Identifying the key organizational factors for introducing Lean Six Sigma in distribution centres : An exploratory case study

Abstract: Purpose: Lean Six Sigma has been playing a vital role in numerous organizations to enhance the productivity of the Supply Chain by reducing “waste and variance”. During Lean Six Sigma implementation, a change is introduced in the organization, the purpose is to understand the organizational change in this context in order not to end up failing in the implementation of this technique. Different factors affect organizational change, such as communication, successful implementation of ideas, training, empowerment of employees, the impact of unions, and support from the management. However, out of these factors, from the workforce perspective, which ones act as facilitators, and which ones act as barriers? Method: The approach that has been followed is the abductive approach as an interchange between theory and method, by combining deduction and induction. In the abductive research method, the research process starts with surprising facts or puzzling situations, and the research process is dedicated to their explanation. Findings: The study has identified if communication, successful implementation of ideas, developmental training of the workforce, empowerment of employees, management support, and employee unions act either as a barrier or a facilitator during the implementations of lean six sigma methods. Implications: By studying how these factors are acting (barriers or facilitators) there would be a certain help for the organizations in understanding the perspective of the employees in adapting to the change. This will ease the process, which would, in turn, help the organizations in an efficient implementation of Lean Six Sigma methods. Furthermore, it was found that the inclusion of Employees in decision making from an early stage will lead to efficiency in the implementation. Another implication that was found is that informal communication is as important as formal during the implementation of lean six sigma methods. Limitations: This study is based on one company.