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Article
Publication date: 9 July 2018

Prashant Gangidi

The purpose of this paper is to go a step further from the traditional 5 Whys technique by adding three more legs during the root cause analysis stage – occurrence, human and…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to go a step further from the traditional 5 Whys technique by adding three more legs during the root cause analysis stage – occurrence, human and systemic issues that contribute toward the problem, hence the term 3 × 5 Whys. Performing individual 5 Whys for these three components enables to identify deeper root cause(s) that may spawn across multiple groups within an organization.

Design/methodology/approach

Cause-and-effect analysis used during traditional root cause investigations within an 8D or Lean six sigma project is used as a theoretical foundation. Examples from different industries are presented showing the 3 × 5 Why’s framework and advantages it brings to the organization along with identifying shortcomings and suggestions to make it more effective.

Findings

If properly used this integrated methodology will reveal higher order systemic causes (e.g. policies or management decisions) stemming from lower lever symptoms (e.g. defective parts, procedural errors). Effective execution of this methodology can provide tremendous results in defect reduction, yield improvement, operational efficiency improvement and logistics management type of projects. Resolving higher level sources of problems allows an organization to evolve itself and maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Research limitations/implications

Adopting this quality management technique in start-up companies entails some challenges and other implications have been discussed with SWOT analysis.

Practical implications

Examples from various sectors using 3 × 5 Why approach have been presented that show that this methodology provides deeper insight into root causes which could be affecting multiple groups in an organization. Using this technique effectively is found to be beneficial to resolve issues in operations management, logistics, supply chain, purchasing, warehouse operations, manufacturing, etc.

Social implications

This methodology has a human component which often results in some sort of resistance as not all working professionals think alike when it comes to accountability and ownership of issues. This may hinder root cause analysis and subsequent corrective actions implementation.

Originality/value

This study is unique in its in-depth real-world case studies demonstrating the need for taking a deep dive approach to root cause analysis by understanding specific, system and human components responsible for causing the failure mode.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2021

Surya Prakash, Satish Kumar, Gunjan Soni, Raj V. Mahto and Nitesh Pandey

This study aims to present an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) since its inception.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to present an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) since its inception.

Design/methodology/approach

The study analyses articles published between 2010 and 2019 in IJLSS using the bibliometric technique. The results of data analysis identify the most prolific authors, their affiliation, citation trends and highly cited articles from the journal. Further, a graphical analysis involving bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis of the corpus enriches the investigation.

Findings

The results of the bibliometric analysis suggest that the number of IJLSS’s publications and citations grew markedly over time (from 4 citations in 2010 to nearly 1,324 in 2019). The organizational diversity and collaboration among authors publishing in IJLSS are trending upwards. Case study and focus group are the two most common research designs in publications. In the study, three major themes emerged: implementation of lean on business, integration of lean and six sigma and the effects of lean six sigma on businesses.

Practical implications

The study finding informs and educates practitioners and scholars about various qualitative research tools, applications and methods of implementing lean six sigma tools in different industry sectors.

Originality/value

The study uses bibliometric analysis to propose a novel categorization of research published in IJLSS and to report on the utilization of various lean tools in the journal. The study provides guidance for new future research besides offering a thorough introspection of the lean and six sigma domains.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 July 2020

Marcello Braglia, Leonardo Marrazzini, Luca Padellini and Rinaldo Rinaldi

The purpose of this paper is to present a structured framework whose objectives are to identify, analyse and eliminate fashion-luxury supply chains inefficiencies.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a structured framework whose objectives are to identify, analyse and eliminate fashion-luxury supply chains inefficiencies.

Design/methodology/approach

A Lean Manufacturing tool, the 5-Whys Analysis, has been used to find out the root causes associated with the problem identified from a data analysis of production orders of a fashion-luxury company. A case study, which explains the methodology and illustrates the capability of the tool, is provided.

Findings

This tool can be considered a suitable instrument to identify the causal factors of inefficiencies within luxury supply chains, suggesting potential countermeasures able to eliminate the problems previously highlighted. In addition, enabling technologies that deal with Industry 4.0 are associated with the root causes to enable further improvement of the supply chain.

Practical implications

The effectiveness and practicality of the tool are illustrated using an industrial case study concerning an international Italian signature in the world of fashion-luxury footwear sector.

