Examining the Impact of Leadership Styles on Lean Six Sigma Implementation

Purpose –Leadership has for a long time been a topic that attracts the attention of both academics and practitioners. In spite of the extensive literature on leadership and very little literature on leadership in Lean Six Sigma, there is almost a complete absence to explain what leadership style is needed for successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma. This research aims to address this issue by examining the impact of leadership styles on Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation.
Design/methodology/approach– This research employs the concept of systematic literature review to identify journal articles, survey reports, master theses, doctoral theses and paradigmatic books dealing with leadership styles and LSS implementation. This research was conducted using quantitative research methods. Specifically, a questionnaire was distributed at the total population of productivity and quality institute database, for 82 Egyptian organizations (51 manufacturing and 31 service) that have ISO 9001 and ISO 14000 certificates; believing that those organizations have the potential to apply LSS.

Findings – There is significant difference between leadership styles: intellectual  stimulation  transformational leadership, individualized consideration  transformational leadership, and transactional leadership at service and manufacturing industries. While there is no significance difference between lean six sigma implementation and industry type. The Idealized influence transformational leadership, Individualized consideration transformational leadership, and Autocratic leadership have significant impact on Lean Six Sigma implementation.
 
 
Research limitations/implications – This research is relevant to most manufacturing and service organizations; however, the research adopted only in Egypt, so additional research is needed to confirm the findings for a larger range of manufacturing and service organizations. Also, this research can be a platform for LSS practitioners to take appropriate action to overcome barriers for successful LSS implementation                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Originality/value – This study focused on exploring how leadership styles can impact a LSS implementation