Identification of Critical Success Factors to Implement Six Sigma Projects (Case study: Three Iranian Selected Companies)

In recent years, different organizations and companies in Iran have used strategic, systematic and quality methodology of Six Sigma to achieve, protect and maximize the company’s success through ongoing improvement of the process based on rapid exclusion of faults in their products, processes and organizational operations, but considering all the positive characteristics of Six Sigma and the huge time and costs that were allocated to it, they faced a lot of problems at the stage of implementation and execution and they did not achieved the expected success. There are many reasons given and mainly the inattention of the companies to factors of success or failure and or lack of regular assessment of these factors could be referred to. Thus it is necessary to concentrate on the critical factors accompanying the assessment of these factors in the companies together with implementation of six sigma. The goal of this study is to identify the effective factors and to determine their relative importance to implement successfully six sigma in the Iranian selected companies, i.e., Iran Khodro, Polyacryl Isfahan and the group of companies affiliated to the State Defensive Industries. The current study is of applied type as far as its goal is concerned and its research method is of quantitative type and it has an empirical approach. Factor analysis indicates that the six critical factors affect successful implementation of six sigma projects in the Iranian selected companies respectively as follows: 1. Commitment and active participation of management, 2. Connecting six sigma to trade strategies, 3. Understanding of the methodology and techniques of six sigma, 4. Change of culture, 5. Connecting six sigma to the customers, 6. Prioritization and selection of project and other factors, i.e., skills of project management, organizational infra-structures, education, connection of six sigma to suppliers, connection of six sigma to human resources and connections from seventh to twelfth grades.

Implementation, Six Sigma, Factor analysis, Critical success factors, Iranian selected companies