A decade of the international journal of lean six sigma: bibliometric overview

Purpose This study aims to present an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) since its inception. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses articles published between 2010 and 2019 in IJLSS using the bibliometric technique. The results of data analysis identify the most prolific authors, their affiliation, citation trends and highly cited articles from the journal. Further, a graphical analysis involving bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis of the corpus enriches the investigation. Findings The results of the bibliometric analysis suggest that the number of IJLSS’s publications and citations grew markedly over time (from 4 citations in 2010 to nearly 1,324 in 2019). The organizational diversity and collaboration among authors publishing in IJLSS are trending upwards. Case study and focus group are the two most common research designs in publications. In the study, three major themes emerged: implementation of lean on business, integration of lean and six sigma and the effects of lean six sigma on businesses. Practical implications The study finding informs and educates practitioners and scholars about various qualitative research tools, applications and methods of implementing lean six sigma tools in different industry sectors. Originality/value The study uses bibliometric analysis to propose a novel categorization of research published in IJLSS and to report on the utilization of various lean tools in the journal. The study provides guidance for new future research besides offering a thorough introspection of the lean and six sigma domains.

[1]  Gunjan Soni,et al.  A critical analysis of supply chain risk management content: a structured literature review , 2017 .

[2]  Weng Marc Lim,et al.  How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines , 2021 .

[3]  María-Victoria Sánchez-Rebull,et al.  Six Sigma literature: a bibliometric analysis , 2019, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence.

[4]  Jiju Antony,et al.  A critical evaluation of the public sector improvement framework , 2019 .

[5]  Ahad Ali,et al.  Survey‐based spreadsheet model on lean implementation , 2010 .

[6]  S. Yusof,et al.  Blue ocean leadership activities improve firm performance , 2018, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma.

[7]  Pranab K. Dan,et al.  Capacity augmentation with VSM methodology for lean manufacturing , 2014 .

[8]  Nurul Fadly Habidin,et al.  Lean Six Sigma, strategic control systems, and organizational performance for automotive suppliers , 2016 .

[9]  Rohit Verma,et al.  Empirical Research Published in Production and Operations Management (1992–2005): Trends and Future Research Directions , 2006 .

[10]  Suresh Garg,et al.  Lean implementation and its benefits to production industry , 2010 .

[11]  Kening Wu,et al.  A bibliometric analysis of research on haze during 2000–2016 , 2017, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[12]  Lawrence M. Corbett.  Lean Six Sigma: the contribution to business excellence , 2011 .

[13]  Rossella Pozzi,et al.  How IJPR has addressed ‘lean’: a literature review using bibliometric tools , 2019, Int. J. Prod. Res..

[14]  Douglas C. Montgomery,et al.  A modern framework for achieving enterprise excellence , 2010 .

[15]  Jiju Antony,et al.  A conceptual Lean Six Sigma framework for quality excellence in higher education institutions , 2018 .

[16]  V Raja Sreedharan,et al.  A Systematic Literature Review of Lean Six Sigma in Different Industries , 2016 .

[17]  Otávio José de Oliveira,et al.  Where to direct research in lean six sigma? , 2018, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma.

[18]  J. Merigó,et al.  Fifty years of the European Journal of Marketing: a bibliometric analysis , 2018 .

[19]  Daryl Powell,et al.  Demystifying lean leadership , 2019, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma.

[20]  Satish Kumar,et al.  A retrospective overview of the Asian Review of Accounting during 1992–2019 , 2020, Asian Review of Accounting.

[21]  Tushar N. Desai,et al.  Lean Six Sigma: a categorized review of the literature , 2016 .

[22]  Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes,et al.  Green lean and the need for Six Sigma , 2015 .

[23]  Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes,et al.  A Six Sigma and DMAIC application for the reduction of defects in a rubber gloves manufacturing process , 2014 .

[24]  M. M. Kessler.  Bibliographic coupling between scientific papers , 1963 .

[25]  Ralf Wilden,et al.  A bibliometric review of open innovation: setting a research agenda , 2016 .

[26]  Roger Hoerl,et al.  Lean Six Sigma, creativity, and innovation , 2010 .

[27]  Judit Bar-Ilan,et al.  Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century - A review , 2008, J. Informetrics.

[28]  Ronald D. Snee,et al.  Lean Six Sigma – getting better all the time , 2010 .

