HKSQ Seminar on Organization Development Study of the Impact of Cultural Factors on Six Sigma Implementation in Southern China

The seminar entitled “An Organization Development Study of the Impact of Cultural Factors on the Implementation of the Six Sigma Methodology in Southern China” was organized by Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ) and co-organized with ASQ-HK on 9th Oct 2015. The seminar aimed to introduce the study which did not only examine the impact or soft factors of culture on Six Sigma implementation, but also thoroughly explore the strategic objectives of organization development by Six Sigma.
In the beginning, Mr. Peter Fung (Chairman, HKSQ) introduced HKSQ background and the guest speaker Dr. Ivan Chan. Dr. Ivan Ng was our member who studied DBA in CityU. Moreover, HKSQ supported his study through distribution of questionnaire to our members and also linked with HKQAA for their customer.

Dr. Ivan Ng (Director, Capstone Enterprises Ltd.) talk included his study introduction, literature review and research hypotheses, methodology, result and discussion.

In the beginning, Dr. Ng briefed the phenomenon that some companies completed Six Sigma, some continued with it, and some abandoned it. Another observation was some integrate with other initiatives, and some carry it as a brand name. There were several research problem such as Six Sigma performed in another culture, Six Sigma and Innovation, Critical Success Factors of Six Sigma, and Six Sigma implementation issues in Chinese enterprises.

Then Dr. Ng explained to use his methodology such as three stages of data collection and analysis included “Exploratory Interviews”, “Questionnaire Survey” (116; ~6.8% response rate) and “Post-study Interviews” (2x academics; 2x consultants; 3x practitioners). During the survey, Organization Culture Profile (OCP) and Chinese Value Survey (CVS) were employed.
Organization Culture Profile (OCP) included Supportive Culture, Performance Orientation, Emphasis on Rewards, Competitive Culture and Innovative Culture.

Chinese Value Survey (CVS) included Integration Factors, Performance Orientation and Personal Factors.

Then Dr. Ng explained some results in his study. Most of companies were manufacturing and below 100 employees. More than half of responded company’s Headquarter were in Hong Kong which were product dominant.

SME abandoned ratio was high and most foreign-owned enterprise would like to implement Six Sigma. The top three reasons for abandoning Six Sigma were:
- Six Sigma did not fit organization culture
- Resistance was seen in different levels of employment
- Training demands were not realistic to the employees

Dr. Ivan Ng’s findings told us that Chinese Value Survey dimensions did not significant on Six Sigma outcomes. Organization Culture Profile (OCP) had effect on Six Sigma Quality Culture outcomes especially on Supportive Culture (positive) and Innovation culture (negative). Result summary was shown as following table. For negative finding of Innovation culture on Six Sigma Quality Culture outcome, Dr. Ng’s explanation was below:
- An Innovation culture focuses on flexibility, experimentation, and risk taking
- A Six Sigma culture focuses on measurements, control, and procedural consistency.

At end of the seminar, Mr. Peter Fung (Chairman, HKSQ) presented a souvenir to Dr. Ivan Ng.

Finally, HKSQ exco members took a group photo with Dr. Ivan Ng.
(Left: Dr. Aaron Tong, Dr. KS Chin, Mr. Peter Fung, Dr. Ivan Ng, Mr. Karson Chui, Ms. Minda Chiang and I)

Reference:
HKSQ - www.hksq.org