Elizabeth A. Cudney

Maryville University · John E. Simon School of Business

The aim of this study reported in this paper was to explore the application of operational excellence methodologies in a global context. A qualitative interview approach was used to understand the current state, benefits, challenges, success factors, tools, and techniques of operational excellence methodology implementation with relevance to logist...

Purpose New product development (NPD) is necessary for business sustenance and customer satisfaction. Six Sigma and Design for Lean Six Sigma (DLSS) efficiently employ the repetitive stages for NPD, leading to quality performance and profitability. This study aims to map the quality performance through NPD attributes through the Lean methodology....

Purpose The purpose of this research is to provide an introduction into Hoshin Kanri and how it has been used with other methodologies and frameworks. Additionally, factors that impact successful Hoshin Kanri implementation and future research opportunities are explored. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review was conducted to d...

Purpose Teaching effectiveness is essential to student learning, engagement and success. This study aims to identify the perceived teaching effectiveness attributes from the student’s perspective through a pilot study. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive literature review identified 6 demographic and 25 teaching effectiveness characteristi...

This paper focuses on different Total Quality Management (TQM) practices implemented by Deming-awarded Indian industries and examines the impact of commonly used TQM practices on organisational performance. In this study, organisational performance is taken as a function of satisfaction and business performance. The hypotheses and conceptual TQM fr...

Globally manufacturing organizations are implementing operational excellence (OPEX) projects to improve their long-term sustainability and competitive advantage. This research analyzes the critical success factors (CSFs) for implementing OPEX initiatives in manufacturing organizations through the utilization of a meta-analysis technique. Thirty stu...

Purpose This study aims to present an overview and analyze the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (LSSBB) certifications offered by institutions operating in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach This research analyzed LSSBB certification courses offered by 48 institutions in Brazil by comparing the syllabi of the classes to the reference model proposed by t...

Purpose This study aims to identify critical online teaching effectiveness factors from instructors’ perspectives and experiences during COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative phenomenology approach. In addition, the research used a snowball sample to identify faculty in the engineering and engineering technology field...

Purpose – Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) is nascent, but many organisations have started their journeys on Q4.0. This study seeks to investigate the real-time organisational benefits and motivations for deploying Q4.0 and understand current Q4.0 initiatives along with the skills, challenges, and critical success factors required to implement Q4.0. Design/metho...

Purpose While Six Sigma (SS) has been deployed effectively in Indian manufacturing and service sectors as a process improvement methodology, the implementation of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) for robust product and service development has not shown noticeable results. Therefore, this article aims to determine the critical failure factors (CFFs) of D...

Purpose: Disparities in radiation oncology (RO) can be attributed to geographic location, socioeconomic status, race, sex, and other societal factors. One potential solution is to implement a fully mobile (FM) RO system to bring radiotherapy to rural areas and reduce barriers to access. We use Monte Carlo simulation to quantify techno-economic fea...

Similarity in prioritization of lean tools (LTs) by different frameworks on the same problem is a point of contention. The goal of the present research is to address LT selection problem through two commonly used multi-criteria decision-making approaches, namely the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and complex...

Sustainable manufacturing has renewed attention among researchers to address various sustainability challenges in manufacturing industries. Sustainability assessments of manufacturing organizations help minimize the negative environmental impact and enhance reputation among public and regulatory agencies. To assess the sustainability of the manufac...

The purpose of this research is to explore the potential impact of Lean Six Sigma practices on supply chain resilience proposing a conceptual framework. A content analysis method was used to identify themes from the interview data conducted with (n = 21) participants who are involved within the healthcare sector. The first-order coding of interview...

Lean is one of the most powerful operational excellence methodologies in operations management that manufacturing organisations deploy to enhance their competitiveness. The objective of this study is to investigate published research with respect to the relationship between lean practices and organisational performance using a meta-analysis of corr...

Purpose/Objective(s) Disparities in radiation oncology (RO) care exist, in part, due to geographic barriers in access to care. A first step to mitigate these barriers is the development of a semi-mobile RO system for single-facility, temporary care (∼months), which has been successfully implemented in several locations across the United States. To...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical study derived from the previous literature from the perspective of benefits, tools and techniques, continuous improvement (CI) and quality improvement (QI) methodologies and critical failure factors (CFFs) of Lean and Six Sigma (SS) in the national health service (NHS). Design/methodolog...

