An empirical investigation of the relationship between Six Sigma practices and organisational innovation

Abstract

Both Six Sigma and innovation play key roles in improving competitiveness. While there is abundant research on Six Sigma and innovation from many perspectives, rigorous empirical research investigating the impact of Six Sigma on organisational innovation has been limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between Six Sigma practices and different types of organisational innovation including product innovation, process innovation, and administrative innovation. Empirical data were collected from 249 firms in China which had implemented Six Sigma as a formal programme in their organisation. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationship between Six Sigma practices and innovation. The results show that Six Sigma management, infrastructure, and core practices have a positive relationship with product, process, and administrative innovation. This study contributes to a better understanding of how firms can take advantage of the Six Sigma implementation to improve their capacity in innovation.

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