Six Sigma Principles and How they Apply to Organizational Innovation

Despite the link between Six Sigma and continuous innovation, there are still limited theoretical and conceptual development opportunities for its applications. This conceptual paper examines the theoretical contributions of Six Sigma in terms of strategic organizational tools reflected by innovation and market orientation. This research explores the analyses of market orientation and innovativeness, in the application of Six Sigma, and its relevance to modern organizations. Findings show that while market orientation promotes continuous innovation, it can also lead to over-reliance on incremental innovation. Six Sigma can help organizations overcome this imbalance by integrating the long-term goals and resource capability development. Findings further suggest various theoretical concepts related to Six Sigma.