The consequences of Six Sigma on job satisfaction: a study at three companies in Sweden

Abstract

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by LULEA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY For Authors: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. Additional help for authors is available for Emerald subscribers. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comWith over forty years' experience, Emerald Group Publishing is a leading independent publisher of global research with impact in business, society, public policy and education. In total, Emerald publishes over 275 journals and more than 130 book series, as well as an extensive range of online products and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 3 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.*Related content and download information correct at time of download. Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present a study of how Six Sigma influences job satisfaction among employees at three large companies with manufacturing units in Sweden that have used different implementation strategies. Design/methodology/approach -The study was performed using a survey distributed to those affected by the implementation at the three company sites, including those not directly involved in any Six Sigma activities.Findings -Employees participating in Six Sigma feel positive changes in many aspects of job satisfaction. The Black Belts (BBs) felt, on the average, positive changes in almost all the tested areas. The largest changes are related to personal and new skill development, influence on work duties and enjoying the work. BBs also feel more recognition from management. Employees not involved in the Six Sigma projects do, on average, also feel positively influenced by Six Sigma, but the tendency is not as clear.Research limitations/implications -The results constitute a platform for further studies on the relation between Six Sigma applications and job satisfaction due to the different approaches used in the three studied plants.Practical implications -The positive results should help alleviate concerns of job satisfaction due to implementation of Six Sigma. Originality/value -The paper fills a knowledge gap concerning the effect of Six Sigma on employees' well being and job satisfaction.

An evaluation into the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma: an empirical study

“…Although an international standard (ISO 13053 Parts 1 and 2) was developed to address some of the issues within Six Sigma, it has not gained widespread acceptance among the global Six Sigma community (Chiarini, 2013). Some studies find Six Sigma influenced by national culture (Schön et al, 2010). The rapid growth of Six Sigma in US corporations compared to those in Europe is due to a better cultural fit, whereby US corporations are typically decentralized and formal (Crom, 2000;Klefsjö et al, 2008).…”

Continuous improvement project within Kaizen: critical success factors in hospitals

“…If employee participation in CIPs (e.g. as attendant to a training program or as CIP leader) impact in job satisfaction (Shön et al , 2010; Cheng, 2012), then a lack of CIP result should produce low employee satisfaction. This situation could result in failure CIP initiative after the organization spent time and financial resources.…”

Attitude is everything?

“…or rather increase workload and production pressure on staff in an effort to "do more with less". Several empirical findings suggest a tendency towards the latter in practice (Mehri, 2006;Schön, Bergquist, & Klefsjö, 2010), suggesting that while efforts for increased efficiency need not necessarily lead to increased workload, in practice they apparently do (see also Rasmussen, 1997), and indeed the premise that production pressure increases the rate of medical error is corroborated by several studies (e.g., Hansez & Chmiel, 2010;Valentin et al, 2009). Hence, our first hypothesis:…”