A study of knowledge flow in Six Sigma teams in a Chinese manufacturing enterprise
| Pages | 30-403 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/03055721011071485 |
| Date | 17 August 2010 |
| Published date | 17 August 2010 |
| Author | T X.P.racyZou,W.B. Lee |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
A study of knowledge flow in
Six Sigma teams in a Chinese
manufacturing enterprise
X.P. Tracy Zou and W.B. Lee
Knowledge Management Research Centre,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Abstract
Purpose – Six Sigma teams are special types of quality improvement teams which originated in the
USA in the 1980s and later became popular in manufacturing enterprises worldwide. One dilemma for
this type of teams is that they have to generate innovative solutions to solve urgent problems, while
they are strictly bound by the rigorous Six Sigma approach. Another important issue is that Six Sigma
is a typical western concept and the philosophy behind it contradicts some of the traditional Chinese
values. This study seeks to examine the knowledge flow in Six Sigma teams in order to understand
how the teams accommodate these conflicts.
Design/methodology/approach – The study applies a case study methodology and uses a
combination of storytelling and follow-up interviews.
Findings – The results show that Six Sigma teams go through a cycle from transforming the
external input into technical knowledge, practical knowledge and finally critical knowledge to create
opportunities for improvement. Another finding is that the teams are influenced by both the western
philosophy, for example, favouring analytical data, and Chinese values, for example, relying on input
from the senior management and apprenticeship mode of learning.
Originality/value – By incorporating cultural elements into the relevant literature of Six Sigma, this
study gives an insight into the influence of the cultural factors from both the west and the east on the
knowledge flow of Chinese Six Sigma teams in a manufacturing enterprise.
Keywords China, Culture,Knowledge management, Six Sigma
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Six Sigma is a widely adopted quality initiative that focuses on defect reduction and
process improvement (Wu and Lin, 2009). A Six Sigma program is often implemented
with champions (i.e. the owners of the projects) and multiple teams consisting of
members who have substantial knowledge about the process or product involved
(Kuma, 2007). The effectiveness of Six Sigma project teams may have impact on the
success of the whole quality improvement initiatives. Choo et al. (2007) points out that
there is a dilemma facing most Six Sigma project teams, which refers to the conflicts
between the pursuit of novel solutions and the adherence to a highly structured
process. Seeking to generate innovative solutions to solve problems could be viewed as
a kind of knowledge creation and variance seeking activity, but adhering to a
structured methodology is predominantly a variance reducing and exploitative
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the research committee of the Hong
Kong Polytechnic University for providing part of the financial support for this research. Many
thanks are also due to the management and participants of the company involved in this study.
VINE
40,3/4
390
VINE: The journal of information and
knowledge management systems
Vol. 40 No. 3/4, 2010
pp. 390-403
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0305-5728
DOI 10.1108/03055721011071485
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