Effect of technological intensity on the relationships among Six Sigma design, electronic-business, and competitive advantage: A dynamic capabilities model study

The implementation of Six Sigma programs must take into consideration the level of technological intensity of the organization to determine the relative impact of program design factors and the applications for electronic business on sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). From a Dynamic Capabilities Model perspective, this research studies the moderating effect of technological intensity on the relationships among Six Sigma program design factors, e-business applications, and SCA for sixty-six manufacturing and service organizations. Technological intensity of a firm is defined as the level of research and development (R&D) expenditures as a percentage of corporate sales revenues. Corporations with greater technological intensity invest more heavily in Research and Development to become more competitive. Factor analysis for ten Six Sigma program design items resulted in five program design factors. High technological intensive firms are perceived as attaching a greater importance to certain design factors that are related to electronic-business practices, as compared to other design factors for low technological intensive companies. Similarly, different program design factors are associated with SCA for high-tech than for low-tech companies. Finally only high-tech companies have applications of Six Sigma to electronic-business practices that are correlated with SCA. The recent evolution of Six Sigma programs from manufacturing companies to service organizations suggests competitive opportunities exist for firms to enhance their success, especially in terms of process improvement design factors and applications to electronic-business.