Six sigma literature: A review and agenda for future research

Like quality management in general, Six Sigma has penetrated into most sectors Of today's business world. Although Six Sigma originated in industry, it has inspired a considerable amount of academic literature. This paper reviews this literature describing the trends, sources, and findings. The paper also seeks to synthesize the literature, with all emphasis oil establishing its relationship to quality management theory and topics for future research. In doing so, there is all attempt to answer the following fundamental questions. (i) What is Sir Sigma? (ii) What are its impacts oil operational performance? (iii) What roles call academics usefully play in relation to Sir Sigma? Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.