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Lean can be applied in an educational environment to improve operational processes. The application of the Six Sigma methodology blended and supported by the application of various Lean tools is demonstrated in a case study of a kindergarten. Multiple tools, such as: the fishbone diagram; A3 reportin...

In the United States, the use and misuse of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs affect the lives of millions of people as substance use is often an antecedent and a consequence associated with mental and physical illness. Dealing with these challenges requires a greater understanding of substance use in society. In this paper, th...

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma implementation models and frameworks and present a new conceptual framework designed specifically for manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). This paper details the thorough review of 20 existing deployment models and frameworks for Lean, Six Sig...

Manufacturing industries strive hard to improve their productivity to meet the highly demanding business market. Productivity can be improved by effective use of resources, elimination of wastes, process flow enhancement, and continuous improvement. There are strategies and tools to improve productivity but industries face the problem of selecting...

Patient satisfaction is vital in healthcare, just like any other business. The field of wound care and being a rural healthcare facility present two unique sets of complexity for providers and patients. This study sought to identify key factors influencing patient satisfaction in wound care. Data were collected on potential quality attributes via a...

Purpose This paper aims to present and summarise the arguments for and against the ISO 18404 standard and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of implementing it. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative interview approach was utilised by interviewing a panel of leading academics and practitioners familiar with Lean Six Sigma. Findings The...

When making the transition to a lean enterprise, many companies seek to understand if they are ready to begin the culture change required, or perhaps how far along they are in the journey. Organisations need to understand how they are doing, how far along they are, and if they are ready for a transition. This paper describes the data collection, an...

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate how Lean Six Sigma (LSS) may help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 within health care environments. The goals of this study were to understand the current knowledge of LSS and COVID-19 through a systematic review of the current literature, identify the gap in the current knowledge of LSS in COVID-...

The purpose of the research reported here was to develop practical tools to assess organizational readiness prior to the implementation of a continuous improvement (CI) initiative in a public sector environment. A case study approach was used, which focused on a UK public utility company. The data was collected through a survey and the results were...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to critically evaluate the current status of Design of experiments (DoE) in the service industry or non-manufacturing processes in the manufacturing sector. This involves the identification of critical success factors and challenges in the use of DoE in the context of the service industry as well as the key skil...

This study presents a systematic review of the literature on the predicting student retention in higher education through machine learning algorithms based on measures such as dropout risk, attrition risk, and completion risk. A systematic review methodology was employed comprised of review protocol, requirements for study selection, and analysis o...

Manufacturing organizations have struggled with sustaining their Lean Six Sigma programs for operational excellence. This study was performed to identify critical success factors necessary for sustaining organizations' Lean Six Sigma programs. The research study methodology included: 1) surveying subject matter experts with an open-ended questionna...

Quality 4.0 is about the digitalisation of quality management and is complimentary to the concept of Industry 4.0. Quality 4.0 is not a direct replacement of existing best-in-class quality management practices in organisations that have proven to work for many years. However, Quality 4.0 rather builds and improves the existing quality systems and p...

Purpose The purpose of the article is to present the results of a critical literature review (CLR) on Design of experiments (DoE) in the service industry. Design/methodology/approach A critical review of existing literature review across various databases including Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Emerald Insight were searched for the id...

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to investigate the factors that enable Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation in the readymade garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh. More specifically, the present study is a supplement of the previous call from research toinvestigate the TQM enabling factors from a broader aspect of organizational...

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a powerful process excellence methodology for making critical business processes more efficient and effective by reducing waste and variation, which results in enhanced customer satisfaction, improved productivity, and reduced operational costs. While the success stories speak for themselves, at the same time research eviden...

Purpose: This article builds on previous studies that explored the research patterns over 15 years, to consider the current status of the integration of Lean and Six Sigma. More specifically, this research addresses whether Lean and Six Sigma are stronger together and explores the reasons why Lean researchers and practitioners may be less likely to...