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There is an urgent need for teacher preparation programs to equip teachers to teach in innovative and transformative ways, meeting the needs of diverse learners. Coaching is an instrumental tool for supporting change and development, especially in contexts with decentralized teacher preparation guidelines.

This multicase study examines cross-institutional programmatic innovations for coaching teacher candidates (TCs) and centering equity using improvement science and equity coaching. The authors explore the networked improvement community’s (NIC’s) examination of problems of practice through plan–do–study–act cycles in three coaching contexts within and across seven institutions.

Qualitative methods revealed that adapting coaching protocols can center equity and build equity-focused practices. This work highlights revisions to coaching within and across teacher preparation programs (TPPs), which the authors hope inspires extending equity-centered coaching and improvement science to new contexts. This cross-case analysis revealed program innovations for coaches, digital technologies and alignment.

This study addresses ongoing challenges faced by TPPs in the United States, including TCs' understandings of equity in teaching and decentralized teacher preparation that results in varied and incongruent understandings about quality teaching. This study builds on previous scholarship that examines shifts in coaching practices by disrupting silos in TPPs as examined innovations.

The paper offers a unique view of cross-institutional collaboration in coaching to improve transformative teaching experiences in teacher preparation field experiences.

The various quality improvement (QI) frameworks and maturity models described in the health services literature consider some aspects of QI while excluding others. This paper aims to present a concerted attempt to create a quality improvement maturity model (QIMM) derived from holistic principles underlying the successful implementation of system-wide QI programmes.

A hybrid methodology involving a systematic review (Phase 1) of over 270 empirical research articles and books developed the basis for the proposed QIMM. It was followed by expert interviews to refine the core constructs and ground the proposed QIMM in contemporary QI practice (Phase 2). The experts included academics in two academic conferences and 59 QI managers from the New Zealand health-care system. In-depth interviews were conducted with QI managers to ascertain their views on the QIMM and its applicability in their respective health organisations (HOs).

The QIMM consists of four dimensions of organisational maturity, namely, strategic, process, supply chain and philosophical maturity. These dimensions progress through six stages, namely, identification, ad-hoc, formal, process-driven, optimised enterprise and finally a way of life. The application of the QIMM by the QI managers revealed that the scope of QI and the breadth of the principles adopted by the QI managers and their HOs in New Zealand is limited.

The importance of QI in health systems cannot be overstated. The proposed QIMM can help HOs diagnose their current state and provide a guide to action achieving a desirable state of quality improvement maturity. This QIMM avoids reliance on any single QI methodology. HOs – using the QIMM – should retain full control over the process of selecting any QI methodology or may even cherry-pick principles to suit their needs as long as they understand and appreciate the true nature and scope of quality overstated. The proposed QIMM can help HOs diagnose their current state and provide a guide to action achieving a desirable state of quality improvement maturity. This QIMM avoids reliance on any single QI methodology. HOs – using the QIMM – should retain full control over the process of selecting any QI methodology or may even cherry-pick principles to suit their needs as long as they understand and appreciate the true nature and scope of quality.

This paper contributes new knowledge by presenting a maturity model with an integrated set of quality principles for HOs and their extended supply networks.

Post analysis of the case study, students will be able to comprehend the significance of Six Sigma and its integration with the human resources (HR) processes in the service sector. Post case study discussion, students will be able to: examine the HR processes of ISOQAR (India) and deduce the reasons to seek change in their approach; validate the importance of integrating Six Sigma in the human resource management (HRM) framework of an organization; and categorize the difficulties encountered while implementing Six Sigma in the service sector compared to those in a manufacturing environment.

In September 2006, four senior employees of an audit firm made the decision to start their own venture. They identified a gap in a sizable and fiercely competitive auditing industry. Nishid Shivdas, Suhas Risbood, Shiv Prakash Bhutra and Burgis Bulsara, co-founders of ISOQAR (India), had distinct leadership experiences that drove the organization to concentrate on developing a broad range of services, with a focus on management consulting, training and audit services. They created a distinctive positioning in market in a short span and reported growth by building strong customer relationships, providing high-quality service and personalized attention to individual clients and meeting deadlines. The wide gamut of services included areas such as the payment card industry, data security standard, information security management systems, business continuity management, service management systems, food safety management system, Responsible Jewellery Council certification services, retail audit services and risk assessment services. They concentrated on collaborating with UKAS for their accreditations. The focus on offering great services with faster response times, a varied array of services and the expertise of its founders let them to price their services at par with some of its competitors, and even higher in few cases. It did not have a large support staff; however, the ones they had were multifaceted, both full time and contractual. Being in the service industry, the founders realized that to maintain growth as the firm aims to grow geographically, their heavy engagement in the existing operations would have to give way to more standardized processes in general and HR in particular. Ensuring the integration of the current workforce to the Six Sigma framework presented challenges.

