Top ten reasons for process improvement project failures
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide the top ten reasons of process improvement projects termination or failure to Lean and Six Sigma professionals and researchers. Design/methodology/approach The top ten reasons of process improvement projects termination or failure are based on literature, interaction of authors with Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belts, consultants, practitioners and trainers on various topics of Lean, Six Sigma, general quality management and continuous improvement along several years’ experience of the authors. Findings The top ten reasons in our opinion include lack of commitment and support from top management; poor communication practices; incompetent team; inadequate training and learning; faulty selection of process improvement methodology and its associated tools/techniques; inappropriate rewards and recognition system/culture; scope creepiness; sub-optimal team size and composition; inconsistent monitoring and control; and resistance to change. Research limitations/implications The top ten reasons mentioned in this study are based on only literature and authors’ opinion. The authors of this paper have been pursuing a global study to critically evaluate the reasons behind process improvement projects failure based on a case-study approach. Originality/value The chief operations officers and senior executives of various businesses can use these top ten reasons to develop project failure risk mitigation strategies and save significant cash-savings associated with such project terminations or failures in some other cases.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Bitcoin was invented by Nakamoto in 2008.
“Bitcoin was invented by Nakamoto in 2008 [12,47,48].”
From Blockchain Technology: Potential Applications for Public Sector E-Procurement and Project Management (2022) · cites this paper as [47]
Cites
Choosing Strategies for Change
Kotter, J. P., & Schlesinger, L. A. (1989) · doi:10.1007/978-1-349-20317-8_21 · Cited by 1,391 · see citing works
A framework for identifying software project risks
Keil, M., Cule, P. E., Lyytinen, K., & Schmidt, R. C. (1998) · Communications of the ACM · doi:10.1145/287831.287843 · Cited by 695 · see citing works
Critical success factors for the successful implementation of six sigma projects in organisations
Coronado, R. B., & Antony, J. (2002) · The TQM Journal · doi:10.1108/09544780210416702 · Cited by 678 · see citing works
Self-citationA Review and Integration of Team Composition Models: Moving Toward a Dynamic and Temporal Framework
Mathieu, J. E., Tannenbaum, S. I., Donsbach, J. S., & Alliger, G. M. (2014) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206313503014 · Cited by 408 · see citing works
Crawford, P., & Bryce, P. (2003) · International Journal of Project Management · doi:10.1016/s0263-7863(02)00060-1 · Cited by 348 · see citing works
Creating an effective training environment for enhancing telework
Venkatesh, V., & Speier, C. (2000) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1006/ijhc.1999.0367 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Implementing Lean Six Sigma to overcome the production challenges in an aerospace company
Thomas, A. J., Francis, M., Fisher, R., et al. (2016) · Production Planning & Control · doi:10.1080/09537287.2016.1165300 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
RETHINKING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE: Reframing the Challenge of Change Management
Kerber, K. W., & Buono, A. F. (2005) · Organization development journal · Cited by 113 · see citing works
The interactive effect of team dynamics and organizational support on ICT project success
Gelbard, R. M., & Carmeli, A. (2008) · International Journal of Project Management · doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2008.07.005 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Project Team Dynamics and Cognitive Style
Buffinton, K. W., Jablokow, K., & Ginis, K. A. M. (2002) · Engineering Management Journal · doi:10.1080/10429247.2002.11415170 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Lee‐Kelley, L. (2002) · Journal of Management Development · doi:10.1108/02621710210430623 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Knowledge Management: Hope, Hype, or Harbinger?.
Oder, N., & DiMattia, S. S. (1997) · Library journal · Cited by 62 · see citing works
London Ambulance Service computer-aided despatch system
Hougham, M. (1996) · International Journal of Project Management · doi:10.1016/0263-7863(95)00067-4 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Managing IT projects: communication pitfalls and bridges
Gillard, S. (2004) · Journal of Information Science · doi:10.1177/0165551505049257 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Functional silos, integration & encroachment in internal communication
Neill, M. S., & Jiang, H. (2017) · Public Relations Review · doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2017.06.009 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Lowry, P. B., Romano, N. C., Jenkins, J. L., & Guthrie, R. W. (2009) · Journal of Management Information Systems · doi:10.2753/mis0742-1222260107 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
The Influence of Communication and Information Quality on Trust in the Small Business Supply Chain
McDowell, W. C., Harris, M. L., & Gibson, S. G. (2013) · The Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship · doi:10.9774/gleaf.3709.2013.ap.00004 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
A Framework for Developing Portfolios of Improvements Projects in Manufacturing
Kornfeld, B. J., & Kara, S. (2013) · Procedia CIRP · doi:10.1016/j.procir.2013.06.002 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Knowledge Management Framework for Six Sigma Performance Level Assessment
Sahno, J., Shevtshenko, E., & Karaulova, T. (2013) · Advances in intelligent systems and computing · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36981-0_25 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Blockchain Technology: Potential Applications for Public Sector E-Procurement and Project Management
Khalfan, M., Azizi, N., Haass, O., Maqsood, T., & Ahmed, I. (2022) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su14105791 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
- Authors
- Antony, J., & Gupta, S.
- Affiliations
- Heriot-Watt University (GB)
- Venue
- International Journal of Lean Six Sigma
- Publisher
- Emerald
- Published
- 2019-03-04
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 367-374
- ISSN
- 2040-4166 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2810068335
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 10 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 14.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Quality and Supply Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Management Systems and Quality Improvement
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Management and Optimization Techniques
- Keywords
- project closing, Lean Six Sigma, top management commitment, scope creep, resistance to change, team competence, rewards and recognition, project monitoring and control, continuous improvement
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
