Purpose Nowadays, firms are keen on improving the quality culture in the organizations. The proven success of Lean and Six Sigma has given rise to the synergetic Lean Six Sigma (LSS) approach that has been catching fire in the past one decade. However, there exists a gap between the understanding and implementation of LSS in the organizations, especially in the emerging economies. Taking this as a valuable opportunity, the purpose of this paper is to present a development of LSS training module. Design/methodology/approach This study starts with a literature review of LSS to reinforce the understanding of the research subject in scope of manufacturing sector. Then, an online questionnaire was designed and used to collect responses from 181 companies located in the Indian sub-continent. Subsequently, the results obtained from the survey were analyzed using COARSE approach. Findings This study reveals two key findings and associated contributions. First, it was found that the overall awareness of LSS within the responded manufacturing firms is about 70.4 percent. Second, there is no single standard training module that exists in any of the sampled firms to cater to their quality programs. Hence, in order to improve the LSS awareness which could subsequently help managers as a resource for creating an efficient workplace, this paper presents a structured LSS training framework. Research limitations/implications Although this paper presents the importance of LSS and associated awareness level among the responded firms, more empirical evidence is required to generalize the model findings. Second, this study is scoped to firms that work out of the Indian sub-continent, and this provides a future opportunity to expand the scope of this research toward a global study for a comparison between emerging and developed economies. Third, this study is limited to manufacturing firms and hence paves an opportunity to research on a similar theme in services context as well. Practical implications Before embarking on an LSS journey, an organization can use the LSS training module proposed in this study to assess the employee awareness on LSS. Furthermore, organizations that already have a mature LSS practice can incorporate the LSS training module for periodic evaluation of the employees for effective change management. Originality/value The training module presented in this paper is the original contribution by the authors. This is no association to any single identifiable organization or associated funding. The direct practical implication of its application in real time is the value that managers could derive from the proposed LSS training framework.

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Individualized learning plans and corresponding training programs are maintained and organized in most organizations. Employees may be averse to training if they do not see how it contributes to their professional advancement. This is an example of conflict between management and employee interests in a business. The misalignment between management’s offerings and employees’ desires is a significant factor contributing to such a situation. Our research focused on how companies and individuals put training resources to use from a perspective of divergent goals. It provides insights into making employee training more effective. We investigate the relationship between organizational, individual, and training efficacy using the principal–agent theory and the concept of bounded rationality. We attempted to validate three a priori conditions relating to goal congruence, training motivation, and decision-making through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. As per participant inputs, career aspirations drive employees’ training preferences. The significance of goal congruence in achieving corporate objectives is often neglected in the academic literature. Although goal congruence can be a useful tool in assisting organizations in achieving their stated objectives, enhanced communication and discussion between managers and employees are required in order to improve and align employee goals with the company’s, for the sake of the individual’s and organization’s development. Furthermore, firms should invest in technology-enabled learning that ensures better access to learning, in order to achieve the kind of productivity and profit margins that would benefit everyone involved. We have also proposed a training value transaction model that accommodates the diverse interests. The model depicts the role of goal congruence in enhanced value fulfilment of the principals as well as agents.

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PurposeEmployee training and learning have transformed over the years. The movement from classroom training to the blended format represents the magnitude of this evolution. This has placed much attention on self-regulated learning. This study aimed to understand the individual and organizational mechanisms that sustain the formal learning process in organizations. It explored the goals the organizations and employees strive to achieve by investing in learning. Through this, the authors investigated how technology assistance makes learning more goal-oriented, despite the possibility of different goals for different stakeholders. They also examined how person-job fit can be achieved in employee training.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a grounded theory-based inductive approach using a qualitative inquiry that used in-depth interviews of employees working in the Indian IT/ITES sector. This sector is knowledge-intensive and engages in constant skill development. A content analysis of the interview transcripts unraveled the most relevant themes from the participants' discussion.FindingsIndividual learners use dimensions of self-regulated learning to set and achieve goals such as better performance and career development. On the other hand, organizations use learning support mechanisms such as better access and flexibility to direct employee learning behavior to achieve organizational goals. Focusing on goal congruence leads to better achievement of results. Goal congruence also implies good person-organization fit.Originality/valueThis research established how aligning individual and organizational mechanisms can help achieve training goals that ultimately contribute to organizational performance. The study differentiated itself by investigating training goal setting and goal achievement at two levels – organizational and individual – using a qualitative approach. It also showed how goal congruence is vital in improving organizational performance and how technology-enabled training practices rely on self-regulated learning and help achieve goal congruence.