Impacts of Lean Six Sigma over organizational sustainability: A survey study

The purpose of this paper was to verify how Lean Six Sigma (LSS) could influence the organizational sustainability through their projects, given that there are few scientific studies that seek to evaluate the relationship that current exist between this tree streams: Lean, Six Sigma and Sustainability. The metodologie used on this study has qualitative point of view, based on experts' perception and collected by survey. The authors structured a questionnaire with 13 impacts of LSS, which was subsequently applied over 106 international LSS experts, with Green Belt, Black Belt, Master Black Belt or Champions certification. The survey investigate the expert perception of LSS influence over the three pillars of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). There were identified in this study the correlation between LSS and organizational sustainability, principally due to impacts that significantly influence over Financial pillar of TBL. The authors also identified the 5 more influential impacts over organizational were identified and the importance of cost dimension for sustainability in organizations. This study assists in expansion of knowledge about the use of LSS by evaluating the influence of the metodologie over organizational sustainability and providing a deeper understanding of the relationship existing between them. Because of its feature, this study also raises the awareness among governments and companies regarding the weaknesses identified between TBL pillars. The survey application model through the LinkedIn platform presented in this study also shows itself as a possible source of inspiration for future studies. Even with the large volume of articles published about the Green Lean Six Sigma (GLSS) theme, it was not possible to identify papers that aim to verify the impacts of LSS methodology over the organization with a holistic and sustainable point of view. Within this scenario, the present study seeks to fill the verified gap.