[29]  Rick L. Edgeman,et al.  Reducing pharmacy medication errors using Lean Six Sigma: A Thai hospital case study , 2021, Total Quality Management & Business Excellence.

[30]  F. Strozzi,et al.  Tourism and its economic impact: A literature review using bibliometric tools , 2018, Tourism Economics.

[31]  Pedro Paulo Balestrassi,et al.  Six Sigma learning evaluation model using Bloom’s Taxonomy , 2017 .

[32]  Ioannis Manikas,et al.  Environment is free; but it’s not a gift , 2017 .

[33]  John Maleyeff,et al.  Using Lean Six Sigma to improve investment behavior , 2015 .

[34]  Kurt Hozak,et al.  Lean psychology and the theories of “Thinking, Fast and Slow” , 2015 .

[35]  Andrea Chiarini,et al.  Integrating lean thinking into ISO 9001: a first guideline , 2011 .

[36]  Helena Carvalho,et al.  Lean, agile, resilient and green: divergencies and synergies , 2011 .

[37]  K. Jeyaraman,et al.  A conceptual framework for critical success factors of lean Six Sigma , 2010 .

[38]  Virgilio Cruz-Machado,et al.  Modelling lean and green: a review from business models , 2013 .

[39]  Andrea Chiarini,et al.  Japanese total quality control, TQM, Deming's system of profound knowledge, BPR, Lean and Six Sigma: Comparison and discussion , 2011 .

[40]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  A retrospective of the Journal of Strategic Marketing from 1993 to 2019 using bibliometric analysis , 2020, Journal of Strategic Marketing.

[41]  M. Sigala,et al.  A bibliometric overview of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management: Research contributions and influence , 2021, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

[42]  Peter Ball,et al.  Six Sigma: a literature review , 2010 .

[43]  Stuart C Burgess,et al.  Introducing OEE as a measure of lean Six Sigma capability , 2010 .

[44]  Sanjay Bhasin.  Measuring the Leanness of an organisation , 2011 .

[45]  J. Antony,et al.  Lean Six Sigma in policing services: case examples, lessons learnt and directions for future research , 2019 .

[46]  Ludo Waltman,et al.  A review of the literature on citation impact indicators , 2015, J. Informetrics.

[47]  Abdur Rahim,et al.  The integration of Six Sigma and lean management , 2010 .

[48]  Jiju Antony,et al.  Critical success factors for the effective implementation of Lean Sigma , 2012 .

[49]  Kyle B. Stone.  Four decades of lean: a systematic literature review , 2012 .

[50]  Gordana Budimir,et al.  Assessment of research fields in Scopus and Web of Science in the view of national research evaluation in Slovenia , 2013, Scientometrics.

[51]  J. R. Jadhav,et al.  Exploring barriers in lean implementation , 2014 .

[53]  Fernando Celso de Campos,et al.  Lean manufacturing implementation: bibliometric analysis 2007–2018 , 2018, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.

[54]  Jiju Antony,et al.  Lean Six Sigma in policing services , 2018, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.

[55]  Weng Marc Lim,et al.  20 years of Electronic Commerce Research , 2021, Electron. Commer. Res..

[56]  Satish Kumar,et al.  Twenty-five years of the Journal of Corporate Finance: A scientometric analysis , 2020 .

[57]  J. Antony,et al.  Development of a roadmap for Lean Six Sigma implementation and sustainability in a Scottish packing company , 2020 .

[58]  J. Merigó,et al.  STEM Education: A Bibliometric Overview , 2018, Modelling and Simulation in Management Sciences.

[59]  Ludo Waltman,et al.  Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping , 2009, Scientometrics.

[60]  Paolo Chiabert,et al.  Lean Six Sigma in manufacturing process: a bibliometric study and research agenda , 2020 .

[61]  Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes,et al.  Investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma: A systematic literature review , 2017 .

[62]  Elizabeth A. Cudney,et al.  A comparative analysis of integrating lean concepts into supply chain management in manufacturing and service industries , 2011 .

[63]  Nurul Fadly Habidin,et al.  Critical success factors of Lean Six Sigma for the Malaysian automotive industry , 2013 .

[64]  J. Antony,et al.  An Empirical Study Into the Limitations and Emerging Trends of Six Sigma: Findings From a Global Survey , 2020, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[65]  Elizabeth A. Cudney,et al.  Design of experiments in the service industry: a critical literature review and future research directions , 2020 .