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Numerous attempts at installing six sigma (SS) have faced challenges and fallen short of the desired success. Thus, it becomes vital to identify the critical factors and characteristics that play a pivotal role in achieving successful adoption. In this study the research has aimed to highlight that a considerable number of corporate SS initiatives, around 60%, fail primarily due to the improper incorporation of essential elements and flawed assumptions.

To validate the influence of critical success factors (CSFs) on SS accomplishment, the study employed a research design combining exploratory and mixed-methods approaches. A Likert-scale questionnaire was utilized, and a simple random sampling method was employed to gather data. Out of the 2,325 potential participants approached, 573 responses were received, primarily from Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The analysis focused on 260 completed questionnaires and statistical methods including structural equation modeling (SEM), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were utilized for data analysis.

The study acknowledged four essential components of CSFs that are imperative for sustaining the success of SS: (1) Competence of belt System employees; (2) Project management skills; (3) Organizational economic capability and (4) Leadership commitment and engagement. These factors were identified as significant contributors to the maintenance of SS’s success.

The practical implications of this research imply that institutions, practitioners, and researchers can utilize the four identified factors to foster the sustainable deployment of SS initiatives. By incorporating these factors, organizations can enhance the effectiveness and longevity of their SS practices.

The investigation's originality lies in its contribution to assessing CSFs in SS deployment within the European automobile industry, utilizing a mixed-methods research design supplemented by descriptive statistics.

The effectiveness of Six Sigma programs has varied across different industries and organizations, and leadership styles have been identified as a critical success factor for the installation of Six Sigma initiatives. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the specific elements of leadership styles that are linked with the successful deployment of Six Sigma programs in the automobile industry.

To conduct the study, the researchers utilized a Likert scale questionnaire with a rating system of 1–7 and a simple random sampling method. The survey was distributed to 2,325 potential participants, with 573 responses received, mostly from Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Out of those responses, 260 completed questionnaires were received. The study utilized a mixed-methods research design and exploratory research approaches to investigate the implication of leadership style on the success of Six Sigma implementation. The research employed several analysis techniques, including Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Survey methods.

Through various SEM methods, such as EFA and CFA, the study revealed two vital leadership elements: (1) the long-term success of Six Sigma depends on leadership’s support and recognition of it as an improvement strategy and (2) leadership must commit to the organization’s suppliers to ensure quality and the provision of defect-free products.

By incorporating the identified key elements of leadership into their strategies, organizations and researchers can ensure the sustainable implementation of Six Sigma.

This research presents a distinct contribution to the evaluation of leadership style components within the European automotive sector, utilizing a mixed-methods research design and incorporating a variety of descriptive statistics.

Some Six Sigma (SS) efforts have not been entirely successful. This research paper aims to investigate the leadership style and the elements of it that positively influence the attainment of Six Sigma programs within the automobile industry.

The study used a Likert-scale questionnaire and a simple random sampling method. 2,325 potential participants were approached, resulting in 573 responses, primarily from Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden. 260 completed questionnaires were included in the analysis, utilizing an exploratory and mixed-methods research design to examine the impact of leadership style on Six Sigma success. Statistical methods such as SEM, EFA and CFA were used for data analysis.

The study utilized numerous SEM methods, including Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and identified three key elements of leadership traits: (1) leadership support for long-term improvement strategies; (2) leadership commit to the supplier's organization to maintain quality and supply defect-free products.

Due to limited participants, the outcome of the research could lead to inadequacies in data interpretation regarding the contextual predispostions, and the research could develop weaknesses in the form of cross-sectional instead of longitudinal data and design.

The practical implications of this study suggest that institutions, practitioners and researchers can incorporate these two identified factors into leadership traits to promote the sustainable implementation of Six Sigma (SS) initiatives.

This study makes an original contribution to the assessment of leadership style and its elements in the European automobile industry, utilizing a mixed-methods research design along with descriptive statistics to provide valuable insights.

The problems encountered when attempting to incorporate modern systems for inventory and materials management into a rapidly developing country are discussed. Specifically, the case of present‐day China is used as the focus of the study. After reviewing some historical background for the present situation, recommendations are provided for the gradual adoption of modern inventory practices in light of the limited capital and technology available for the transition.

For over a decade, total quality management has been a principle focus of business managers and academic researchers alike. The myriad prescriptions and practices, all purporting to represent this management philosophy, have been implemented with varying degrees of success. Despite the significant failure rate of TQM programs, the successes, as indicated by Baldrige Award winners, support continued interest in TQM. The search for linkages between current descriptive models and proposed prescriptive models of TQM spawned our research, which, in turn, required creation of a survey instrument. This paper describes the initial sources and development of this instrument, the rigorous sequence of testing that it has been subjected to, and its application for current and future research. The successful achievement of key survey statistics suggests that this instrument can be used for TQM data collection with confidence by researchers elsewhere who will investigate other proposed models.

