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Today’s global business environment essential requirement to an industries reduction of wastes, reduction of variations, reduction of lead time and innovative feature quality product with minimum cost. That strives to improve customer satisfaction, break through strategies to solve problems with fastest process speed. Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy and framework can help during recession or upcoming recession to improve business excellencies and companies strategies against recession. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper followed views of authors, industrial experts from oil industries regarding LSS strategy, framework, comparative key factors of Lean and Six Sigma to overcome continuously decline oil prices globally. LSS strategy will proactively work as preventive tool for insipid economical growth of oil-exporting countries.

To follow the LSS guidelines, oil-exporting countries can improve their business performance during ongoing oil price fall that may be influenced on gross domestic product of countries.

The case study may provide some help to survive ongoing crisis of continuously fallen oil price that is highly problematic for oil-exporting countries.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a continuous improvement methodology used to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Although there are several articles published, only two have analyzed the literature from a bibliometrics perspective. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the LSS literature by bibliometrics, identifying its state of the art, scientific gaps and research trends.

Articles published up to 2016 in the database Scopus were investigated to identify the most significant articles, authors, journals, institutions and countries based on citation counting as well as the most frequent keywords and subject areas on LSS. Articles published in 2014, 2015 and 2016 were analyzed to point out scientific gaps and to identify eight main research trends on LSS.

The research trends are: “LSS implementation”, “Healthcare”, “LSS tools”, “Human factors”, “Expansion of results”, “SME”, “LSS combined with other methodologies” and “Education”. The research outcomes also point out the most significant articles, authors, journals, institutions and countries in LSS literature.

This research contributes to develop the state of the art of LSS and helps professionals as well as researchers to identify which issues new studies should address.

The performance of the literature is measured based on the number of citations and not on the number of published papers, and the bibliometric analysis covers the highest number of articles so far (319 articles). Besides, the identification of the main research trends on LSS is exclusively based on the most recent studies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the application of lean construction practices in the construction industry and develop a practical and applicable framework that incorporates Six Sigma rating into the best practices of lean construction. The objective is to help the industry reduce waste and cost, increase effectiveness, and improve quality.

A generic yet practical framework of lean construction is developed using the guidelines of project lean delivery system developed by the Lean Construction Institute (LCI). Applicable lean techniques and Six Sigma rating are integrated into the developed framework. A cyclical look‐ahead planning and execution approach is used to implement the lean construction techniques. A set of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) performance indicators is defined to measure performance, set target threshold values, and guide improvement actions. A case study of the construction industry in Abu Dhabi (AD) is used to clarify the proposed approach and identify its key practical aspects.

Analysis of wastes in AD construction industry reveals 27 types of construction wastes. These wastes were categorized into the seven types of wastes. Defects (errors and corrections) are found to be the most common type of construction waste in the surveyed companies. This calls for integrating Six Sigma rating into the proposed lean construction framework. The other common types of wastes are overprocessing and delays. Lean project management is focused on assessing a set of key performance indictors (KPIs) at the end of each “look‐ahead” period. First lean practices are employed during the period and Sigma Rating is assessed at the end of the period along with other KPIs. The proposed LSS‐KPIs were able to measure progress and guide improvement.

The credibility of the research findings is dependent on the accuracy and reliability of collected data from construction companies. Implementing lean construction techniques within a look‐ahead period is not expected to achieve significant project gains in terms of quality, speed, and cost without adopting the overall lean construction framework.

The work of construction companies largely contributes to the quality and safety of public and society at large through residential and commercial buildings, transportation, and infrastructure projects. Lean construction practices and Six Sigma rating positively impact these important aspects and often result in reducing waste and costs, improving safety, and saving energy resources in construction projects.

Research significance stems from the focus on increasing the effectiveness of the construction industry. Research contributions include the development of an applicable lean construction framework that integrates lean construction practices with Six Sigma rating. This contributes to the effort of applying Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the vital field of construction. This research prescribes a systematic approach for implementing the proposed framework within a cyclical look‐ahead period and highlights the practical implications of the proposed approach. Also, the research provides an effective periodic measurement system of project effectiveness based on five LSS key performance indices.

