A STUDY ON LEAN SIX SIGMA JOURNEY AT SME BUSINESS IN INDIAN SME PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The protection of planet and upliftment of the society have earned equal importance as that of economic progress in this 21st century. In the years to come these subjects are going to remain at the top most agenda for all the countries, governments, public and private business enterprises. According to George, M. L. (2002/2003) On one hand companies will have to innovate new processes and methods to conserve the planet and its non-renewable resources for the future generations and on the other hand, optimize efficient use of resources. Companies will slowly exhaust all low hanging efforts to achieve the improvements in the sustainability goals and the time will come when companies will have to adopt to structured and disciplined methodologies to achieve the stringent sustainable development targets and demonstrate consistent results to all the stake holders. Importance of Sustainability reporting has been underlined by governments, several non-profit and for-profit organizations. There are several research papers already published on Sustainability Reporting trends. A limited research is available on the quality of the reports. Overall the trend of disclosure is encouraging however, a lot has to be done in terms of the quality of the information disclosed in these reports. A critical analysis of BSE Top 100 companies is done on the data reporting practices and the gaps therein. Since one of the major reasons for the disclosure being the investor education, the information disclosed should be comprehended easily for making the decisions. A qualitative analysis performed in this research reveals several gaps in the way the data is presented in the Sustainability Reports by the companies. Snee, R. D. (2010) It appears that companies are more interested in the compliance or portraying a positive picture rather than being proactive leaders of sustainable development. Equal responsibility lies on the agencies who help in preparing the Sustainability Reports for the companies. A quantitative analysis done in this research establishes several process improvement opportunities and Lean Six Sigma project opportunities. Some of the process improvements require tools like Kaizen or simple Problem-Solving Tools, however, there are some complex processes which would require a rigorous xvi approach of Lean Six Sigma. A systematic approach would also provide a confidence to the stakeholders, especially investors, about the seriousness of the efforts by the company. Lean Six Sigma is a proven methodology used by several organizations to achieve sustainable improvement results. This research provides a road map for integrating the Lean Six Sigma methodology into the Organizational Strategic framework. It suggests integration of Sustainability objectives with organizational goal tree. The research emphasizes certain Lean Six Sigma tools which are important for the Sustainability related improvement projects. Lean Six Sigma improves the process efficiency, eliminates waste and makes the Sustainability initiatives profitable for the organization. The approach suggested in this research builds a win-win situation for the business organizations and enforcing agencies to drive process improvement and efficiency and at the same time significantly contribute to the global challenge of climate change.