Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review of the literature about lean six sigma (LSS) implementation in European organizations written by academics or practitioners from European institutions to extract useful conclusions about LSS adoption in European companies and to suggest direction for future research concerning the broader LSS application in them.

Design/methodology/approach

This study has been conducted by reviewing 58 papers, found in top journals, coming from European institutions that present studies of European companies and fulfill the selected inclusion criteria.

Findings

The analysis of the literature revealed the level of penetration of the LSS methodology in organizations of each European country. The study of the papers revealed the sectors and the size of companies that are more active in LSS application, the method used in each project, the tools which are deployed and the interconnection between LSS and other topics through the project implementation.

Research limitations/implications

The limited access provided by the authors’ institution only to three major publishers (Emerald, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis) and the focus of the search only in European organizations were the main limitations of this review.

Practical implications

This paper provides both academics and practitioners with valuable insights about LSS implementation in European organizations, presenting a complete analysis framework of the literature and highlighting gaps for further research.

Originality/value

An extended and detailed analysis of LSS adoption in Europe has not been conducted before. This review presents a clear view about how LSS projects in European organization have been applied so far and suggests ways of how the literature could be enriched to facilitate the LSS implementation.

中文翻译：

---

对欧洲组织采用精益六西格码的系统文献综述

目的

本文的目的是回顾由欧洲机构的学者或从业人员撰写的有关在欧洲组织中实施精益六西格码（LSS）的文献，以得出有关在欧洲公司中采用LSS的有用结论，并为今后更广泛的研究提供方向建议他们中的LSS应用程序。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究是通过审查来自顶尖机构的58篇论文来进行的，这些论文来自提供有关欧洲公司研究并符合选定入选标准的欧洲机构。

发现

对文献的分析揭示了LSS方法论在每个欧洲国家的组织中的渗透水平。论文的研究揭示了在LSS应用中更活跃的公司的部门和规模，每个项目中使用的方法，所部署的工具以及通过项目实施而在LSS与其他主题之间的相互联系。

研究局限/意义

作者所在的机构仅向三大出版商（Emerald，Elsevier，Taylor和Francis）提供有限的访问权限，并且仅在欧洲组织中进行搜索是这些评论的主要限制。

实际影响

本文为学者和从业人员提供了有关在欧洲组织中实施LSS的宝贵见解，并提供了完整的文献分析框架并突出了需要进一步研究的空白。

创意/价值

以前尚未对LSS在欧洲的采用情况进行过广泛而详细的分析。这篇评论提出了一个清晰的观点，说明迄今为止在欧洲组织中的LSS项目是如何应用的，并提出了如何丰富文献以促进LSS实施的方法。