Originality/value

This framework provides practitioners with an operative tool useful to highlight where the major inefficiencies of fashion-luxury supply chains take place and, at the same time, individuates both the root causes of inefficiencies and the corresponding corrective actions, even considering Industry 4.0 enabling technologies.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 November 2021

Aqeel Ahmed, Sanjay Mathrani and Nihal Jayamaha

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…

Abstract

Purpose

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).

Design/methodology/approach

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

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.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2021

Zahid Siddique

Islamic banking was developed to serve two objectives: to replace interest-based loan system with profit and loss sharing investment modes and to promote equity in resource…

Abstract

Purpose

Islamic banking was developed to serve two objectives: to replace interest-based loan system with profit and loss sharing investment modes and to promote equity in resource allocation. The first objective is called procedural whereas the second one is termed consequential. Scholars have been debating about the success of Islamic banking in achieving these objectives. This paper aims to develop an index for measuring the extent of convergence between theory and practice of Islamic banking.

Design/methodology/approach

For measuring the procedural and consequential convergence between objectives and practice of Islamic banking, the paper derives a set of indicators from the celebrated theory of Islamic banking and then develops the methodology of ranking all banks in terms of those indicators.

Findings

The paper provides ranking of Islamic banks in Pakistan in the light of this index. The results indicate that none of the Islamic banks in Pakistan has been doing good enough to achieve the convergence, instead they are moving in the opposite direction over time.

Practical implications

Using the methodology developed in this paper, universal ranking of Islamic banks may be issued every year.

Originality/value

Scholars have proposed some indices for measuring the performance of Islamic banking. There are two basic problems with these proposed measures: they do not directly compare the performance of Islamic banking against its stated objectives and they naively use an additive form of index without explaining the reason for this choice, i.e. as to what are the desirable characteristics which their preferred mathematical form of index serves. The index proposed in this paper attempts to overcome these shortcomings.

Details

International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8394

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 August 2021

Tze-Yin Lim, Bibiana Lim, Choi-Meng Leong and Andrea Le

This study explores the disposition behaviour of late adolescents towards unfinished food. Specifically, this paper identifies and discusses the manner (the how's) and the reasons…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores the disposition behaviour of late adolescents towards unfinished food. Specifically, this paper identifies and discusses the manner (the how's) and the reasons (the why's) of food disposition.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted a taxonomy of decisions pertaining to consumer disposition processes. A generic qualitative approach based on personal interviews and focus group discussions was used to collect data from late adolescents. Data was subsequently analysed using content and thematic analyses.

Findings

The findings revealed five manners (the how's) of food disposition among late adolescents, namely keeping it for original purposes, leaving it for other people to dispose of, converting it for another purpose, trying to finish it and getting rid of it permanently. Additionally, there are three reasons (the why's) for food disposition among late adolescents, namely food-related factors, socio-cultural factors and personal factors.

Originality/value

Food waste has continually impacted food production, supply and consumption in a profound way. Responsible food disposition behaviour among individuals has become essential to improve food sustainability. Proper food disposition requires a behavioural change among individuals, including late adolescents, who are growing into adulthood. This study contributes to the body of knowledge of food systems by identifying how and why food is disposed of among late adolescents during their formative years. The findings can be utilised to raise awareness of food disposition behaviour and design food responsibility initiatives.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 123 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 June 2017

San-Yih Hwang, Chih-Ping Wei, Chien-Hsiang Lee and Yu-Siang Chen

The information needs of the users of literature database systems often come from the task at hand, which is short term and can be represented as a small number of articles…

Abstract

Purpose

The information needs of the users of literature database systems often come from the task at hand, which is short term and can be represented as a small number of articles. Previous works on recommending articles to satisfy users’ short-term interests have utilized article content, usage logs, and more recently, coauthorship networks. The usefulness of coauthorship has been demonstrated by some research works, which, however, tend to adopt a simple coauthorship network that records only the strength of coauthorships. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the effectiveness of coauthorship-based recommendation by incorporating scholars’ collaboration topics into the coauthorship network.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA)-coauthorship-network-based method that integrates topic information into the links of the coauthorship networks using LDA, and a task-focused technique is developed for recommending literature articles.

Findings

The experimental results using information systems journal articles show that the proposed method is more effective than the previous coauthorship network-based method over all scenarios examined. The authors further develop a hybrid method that combines the results of content-based and LDA-coauthorship-network-based recommendations. The resulting hybrid method achieves greater or comparable recommendation effectiveness under all scenarios when compared to the content-based method.

