Purpose -Six sigma has received considerable attention over the last four years in the UK service sector. The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the literature on six sigma as applied to the service industry, followed by a presentation of the key findings obtained from a pilot survey carried out in UK service organisations. Design/methodology/approach -This paper presents some of the most common challenges, difficulties, common myths, and implementation issues in the application of six sigma in service industry settings. It also discusses the benefits of six sigma in service organisations, tools and techniques of six sigma for service performance improvement, key criteria for the selection of winning projects, followed by the results of a six sigma pilot survey in UK service organisations. Findings -The results of the study show that the majority of service organisations in the UK have been engaged in a six sigma initiative for just over three years. The average sigma quality level of the companies was around 2.8 (approximately 98,000 DPMO). Management commitment and involvement, customer focus, linking six sigma to business strategy, organisational infrastructure, project management skills, and understanding of the six sigma methodology are the most critical factors for the successful introduction, development and deployment of six sigma. Originality/value -This paper reports the first study on the status of six sigma implementation in UK service organisations. The findings and key observations of this paper will be of immense value to the six sigma academic and research community.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to analyse whether Six Sigma business strategy can be used to improve the financial and operational performance of the NHS. The paper will also look at some of the major challenges and barriers in the implementation of this powerful process improvement strategy within the healthcare sector.Design/methodology/approachThis paper discusses whether Six Sigma DMAIC methodology can be a useful and disciplined approach to tackle process‐ and quality‐related problems in the NHS.FindingsThe paper presents some key findings from other researchers in the field, followed by some comments on whether Six Sigma is a useful approach to be considered by the NHS for cost reduction and defect reduction strategies.Originality/valueThe paper illustrates the point that Six Sigma is not confined just to manufacturing industry, rather it is equally applicable to service industry, especially the healthcare and financial sectors. The application of Six Sigma in the UK health sector is relatively new and the purpose of the paper is to increase the awareness of this powerful business strategy in healthcare discipline.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the vital linkage between six sigma and statistical thinking. The paper also explains the key characteristics required for statistical thinking and some of the common barriers in the implementation of the key principles of statistical thinking. Design/methodology/approach -The objectives of the paper have been achieved in several ways. The paper provides the key principles of statistical thinking and then discusses the possible reasons for lack of statistical thinking in modern organizations. The paper then illustrates the linkage between the statistical principles and six sigma. The tools and techniques of six sigma used within statistical thinking are also highlighted in the paper. Findings -The key findings of this work include the relationship between the two key powerful methodologies: six sigma and statistical thinking, reasons for lack of applications of statistical thinking in organizations, the future role of managers and engineers in companies with regard to statistical thinking era and the commonalities in the application of tools and techniques between these two methodologies.Research limitations/implications -The paper needs more justification through surveys and case examples and this will be the future step of this study. In fact, one of the co-authors is currently conducting a survey in the UK organizations to investigate the relationship between statistical thinking and six sigma. Practical implications -The paper is very practical in nature and it does yield a great value to those people who are currently embarking on six sigma program, especially at senior manager and executive levels. Originality/value -Very little is published in the field of statistical thinking in the UK academic world. In fact, there is a cognitive gap in this field and this paper certainly forms a good platform for further research that will enable to bridge the gap.

The Taguchi method (Tm) is a powerful problem solving technique for improving process performance, yield and productivity. It reduces scrap rates, rework costs and manufacturing costs due to excessive variability in processes. However, its application by industrial engineers in the UK is limited, in part due to the inadequate statistical education of engineers. This paper presents a simple experiment which can be used in the classroom to teach engineers the basics of the technique and illustrates simple analytical and graphical tools which promote rapid understanding of the results of the experiment.

Service quality is a growing concern for many service firms in the UK. Today service firms are paying more attention than ever to the needs and expectations of the customers by consistently improving the quality of service provided to their customers. This paper briefly explores the relation between service quality and business performance followed by an assessment of service quality as a framework. The case study focuses on a hotel group in UK, where service quality was measured at six different locations. The findings from the research unveiled that there were significant variations for service quality between the six hotels.