Historically, profitability and efficiency objectives have been the prevailing interest for organisations. However, the move towards green operations has forced companies to seek alternatives to combine these with green objectives and initiatives. Green lean is the result of this combination. The purpose of this paper is to critically discuss the green lean approach and the potential benefits of integrating Six Sigma to enhance its effectiveness. The paper is based on a literature review that discusses the synergies and differences of lean and green, and its main limitations. Departing from the limitations identified, the paper then proposes Six Sigma, and specially its problem solving methodology DMAIC, as an approach that may help in overcoming the limitations of green lean. Thus, the paper conceptually proposes Green Lean Six Sigma. It intends to offer academics, researchers and practitioners interested in lean and green with some initial conceptual ideas regarding their possible integration with Six Sigma.

Markets are becoming more fierce and globalised, increasing the continue search for competitive advantage among organisations. As an attempt to respond to this global competition, companies are deploying innovative methods and tools, which in many cases tend to emphasise quality and customer orientation. This paper investigates the degree of adoption of quality improvement approaches in Brazil. In order to do this, the research was based on an exploratory survey validated and distributed among a number of Brazilian organisations operating in a wide range of industries. In general terms, the study shows that many Brazilian companies are now adopting quality improvement approaches as a strategy to be globally competitive, with ISO standards being their first choice. The study also presents evidence of which quality improvement methods have been more widely implemented by Brazilian companies, the importance of these methods and results obtained, the barriers faced during their implementation and, in case of not using them, the main reasons for this. Based on the research findings, the paper also identifies some key factors to successfully deploy quality improvement approaches in Brazil.