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Current State of Practice in Developing Lean Six Sigma Training and Certification Programs -an Irish Perspective

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Challenging the Future with Lean (ELEC 2023)

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 681))

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Abstract

The study aims to review how Lean Six Sigma training and certification programs are conducted in organisations to develop employee competence and advance the programs. The types of training and certification programmes, the approach to development, the critical factors for success and failure, and barriers to development were all investigated. A quantitative survey was conducted with Operational Excellence professionals from various Irish manufacturing industry sectors who had Lean Six Sigma programs. It was found external accreditations of LSS expertise were more prevalent than internal certifications in Irish organisations, and many organisations encouraged completing of continuous improvement projects with valid financial savings before individuals were certified. As well as this, a lack of management support, not setting aside time for the individuals to complete the training, and a lack of recognition and reward for completing training and projects were deemed critical failure factors. The findings from this study can be used to develop a best-practice Lean Six Sigma training and certification program that is open to all employees and is externally accredited. This paper is one of few studies that expose the current practice for designing a Lean Six Sigma training and certification programme in industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Science and Engineering, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland

    Olivia McDermott

  2. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Michelle Regan & Anna Trubetskaya

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, CVR College of Engineering, Hyderabad, India

    Manjeet Kharub

  4. Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England

    Michael Sony

  5. Faculty of Business and Law, Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, UK

    Jiju Antony

Authors
  1. Olivia McDermott
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  2. Michelle Regan
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  3. Manjeet Kharub
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  4. Anna Trubetskaya
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  5. Michael Sony
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  6. Jiju Antony
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olivia McDermott .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Avans University of Applied Science, Breda, The Netherlands

    Ton van Kollenburg

  2. Avans University of Applied Science, Breda, The Netherlands

    Alinda Kokkinou

  3. University of Galway, Galway, Ireland

    Olivia McDermott

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McDermott, O., Regan, M., Kharub, M., Trubetskaya, A., Sony, M., Antony, J. (2024). Current State of Practice in Developing Lean Six Sigma Training and Certification Programs -an Irish Perspective. In: van Kollenburg, T., Kokkinou, A., McDermott, O. (eds) Challenging the Future with Lean. ELEC 2023. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 681. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-63265-5_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-63265-5_17

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