The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of literature reviews, summarizing how Lean and Six Sigma management techniques have been implemented in acute care settings to date, and assessing their impact. To aid decision makers who wish to use these techniques by identifying the sectors of activity most often targeted, the main results of the interventions, as well as barriers and facilitators involved. To identify areas of future research.

A literature search was conducted, using eight databases. The methodological quality of the selected reviews was appraised with AMSTAR. A narrative synthesis was performed according to the guidelines proposed by Popay et al. (2006). Data were reported according to PRISMA.

The literature search identified 149 publications published from 1999 to January 2015. Seven literature reviews were included into the systematic review, upon appraisal. The overall quality of the evidence was poor to fair. The clinical settings most described were specialized health care services, including operating suites, intensive care units and emergency departments. The outcomes most often appraised related to processes and quality. The evidence suggests that Lean and Six Sigma are better adapted to settings where processes involve a linear sequence of events.

There is a need for more studies of high methodological quality to better understand the effects of these approaches as well as the factors of success and barriers to their implementation. Field studies comparing the effects of Lean and Six Sigma to those of other process redesign or quality improvement efforts would bring a significant contribution to the body of knowledge.

Lean and Six Sigma can be considered valuable process optimization approaches in acute health care settings. The success of their implementation requires significant participation of clinical personnel from the frontline as well as clinical leaders and managers. More research is needed to better understand the factors of success and the barriers to their implementation, as well as their long-term impact.

This is the first broad systematic review of reviews, synthesizing data pertaining to implementation issues and results in acute care settings, to be published. It will benefit health care managers assessing the potential of these approaches and the potential drawbacks associated with their implementation. Moreover, it identifies directions for future research.

With the growing pressure to gain optimum level of quality and speed, Lean Six Sigma (LSS) practices have drawn considerable attention as a viable alternative for process improvement. However, previous studies revealed that there is very little systematic and rigorous research to validate the claims. In this regard, this paper aims to empirically examine the effect of LSS practices on quality performance in the medical device manufacturing industry.

For this study, partial least square–based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to empirically examine the effect of LSS practices on quality performance in Malaysian medical device manufacturing industry.

The findings of this paper revealed that LSS practices have a significant and positive effect on quality performance in the medical device manufacturing industry.

This paper will serve as a valuable implication for industry practitioners in providing them with a clearer managerial direction to exploit the strength of LSS practices to achieve company’s quality goals. Moreover, this study will serve as a basis for future LSS scholars, providing them with valuable insights and directions for future research.

This paper develops a conceptual LSS framework that captures the integrated nature of two methodologies and provides empirical evidence that supports the positive influence of LSS practices on quality performance; hence, it contributes to the growing body of LSS literature in both theoretical and empirical sense.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating role of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) practices in explaining the relationship between quality management practices (QMPs) and quality performance.

Partial least square-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to empirically examine the moderating effect of LSS practices on QMPs and quality performance in Malaysian medical device manufacturing companies.

Findings revealed that both QMPs and LSS practices have a significant and positive effect on quality performance. Furthermore, LSS practices served as a substitute for moderating the positive relationship between QMPs and quality performance in such a way that the relationship becomes weaker as LSS practices increase.

LSS is acknowledged as the most well-known hybrid methodology; however, due to its relative newness, it has not been studied in great detail. Unlike previous studies, this paper argued that Lean and Six Sigma practices are distinct from its predecessor TQM practices; moreover, both Lean and Six Sigma practices do not need to substitute QM/TQM practices instead of complimenting the QMPs. In addition, this study adds to the growing body of QM literature by empirically examine the effect of LSS practices in moderating the relationship between QMPs and quality performance.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a robust “observation” procedure drawn from the social science research literature for adoption in a Lean Six Sigma project setting. A case study aims to illustrate the application of the proposed observation procedure in a Lean Six Sigma project undertaken in a European airport to improve process speed and reduce variability.

The paper takes the form of a literature review and uses case study process information from a real project.

The study finds that by utilising “observation”, which is basically a Lean tool, not only is speed increased by eliminating waste, but also it helps to identify the root causes of variations in the output quality characteristics, whose reduction is the main objective of a Lean Six Sigma programme.

The proposed approach has been applied and tested in a transactional Lean Six Sigma project. Its applicability to a wider context needs to be established through more case studies in both manufacturing and transactional environments.

