The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 1 Springerlink

R&D Management 1 Wiley Publication
Decision Sciences Journal Of Innovative Education 1 Wiley Publication
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 1 Wiley Publication
TOTAL 189
 Table III. Distribution of article based on countries

Name Number of Articles

United States of America 51
United Kingdom 38
India 24
Sweden 11
Netherland 9
Malaysia 8
Italy 7
Australia 5
Canada 5
China 5
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Brazil 4
Iran 3
Taiwan 3
Greece 2
Thailand 2
Egypt 1
Ireland 1
Jordan 1
Kenya 1
Korea 1
Libya 1
New Zealand 1
Portugal 1
Spain 1
Turkey 1
UAE 1
Germany 1
 Table IV. Distribution of article based on focused industries

Name of Industry Frequency

Automobile Industry 14
Electronics Industry 12
Hospital Industry 12
Logistics and Supply Chain 10
IT and Software Industry 8
Education Industry 6
Insurance and Finance Industry 6
Process Industry 5
Construction Industry 4
Pharmaceutical Industry 4
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Aerospace Industry 4
Textile Industry 4
Marine Industry 3
Food Industry 3
KPO/BPO Industry 3
Accounting 3
Foundry Industry 3
Publishing and Printing Industry 2
Tyre Manufacturing 2
Air Purifiers 1
Furnishing Operations 1
Rotary Switches Industry 1
Welding Industry 1
Banking Industry 1
Metal Working 1
Semiconductor 1
Power Generation 1
 Table V. Enablers for successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma

Enablers of LSS Literature Support

(Andersson et al., 2014;Besseris, 2014;
Chakravorty and Shah, 2012; Chiarini, 2011;
Management commitment
Hilton and Sohal, 2012; Manville et al., 2012;
Sarkar et al., 2013b)
(Chakravorty and Shah, 2012; J. Thomas et al.,
2014; Koning et al., 2008; Kumar and Antony,
Organizational culture
2008; Manville et al., 2012; Waterbury and
Bonilla, 2008)
(Al-Aomar, 2012; Assarlind et al., 2013; Gupta
Linking LSS to business strategy
et al., 2012; Habidin and Mohd Yusof, 2013)
(Al-Aomar, 2012; Andersson et al., 2014;
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Arnheiter and Maleyeff, 2005; Assarlind et al.,

Leadership styles
2013; Habidin and Mohd Yusof, 2013; Hilton
and Sohal, 2012; Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010)
(Andersson et al., 2014; Arumugam et al.,
Effective Communication
2012; Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010)
(Laureani and Antony, 2012a; Manville et al.,
Linking LSS to customers
2012)
Program Awareness (Laureani and Antony, 2012a)
(Hoerl and Gardner, 2010; Jeyaraman and Teo,
Selection of LSS staff
2010; Laureani and Antony, 2012a)
(Koning et al., 2008; Manville et al., 2012;
Data based approach
Waterbury and Bonilla, 2008)
(J. Thomas et al., 2014; Jayaraman et al., 2012;
LSS projects selection/prioritization
Laureani and Antony, 2012a)
(Assarlind et al., 2013; Chakravorty and Shah,
LSS projects tracking and review
2012)
(Hoerl and Gardner, 2010; Jeyaraman and Teo,
Resources for LSS staff
2010; Laureani and Antony, 2012a)
(Clegg et al., 2010; Duarte, 2012; Habidin and
LSS training
Mohd Yusof, 2013)
(Habidin and Mohd Yusof, 2013; Hilton and
Sohal, 2012; Laureani and Antony, 2012a;
LSS tools and techniques
Maleyeff, 2012; Manville et al., 2012; Näslund,
2013)
(Corbett, 2011; Manville et al., 2012; Näslund,
Project management skills
2013)
(Jayaraman et al., 2012; Jeyaraman and Teo,
LSS financial accountability 2010; Laureani and Antony, 2012a; Maleyeff,
2012; Näslund, 2013)
Organization infrastructure (Andersson et al., 2014; Assarlind et al., 2013)
(Assarlind et al., 2013; Habidin and Mohd
Extending LSS to supply chain
Yusof, 2013; Hilton and Sohal, 2012)
(Chakravorty and Shah, 2012; Habidin and
Linking LSS to HR rewards Mohd Yusof, 2013; Manville et al., 2012;
Näslund, 2013)
 (Andersson et al., 2014; Chakravorty and Shah,
Quality Information and Analysis 2012; Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010; Laureani and
Antony, 2012a)
Supplier Relationship (Manville et al., 2012; Näslund, 2013)
(Jayaraman et al., 2012; Jeyaraman and Teo,
Technical Expertise 2010; Manville et al., 2012; Prasanna and
Vinodh, 2013)
(Assarlind et al., 2013; Jayaraman et al., 2012;
Trustworthy Teamwork
Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010)
Employee Empowerment and (Assarlind et al., 2013; Manville et al., 2012;
Motivation Näslund, 2013)
(Habidin and Mohd Yusof, 2013; Hilton and
Sohal, 2012; Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010;
Employee Involvement
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Laureani and Antony, 2012a; Manville et al.,

2012)
(Jeyaraman and Teo, 2010; Manville et al.,
Government Policies
2012)

Table VI. Active authors in Lean Six Sigma research

Author Articles
Jiju Antony 20
Maneesh Kumar 7
Arup Ranjan Mukhopadhyay 6
S.R. Devadasan 6
Andrea Chiarini 5
Ashok Sarkar 5
Ronald J. M. M. Does 5
Sadhan Kumar Ghosh 5
Alessandro Laureani 4
Cynthia M. Renner 4
Henk de Koning 4
Jens J. Dahlgaard 4
Matthew Franchetti 4
Michael E. Cournoyer 4
R. Murugesh 4
S. Karthi 4