Originality/value

This paper makes two contributions. The authors first show that topic model is indeed useful and can be incorporated into the construction of coaurthoship-network to improve literature recommendation. The authors subsequently demonstrate that coauthorship-network-based and content-based recommendations are complementary in their hit article rank distributions, and then devise a hybrid recommendation method to further improve the effectiveness of literature recommendation.

Details

Online Information Review, vol. 41 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1468-4527

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2019

Lisa M. Walters, Mark A. Nickerson and Linda A. Hall

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a subject accounting firm’s existing workflow processes for preparing individual tax returns with an emphasis on identifying…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a subject accounting firm’s existing workflow processes for preparing individual tax returns with an emphasis on identifying predominant areas of waste.

Design/methodology/approach

Specific Quality and Lean tools were applied to qualitative data secured from on-site visits to the firm. Quantitative data analysis of productivity measures was performed to identify additional sources of muda (waste) as well as validate the findings from the qualitative analysis. Corrective actions were recommended as applicable.

Findings

This case study of the subject firm identifies predominant wastes in the individual tax return process as defects and waiting. The authors propose that these categories of waste (waiting and defect) may indeed be the predominant forms of waste in service organizations and require further research.

Research limitations/implications

At least two limitations exist. The first was the inability to capture exact cycle times for each of the process steps. A second limitation was that the data on staff performance were gathered via interview rather than through direct observation.

Practical implications

Individual income tax return preparation (Form 1040) provides a significant revenue stream for many accounting firms. Managing the processes involved in an effective and timely fashion is critical to profitability. Additionally, other service industries, including financial and accounting firms of similar size or function, may find these areas of waste relevant and adopt similar strategies for eliminating or reducing them in service-processes.

Originality/value

Negligible literature exists concerning wastes in accounting firms. However, accounting firms in the USA earn an average of more than 50 percent of their total fees from tax services, including income tax return preparation.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2023

Chris Wagner and Andrew Delios

Unlike the traditional growth model of emerging markets after economic liberalization, India’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) surged paralleling its strong economic growth…

Abstract

Purpose

Unlike the traditional growth model of emerging markets after economic liberalization, India’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) surged paralleling its strong economic growth in the 2000s, despite the failure to establish a strong secondary sector. This creates an opportunity to deepen the conceptual and contextual understanding of the pivotal mechanisms that impel foreign multinational enterprises to invest into India and provides a natural setting to better understand the nature of its institutional, political and economic environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop a theory contextualized to Indian inward FDI patterns for the 2000–2017 period. The theoretical framework expands upon received investment motives, with explicit consideration given to the idiosyncrasies of developments in India’s recent macro and socioeconomic environment. The authors test the hypotheses using panel data from 134 countries that invested in India, using a Hausman–Taylor estimation.

Findings

The authors find that India’s transition toward a knowledge economy attracts asset augmenting rather than asset exploiting FDI. Investors appear to target long-term investments by gaining access to India’s digital capabilities, R&D, and growing talent base with a high degree of specialization within analytics, biotechnology, engineering, or pharmaceuticals. Foreign investors do not seem to be notably deterred by infrastructural challenges nor by legal and regulatory restrictions.

Originality/value

By providing a new perspective on India’s atheoretical economic development and FDI environment, this study offers a distinct point of comparison with regard to established hypotheses within the extant literature on FDI into emerging markets. Rethinking contemporary investment motive theory by introducing an adapted conceptual framework provides further opportunity to inform the understanding of firm strategies in similar environments.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 October 2023

Mary Margaret Crowdle, Olivia McDermott and Anna Trubetskaya

This study aimed to bridge the gap between the financial measurement of process improvement ideas and Lean Six Sigma measurements. It was required to increase employee engagement…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to bridge the gap between the financial measurement of process improvement ideas and Lean Six Sigma measurements. It was required to increase employee engagement in process improvement initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

Through both a practical and theoretical application of the Design for Lean Six Sigma methodology, the researcher was able to design a process and a benefit measuring methodology that was acceptable by finance and aligns with the benefits expected from the elimination of the Lean wastes.

Findings

The project found that benefit measurement methodology is not understood by most employees, which leads to a lack of engagement in working on improvements. The result of the study was a model for employees to identify and quantify these benefits. This has resulted in a model for cost-benefit analysis aligning financial costs with non-value add waste costs and cost of poor-quality costs resulting in increased process improvement ideas and activity.

Research limitations/implications

While this study was limited to one company, applying this methodology could benefit any company experiencing the same difficulties.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to try and cost the benefits of LSS projects both from an organisational and generic viewpoint.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

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