This is a case study on the implementation of shared services across back-office functions between the National Library of Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland in the period 2008 to early 2013. It describes the potential benefits of a Library doing business in a less conventional way, at a time when the public sector is facing challenges of high customer expectations and tight budgets. From 2004 the concept of building shared services in the cultural sector was promoted by the Scottish Government as a means of achieving improved performance and more cost-effective service delivery. The initial four attempts to create shared services in the cultural sector failed. This study looks at the first attempt that succeeded and draws out the factors contributing to that success. Key precursors to progress included finding common ground and developing trust between parties who were initially suspicious of each other, establishing an effective governance framework, obtaining ongoing commitment from senior management, and aligning everyone’s agendas to make them compatible. By 2013 the program had delivered a common Information Systems network, as well as two parallel finance systems sitting on the same server. In March 2013 the HR teams entered a phase of living together for six months to test their integrated operations prior to formally becoming a shared service, treating both the Galleries and the Library as a single client. Building a shared service with another cultural partner has been a useful, though demanding experience. Both organizations are better off for committing to sharing.

Suggests that female funeral service practitioners (FSPs), in particular, may be exposed to a combination of classic healthcare stressors (e.g. shift work, work/family balance), unique funeral industry stressors, and stresses associated with working in non‐traditional occupations. Explores the relationships betweeen the stressors, perceived stress and two m ental health outcomes: anxiety and depression. Suggests that there needs to be both direct and indirect relationships between these. Expands the knowledge regarding the types of work and non‐work stressor that can affect mental health outcomes among women working in onn‐traditional occupations. Comments that this information should be particularly useful as women are increasingly entering historically male‐dominated fields.

Hospitals in North America consistently have employee injury rates ranking among the highest of all industries. Organizations that mandate workplace safety training and emphasize safety compliance tend to have lower injury rates and better employee safety perceptions. However, it is unclear if the work environment in different national health care systems (United States vs. Canada) is associated with different employee safety perceptions or injury rates. This study examines occupational safety and workplace satisfaction in two different countries with employees working for the same organization.

Survey data were collected from environmental services employees (n = 148) at three matched hospitals (two in Canada and one in the United States). The relationships that were examined included: (1) safety leadership and safety training with individual/unit safety perceptions; (2) supervisor and coworker support with individual job satisfaction and turnover intention; and (3) unit turnover, labor usage, and injury rates.

Hierarchical regression analysis and ANOVA found safety leadership and safety training to be positively related to individual safety perceptions, and unit safety grade and effects were similar across all hospitals. Supervisor and coworker support were found to be related to individual and organizational outcomes and significant differences were found across the hospitals. Significant differences were found in injury rates, days missed, and turnover across the hospitals.

This study offers support for occupational safety training as a viable mechanism to reduce employee injury rates and that a codified training program translates across national borders. Significant differences were found between the hospitals with respect to employee and organizational outcomes (e.g., turnover). These findings suggest that work environment differences are reflective of the immediate work group and environment, and may reflect national health care system differences.

The purpose of this paper is to explore smallholder agricultural financing in Ghana’s Northern region by identifying farmers’ preferred traditional and innovative financing methods and estimating the determinants of use of innovative financing methods.

This paper presented a list of documented traditional financing methods to farmers during in-depth interviews and employed descriptive statistics to summarize choice and amounts sourced from traditional methods. Two questions from the survey revealed a felt need for extra financing sources for credit-rationed farmers. Farmers with positive responses to either or both questions were classified as “users of innovative financing”. The authors then used a probit model to examine factors that influence decisions to use innovative financing method.

Farmers’ own savings, reinvesting past season’s profits and financing maize production with income from other commercial crops were the most popular traditional methods. The authors found complementary relations between formal and informal lending systems in the rural financial market. Smallholders also took farm and non-farm “by-day” jobs to raise income for farm investment and/or joined Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) specifically to take advantage of possible credit opportunities. These two latter methods were operationalized in this study as innovative agricultural financing. The results show that access to credit, social capital and market participation increased the likelihood of using innovative financing methods. Alternatively, farmer group membership, diversity in crop production and being a household head diminished the likelihood of innovative financing use.

The activities of VSLAs can be regulated and expanded to spread its benefits to more farmers. Also, creating avenues for dry season labour market participation in the region could enable farmers raise capital for farm investment.

This study explores existing practices and farmer innovations to agricultural financing and, by so doing, deviates from the vast literature focussing mainly on microcredit provisioning as the main model of smallholder agricultural financing in Africa.