Widening the Six Sigma concept: An approach to improve organizational learning

Six Sigma has been established as an approach to improving organizational performance, and many manufacturing companies have reported on their successive work with Six Sigma programmes. Often, the focus of Six Sigma is put on only reducing defects and improving process capability. This paper discusses Six Sigma as a company-wide approach for organizational improvement incorporating organizational learning. Six Sigma programmes have been studied and the fundamental principles of organizational learning have been applied in order to improve the long-term implementation of the programmes. The paper also discusses factors associated with manufacturing work organization and leadership that are essential for improving organizational learning and for stimulating the competence development and motivation among personnel.