Purpose The relevance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in contributing to the economy and social development is increasingly felt in the current business environment. Focusing on sustainable development, SMEs have also implemented many acting strategies of large-scale enterprises such as lean and green practices. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the linkage between lean manufacturing practices (LMPs) in SMEs and their sustainability performances. Further, this study explores the relationship between the triple bottom line sustainability performances. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a survey conducted and data collected from 252 manufacturing SMEs in India. The hypothesized relationships are then analyzed with structural equation modeling. Findings The outcome of the analysis shows that LMPs are positively associated with various sustainability performances categorized as economic, environmental, and social performances. Further, this study shows that environmental sustainability is correlated with economic and social sustainability performances. Research limitations/implications The study conducted was limited to a particular state in India. Moreover, the study uses the data from a cross-sectional survey from single respondents. Practical implications The findings of the study become an added advantage for the managers to convince their various stakeholders for implementing LMPs in SMEs. Originality/value The research findings provide theoretical and practical insights to derive the importance of LMPs in maximizing sustainability performances. It gives an enhanced perspective of the importance of LMPs on the sustainability performance of SMEs.

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Six Sigma has set a new paradigm of excellence in the business environment and is enjoying great popularity. Even though Six Sigma has been in practice in the last two decades, no effort has been made to develop a holistic definition that includes all of the dimensions of Six Sigma. In this paper, the various definitions that exist in the literature have been critically evaluated and a new holistic definition has been proposed. Also, there is a lot of ambiguity in the literature with respect to the origin of Six Sigma. An effort is made to eliminate such confusion by tracking the origin and growth of Six Sigma. Furthermore, in order to facilitate effective implementation, the principles of Six Sigma were identified from the literature. Finally, the misconceptions of Six Sigma are cleared by demystifying its myths.

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