This case is designed for second-year students enrolled in Master of Business Administration/Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA/PGDM) or equivalent postgraduate-level programmes, in the domain of “Human Resource.” It will enable the students to engage with the significance of “Six Sigma” being used in various processes in the HRM framework. It can also be taught to students in the domain of Marketing because of its relevance to the service sector.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

The aim of this paper is to explore the implementation of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 approach in meat industry for environmental performance and examine a proposed conceptual framework by capturing insights from lean and ISO 14001 experts in New Zealand (NZ).

Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with a group of consultants (lean and ISO 14001) to evaluate the suitability of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 approach in the meat industry for environmental performance. A conceptual framework from literature has guided this study leading to its further development based on the empirical evidence collected.

Findings have illustrated a synergistic positive impact of lean and ISO 14001 implementation as an integrated approach for sustaining environmental performance in the meat industry. A joint implementation program provides more clarity in aligning ISO 14001 operational procedures with lean tools and techniques for an enhanced environmental performance outcome.

The application of an integrated lean and ISO 14001 framework is proposed in this paper, which can help industry practitioners and academia in developing a joint implementation strategy and conducting future research.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to assess the effective implementation of lean and ISO 14001 as an integrated approach in the NZ meat industry.

Although training is essential to continuous improvement, scant literature examines post-training facilitators for continuous improvement. The study aims to explore the relationship between training and continuous improvement, the mediating role of self-efficacy and the moderate role of training transfer climate.

This study utilizes the questionnaire survey of 455 Vietnamese employees to test the link between continuous improvement training and continuous improvement, the moderate role of the training transfer climate and the mediating role of self–efficacy.

Research results reveal that training positively influences continuous improvement. Furthermore, self-efficacy fully intervenes in the link between training and continuous improvement. Finally, the training transfer climate positively moderates this link.

Although the link between training and continuous improvement is suspicious, there is scant research on post-training facilitators of continuous improvement applications. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study is one of the first to explore the moderation role of transfer climate and the mediation role of self-efficacy in the relationship between training and continuous improvement.

Supplier codes of conduct are amongst the most widely used practices in sustainable procurement programs. While there are limitations and risks involved in using supplier codes of conduct (including the risk of greenwashing, a weak link to action and the inability of supplier to comply), there is only a modest amount of research on the topic, other than content analysis. We aim to contribute to research both lessons learned, over a two-decade period, about the implementation and use of a supplier code of conduct from a case study, as well as, to suggest further research that can support the industry and enrich insight into the effective adoption of supply codes of conduct.

Thanks to the support of our co-author from Bayer we are able to share lessons learned by the global procurement team of Bayer and use these as a basis for suggesting questions for further research. The approach of this paper centres on the adoption and implementation of the supplier code of conduct in an effort to complement existing research on supplier codes of conduct that is largely focused on code of conduct content, less on the implementation of codes of conduct. The collaboration with our co-author from Bayer enables direct access to experiences and managerial perspectives. By considering the two-decade journey towards more sustainable supply chain management at Bayer, we are able to achieve a longitudinal perspective on adoption and implementation aspects.

Bayer ensures personal and community engagement in its sustainable procurement program in order to drive action and improve decision making along the value chains. The company regularly updates its code of conduct to stay aligned with its maturity and complements the code of conduct with a continuous improvement focus, supported by both generic and industry-specific consortia. The company has not yet been able to establish direct visibility into the conduct of tier 2 and up suppliers.

This paper helps close a gap in the literature and provides input into industry efforts in one of the most widely used practices in sustainable procurement. We hope that the research questions that we developed based on the first 20+ years of Bayer’s learning journey towards sustainable procurement will inspire research that can impact industry efforts towards creating a more sustainable future.

Improving the quality of madrasah in the digital era is a must. This can be committed by strengthening aspects of madrasah governance through implementing management strategies that refer more to the integration of technology and Islamic education. This research focuses on madrasah management strategies through the Madrasah Reform program.

This research uses a case study research design that focuses attention on strategic aspects of developing madrasah through the Madrasah Reform program. The informants in this study were 18 people consisting of three madrasah heads from Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI), Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs) and Madrasah Aliyah (MA), five teachers and 10 students. Data collection in this study used in-depth and semi-structured interviews with madrasah heads and teachers regarding the implementation of the Madrasah Reform program and also regarding madrasah management strategies at three levels of education.

This study shows that the strategy of managing madrasahs through the Madrasah Reform program in three madrasahs in Indonesia has had a positive impact on improving the quality of madrasahs, although there are still aspects that require development.

This research implies that the quality of madrasah in the digital era is determined by management strategies based on the use of educational technology.

This program has implications for the development of the quality of human resources in educational institutions, especially in relation to digital literacy among students and teaching staff. The use of digital technology, which is one of the main projections of the Madrasah Reform program, is continuously able to change the face of education in a more modern direction, both in terms of governance and the learning process, so that the output of this program, especially what occurs at Madrasah Madani, is significant development in the aspects of digital literacy and technology. Which is the main criterion in facing a digital-based educational context.

For a policy aspect, the success of the Madrasah Reform program at Madrasah Madani can be used as a blueprint or model for implementing this program in Islamic educational institutions, specifically Madrasas in South Sulawesi and in general at Madrasas throughout Indonesia.

