TY - JOUR AB - Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of Lean Six Sigma elements on the Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing organizations’ business performance.Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 120 managers out of about 300 managers by means of questionnaire. After confirming normality, validity and reliability of the study tool, correlation analysis was carried out, and then multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses.Findings The results show that there is an agreement on high implementation of Lean Six Sigma variables among Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing organizations; there are strong relationships among Lean Six Sigma variables, except between non-utilized talent and transportation; there are strong relationships between Lean Six Sigma variables and business performance. All Lean Six Sigma variables have effect on business performance, except extra processing and waiting time.Research limitations/implications This study was carried out on the pharmaceutical industry in Jordan, generalizing results of one industry and/or one country to other industries and/or countries may be questionable. Extending the analyses to other industries and countries represents future research opportunities.Practical implications Implementing Lean Six Sigma variables in all Jordanian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing organizations can improve their business performance; also, it can be applied to other manufacturing industry.Social implications The aim of all organizations is to reduce waste, which leads to reserve the natural resources, which is considered as a corporate social responsibility.Originality/value Only few studies related to Lean or Six Sigma have been carried out in pharmaceutical industry in Jordan. Therefore, this study might be considered as an initiative study, which studies the effect of both Lean and Six Sigma on pharmaceutical industry in Jordan. VL - 10 IS - 1 SN - 2040-4166 DO - 10.1108/IJLSS-01-2017-0003 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLSS-01-2017-0003 AU - Alkunsol William Hanna AU - Sharabati Abdel-Aziz Ahmad AU - AlSalhi Nidal Amin AU - El-Tamimi Hamza Sultan PY - 2018 Y1 - 2018/01/01 TI - Lean Six Sigma effect on Jordanian pharmaceutical industry’s performance T2 - International Journal of Lean Six Sigma PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 23 EP - 43 Y2 - 2024/03/28 ER -