Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-194).

M.Tech. Business Administration. Business School. / In their attempt to continuously improve their operations, Sasol Mining has since 1998 embarked on several different improvement initiatives including Operation Excellence with the improvement Lean Six Sigma in 2008. The main reason for choosing Lean Six Sigma was that the latter is a general, standard, well-documented improvement methodology, which is not dependent on any specific consultancy group to ensure successful and sustainable implementation. For sustainable Lean Six Sigma programme implementation, Sasol Mining has to ensure that human resources skills development and motivation enabling systems such as training and reward systems are in place. This research focuses on the assessment of the extent to which Operation Excellence employees perceive that there are benefits associated with their participation in the Lean Six Sigma programme during 2010 at Sasol Mining. In particular, how these perceptions could be effectively used by management as a basis for creating the environment where people are content and motivated to perform their best. The research investigates employee perceptions of various levels of Lean Six Sigma training within the context of categories of rewards most frequently associated with Lean Six Sigma; extrinsic, intrinsic, organisational and social rewards.

This dissertation reports on the research work of a new business improvement methodology called the design for Six Sigma (DFSS) conducted within a global resources company with specific reference to Manganese Metal Company (MMC), a subsidiary of BHP Billiton (BHPB). The aim of this research was by means of a case study, through action research, to investigate, analyse and evaluate the "Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Verify" (DMADV) model proposed by Picard (2004) with specific reference to a new product design. The study was concerned with identifying the BHPB strategic business reasons, effects and analysing the financial impact of implementing a DFSS project pertaining to a new product design at MMC. The literature review highlighted that DFSS enhances revenue growth, quality and reliability for a new product. The key findings were that DFSS does not exist within MMC and BHPB, the DFSS methodology could improve and enhance the revenue for a new product design at MMC and none of the BHPB customer sector groups are reporting any operating excellence (OE) annualised cost improvement benefits for DFSS projects. The main recommendation emerging from this research is that an integrated DFSS process will enable BHPB to identify critical leverage points for improving the overall financial performance in achieving the FY09 OE objective of $1 billion in annualised cost improvement benefits thus achieving the world class benchmark standard set by General Electric Corporation.

One of the major challenges for organisations operating in today's global business environment is to improve productivity, reduce costs and enhance customer service. Six Sigma methodology has become a popular approach in a number of organisations as a business improvement tool. This research presented Six Sigma as a business transformation methodology within Lonmin operations. The purpose of this research was to identify the primary factors in the Six Sigma framework, and to evaluate the relationship between these factors in the framework and their contribution towards transformation in terms of business improvement. This research critically evaluated the application of Six Sigma within Lonmin in the South African context. Quantitative data was obtained from questionnaires distributed to the different Six Sigma role players within Lonmin. A probability sample was used; sixty five (65) Six Sigma candidates were drawn from Lonmin with a Six Sigma population size of one hundred and twenty (120) employees listed in the Six Sigma database. Data was collected using an e-mail based questionnaire developed by the researcher. The main contributions of this study showed that communication and organisational culture were the most important factors to transform business performance when Six Sigma was integrated with business principles. The study revealed that project selection was a vital element in the process that determined the value towards business improvement. Six Sigma must be supplemented by other programmes (Theory of Constraints, Design For Six Sigma) in order to be more effective in attaining business performance. This research will benefit management to evaluate and structure an aligned methodology for transformation. Employees will be motivated to attain greater knowledge and skill. Research will prove beneficial to organisations that need to transform their organisation. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

"We fail more often not because we fail to solve the problem we face but because we fail to face the right problem." (Russell L. Ackoff) Although centralisation of support functions causes initial cost savings, benefits may not improve unless there is continuous enhancement of product offerings and service quality. Commonly tension arises between the shared services centre and the business units, and this is exacerbated when business units do not understand the level of service they receive, or the service centres do not understand the level of quality they offer. This ultimately leads to confusion, lowered morale and loss of workers. Six Sigma is a business strategy and a systematic methodology, use of which leads to breakthrough in profitability through quantum gains in product / service quality, customer satisfaction and productivity. The concept of implementing Six Sigma was pioneered at Motorola in the 1980's and the objective was to reduce the number of defects to as few as 3.4 parts per million opportunities. For effective implementation of Six Sigma projects in organisations, one must understand the critical success factors that will make the application successful. This dissertation attempts to understand the underlying principles of Six Sigma and its applicability to the Gauteng Shared Services Centre, in order to achieve quantum gains in service quality, customer satisfaction and productivity. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2006.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (M.B.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-132). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of School of Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-77).