Critical observation has a profound impact both on the organization and its people. It improves organizational learning, promotes employee involvement and offers experiential learning to employees. This study may inspire managers to provide motivation for people to engage in observational activities by imparting structured training on observation. The employees may be motivated to become involved in observational activities as self‐directed actions to improve the employees’ effectiveness.

This paper is an interdisciplinary study drawing knowledge from other branches of social research and adopting it in quality management. By a case study approach, this paper explains how “critical observation”, a tool used both in Lean and social research, enhances the power of Lean Six Sigma.

The purpose of this study is to investigate awareness and opportunities for Lean Six Sigma in public sector municipalities striving to become more efficient and effective in the quality and delivery of services and goods leading to increased citizen satisfaction and budget savings.

Lean Six Sigma is a quality improvement methodology widely implemented in the for-profit sectors and, now, is expanding into the public sector. This study includes a literature review on Lean Six Sigma, supported by results from interviews with public sector officials, and includes recommendations for how public sector entities can utilize Lean Six Sigma.

Based on results from interviews with a sample of public sector officials, this study uncovered that overall there exists a keen interest in Lean Six Sigma and how it can be applied to streamline and improve organizational processes, produce cost-savings, improve organizational culture and improve the quality of goods and services. This study also discovers that there are plenty of opportunities for Lean Six Sigma in the public sector and municipalities can, in fact, incorporate its philosophy and methodology to streamline and improve organizational processes, produce cost-savings, improve organizational culture and improve the quality of goods and services.

Abundant literature exists on Lean Six Sigma and the private sector. This study includes a review of the literature supported by interview results of public sector officials and suggests techniques for how public sector municipalities can utilize the Lean Six Sigma methodology. In a twenty-first-century economy, public sector officials are looking for ways to maximize their tax dollars while increasing the quality of their goods and services; Lean Six Sigma is a framework that can make these objectives become a reality.

The purpose of this paper is to compare and discuss the evolution of six important management systems: Japanese Total Quality Control (JTQC), Total Quality Management (TQM), Deming's system of profound knowledge, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Lean Thinking and Six Sigma. Indeed, the contribution of this paper lies in the concurrent analysis and classification, by the means of a literature review, of the results and critical implementation factors of the six systems. Deming's Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act (PDCA) has been used to classify the findings from the literature review.

The research methodology is based on a literature review. The literature review has been carried out for each single system, trying subsequently to compare and discuss the results.

Inside the six systems, nine common factors have been found and proposed. They are: results and benefits; management style; deployment of the system; employee management, deployment and participation; voice of the customer; tools, techniques and IT; optimisation of the system; day‐by‐day check and control of the results and review of the system.

This paper presents some limits due to the fact that it is based on a literature review. This implies that more research about the findings should be carried out: TQM in Western companies, Six Sigma that could have substituted TQM, Six Sigma and TQM in Japan, Deming's system developments and the influence of the Japanese style on Lean Six Sigma.

For the first time a paper tries to compare and discuss the six most important systems dedicated to quality and operations improvement.

This study aims to investigate applications of Lean Six Sigma approaches and quality performance in Malaysian hospitals. It identifies five dimensions of Lean Six Sigma conformance (i.e. continuous quality improvement, Lean management initiatives, Six Sigma initiatives, patient safety and teamwork) and quality performance of the hospitals based on demographics such as gender, types of hospital and working experience.

This study distributed 1,007 self-administered survey questionnaires to hospital staff resulting in 438 useful responses with 43.5 per cent response rate. Research data were analysed based on reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA using SPSS version 23.

Research findings indicate that there are significant differences between public and private hospital staff on Lean management initiatives, Six Sigma initiatives, patient safety and teamwork. Private hospital staff perceives Lean management initiatives, Six Sigma initiatives, patient safety and teamwork more favourably compared to public hospital staff. The present study findings also indicate that senior hospital staff (more than 10 years working experience) perceives patient safety and teamwork more favourably compared to other working experience groups.

The research focused solely on the Malaysian health sector, and thus, the results might not be applicable to other countries.

This research provides theoretical, methodological and practical contributions for the Lean Six Sigma approach and the research findings are expected to provide guidelines to enhance the level of quality performance in healthcare organisations in Malaysia as well as other countries.