Internal marketing for Six Sigma success: a conceptual framework

Six Sigma methodology has been described as a process improvement tool responsible for billions of dollars in business improvements and is the most popular improvement methodology in use in businesses today. Yet, in spite of its popularity, both managers and Six Sigma teams often express frustration over incomplete implementations that fail to live up to the benefits planned by the Six Sigma teams. Interestingly, this frustration is common even in companies with strong corporate commitment to Six Sigma methodology. In addition, a recurring theme for over twenty years in quality management literature is frustration with the implementation of continuous improvement initiatives and inconsistencies in long term gains. The breakdown of organisational support for improvements is frequently blamed. Could weaknesses in implementation and organisational support be related to a lack of internal marketing of changes to the workforce? Can regulatory fit theory help explain these phenomena? This study looks at Six Sigma projects as process improvement 'products and/or services' that need to be marketed to the workforce in order to accomplish lasting benefits. Regulatory fit theory is applied and a Kano model survey methodology is proposed to examine the effects of internal marketing on long term improvement success.