- March 15, 2013
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Term paper writing
In the contemporary business environment, the elaboration of the effective business management strategy is crucial for the overall success of the organizational performance and business development. At the same time, many organizations face substantial difficulties with selecting an efficient business management strategy. The difficulty is determined by multiple factors. In this respect, it is necessary to take into consideration such factors as the diversity of business strategies available to them and the progress of the management theory which offers organizations with diverse strategies, which could be potentially effective and successful. However, the problem is that organizations have to adapt business strategies that meet requirements and needs of organizations (Meisel and Schlichting, 2007). What is meant here is the fact that organizations have specific organizational culture, they operate in different industries, and they have different goals and experience of operations. In such a situation, different business management strategies may have a different impact on the organizational performance and the implementation of different strategies would lead to different outcomes. At this point, it is possible to refer to organizations operating in the construction industry, which needs to maximize the effectiveness of their performance and to maintain the high quality of their products and services.
At the same time, some business management strategies are particularly popular in the contemporary business environment. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the Six Sigma strategy and the Lean Six Sigma strategy. To put it more precisely, the Lean Six Sigma business strategy is one of the recent trends in the development of Six Sigma strategy, which is grounded on the improvement of the Six Sigma strategy and involves the involvement of certain improvements being made. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the Six Sigma strategy focuses on the improvement of the business management through the focus on the high quality of products and services and internal business processes within organizations. In this regard, Lean Six Sigma strategy is adapted to lean construction. In fact, the Lean Six Sigma strategy is the new trend in the development of the Six Sigma but it implies the development of the quality management, whereas the Lean Six Sigma strategy maintains the traditional focus on the quality (Hoare, 2010). For instance, the Lean Six Sigma strategy promotes the idea of the introduction of the total quality management in organizations. In such a way, organizations may need the development of Lean Six Sigma strategy, if they operate in the construction industry. On the other hand, the effects of the implementation of the Lean Six Sigma strategy on the organizational performance and business development of organizations operating in the construction industry are still unclear because this strategy is relatively new and needs detailed study and analysis before mass implementation in the construction industry. At the same time, the success of the Six Sigma strategy provides organizations operating in the construction industry with the larger opportunities for experimenting and introducing the Lean Six Sigma strategy or its elements in their business management (Pande and Holpp, 2002). Therefore, on the one hand, the Lean Six Sigma strategy has a considerable potential, taking into consideration the success of the Six Sigma strategy, but, on the other hand, the Lean Six Sigma strategy is under-researched and its effects on organizations operating in the construction industry are uncertain but organizations may try to use this strategy or some of its elements to introduce some improvements in their organizational performance and business development.
CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY
The study of the impact of the Lean Six Sigma strategy on organizations operating in the construction industry and the implementation of this strategy needs the detailed analysis and assessment. In this respect, the study will focus on the use of the qualitative methods of analysis, which help to conduct the detailed study of the problem and its evaluation from different angles. In actuality, the study involved subjects, who were managers and professionals operating in the construction industry and having different experience (Basu, 2009). To put it more precisely, the subjects were of different age, gender, they had different cultural background and held different position in their organizations but all of them worked in organizations operating in the construction industry. In such a way, the study involved different specialists, who had different experience and could present different standpoints in regard to the implementation of the Lean Six Sigma strategy in organizations operating in the construction industry.
The methods applied in the course of the current study were interviews and questionnaires. To put it more precisely, the study involved face to face interviews and phone call interviews. The questionnaire was conducted in the written form. The subjects received the questionnaire and responded to questions selecting the best options suggested in the questionnaire. On completing the questionnaire, their responses were collected and analyzed by the researcher. Results of interviews were also collected, summarized and analyzed by the researcher. The results of the study were collected and processed. After that the results were evaluated critically.