This proves that Madrasah Reform program is a program that can be implemented in madrasahs to improve the quality of madrasah management in the digital era while continuing to carry out simultaneous improvements and evaluations of the program.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate an in-service training (INSET) programme for improving the quality of English language teaching in Zanzibar’s secondary schools. Specifically, there were two objectives: i) to explore the teachers’ views on the zanzibar improvement students prospect (ZISP) training programme in improving the English language teaching techniques in secondary schools in Zanzibar and ii) to find out the organisational support provided to teachers when they are using the skills and knowledge acquired from the ZISP teaching programme.

The study used a qualitative research approach, particularly the case-study design. It used interviews to collect qualitative data that was analysed thematically. Twelve English language teachers from seven secondary schools who had benefited from the ZISP teaching programme and five headmasters from five schools participated in the study as respondents.

The study found that the ZISP training programme equipped teachers with pedagogical skills useful for preparing lessons and materials, using technology in teaching and providing timely feedback to students. In terms of support, teachers receive materials and motivation from various organisations.

This study focused on ordinary teachers and headmasters. Nevertheless, other studies could use classroom observation, focus group discussion, document review or survey questionnaire to evaluate the impact of the programme and look at how the skills obtained are used in the teaching and learning of the English language. In addition, this study involved 12 participants who were teachers and headmasters, respectively. Other studies could include students, their families, employers and non-teaching staff. This would provide a holistic view of how the stakeholders perceive the INSET programme.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the benefits and organisational support teachers receive after participating in the INSET training programme in Zanzibar. Thus, teachers need regular exposure to INSET so that they improve the quality of their teaching.

The application of lean and quality improvement methods is very common in process improvement projects at organisational levels. The purpose of this research is to assess the adoption of Lean Six Sigma™ approaches for addressing a complex process-related issue in the coal industry.

The sticky coal problem was investigated from the perspective of process-related issues. Issues were addressed using a blended Lean value stream of supply chain interfaces and waste minimisation through the Six Sigma™ DMAIC problem-solving approach, taking into consideration cross-organisational processes.

It was found that the tendency to “solve the problem” at the receiving location without communication to the upstream was, and is still, a common practice that led to the main problem of downstream issues. The application of DMAIC Six Sigma™ helped to address the broader problem. The overall operations were improved significantly, showing the reduction of sticky coal/wagon hang-up in the downstream coal handling terminal.

The Lean Six Sigma approaches were adopted using DMAIC across cross-organisational supply chain processes. However, blending Lean and Six Sigma methods needs to be empirically tested across other sectors.

The proposed methodology, using a framework of Lean Six Sigma approaches, could be used to guide practitioners in addressing similar complex and recurring issues in the manufacturing sector.

This research introduces a novel approach to process analysis, selection and contextualised improvement using a combination of Lean Six Sigma™ tools, techniques and methodologies sustained within a supply chain with certified ISO 9001 quality management systems.

India liberalized its economy in 1991, which resulted in intense global competition, quality-conscious and demanding customers. Additionally, significant technological advancements lead to enhancements in products and processes. These forced Indian organizations to adopt innovative business strategies in the past 30 years. Meanwhile, the Lean Six Sigma methodology has significantly grown with vast applicability during the past 30 years. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop the learning on Lean Six Sigma methodology in the Indian context through investigation of literature.

A three-stage systematic literature review approach was adopted to investigate the literature during the present study. In total, 187 articles published in 62 journals/conference proceedings from 2005 to 2022 (18 years) were shortlisted. The first part of the article summarizes the significant milestones towards the quality journey in the Indian context, along with the evolution of the Lean Six Sigma methodology. The second part examines the shortlisted papers on Lean Six Sigma frameworks, their applicability in industrial sectors, performance metrics, outcomes realized, publication trends, authorship patterns and leading researchers from the Indian perspective.

Lean Six Sigma has emerged as a highly acclaimed and structured business improvement strategy worldwide. The Indian economy has seen remarkable growth in the past decade and is one of the fastest-growing economies in the 21st century. Lean Six Sigma implementation in India has significantly increased from 2014 onward. The study revealed that researchers have proposed several different frameworks for Lean Six Sigma implementation, the majority of which are conceptual. Furthermore, the balanced applicability of Lean Six Sigma in manufacturing and service sectors was observed with the highest implementation in the health-care sector. Additionally, the widely adopted tools, techniques along with performance metrics exploring case studies were reported along with a summary of eminent and leading researchers in the Indian context.

This study is confined to reviewed papers as per the research criteria with a significant focus on the Indian context and might have missed some papers due to the adopted papers selection strategy.

The present study is one of the initial attempts to investigate the literature published on Lean Six Sigma in the Indian context, including perspective on the Indian quality movement. Therefore, the present study will provide an understanding of Lean Six Sigma methodology in the Indian context to graduating students in engineering and management and entry-level executives. The analysis and findings on Lean Six Sigma frameworks, research approach, publications details, etc., will be helpful to potential research scholars and academia. Additionally, analysis of case studies on Lean Six Sigma implementation by Indian industries will assist the managers and professionals in decision making.