The influence of project leaders' behavioral competencies on the performance of Six Sigma projects.

AutorMarzagao, Daniela Santana Lambert

1 Introduction

Many authors mention that, for the successful implementation of Six Sigma projects, companies must carefully select project leaders in order to ensure their competence in project management (Gijo & Rao, 2005; Johnson & Swisher, 2003). According to Boyatzis (1982), competence is a widely used term that can have many meanings, but it generally encompasses issues such as knowledge, competencies, attitudes and behavior referring to superior performance.

In the context of project management, the topic of the individual competencies of project managers has also received special attention from both professional and academic communities. Project management associations such as the International Project Management Association and the Project Management Institute have established responsibility frameworks for project managers. Stevenson & Starkweather (2010) point to the rise of professional certifications within project management. On the other hand, research indicates the impact of project managers' competencies on the success of projects (Chipulu, Ojiako & Williams, 2013), although little attention has been given to project managers' career models (Bredin & Soderlund, 2013).

Ahsan, Ho & Khan (2013) researched the desired profile in job vacancies for project managers and perceived emphasis on soft skills, involving behavioral aspects (Carvalho, 2014; Clarke, 2010a; Dainty, Cheng & Moore, 2005; Muller & Turner, 2010; Skulmoski & Hartman, 2010; Stevenson & Starkweather, 2010).

Although it is a relevant topic, there is a lack of research concerning Six Sigma projects. Given this gap, the purpose of this article is to identify key Six Sigma project leaders' competencies and relate them to project performance. To achieve this goal, the researchers gathered data from 191 project leaders in charge of 225 Six Sigma projects performed in companies from the industrial and services sectors in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. The Predictive Index (PI[R]) was applied for measuring project leaders' behavior; this is a self-assessment tool based on the behaviorist theory, which allows you to measure and report the professional behavior comparing to the adult population (Harry, Mann, Hodgins, Hulbert & Lacke, 2010).

This article contains five sections. Section 2 presents the synthesis of the theoretical framework, exploring the main aspects related to Six Sigma and project managers' competencies. Section 3 presents the detailed methodological approach used in the research. Section 4 presents the study results, and Section 5 the discussion of the main findings. Conclusions are presented in Section 6.

2 Literature review

According to the literature review carried out by Kwak & Anbari (2006) in the context of project management over the past 50 years, there are a number of new and relevant topics to this knowledge area, including the Six Sigma as one of the topics that deserve to be studied in depth from the project management perspective.

Six Sigma arose at Motorola and spread especially among large companies (Harry & Schroeder, 2000; Pande, Neuman & Cabanagh, 2001). Although Kaynak (2003) considers Six Sigma as a "TQM with steroids", Schroeder, Linderman, Liedtke & Choo (2008) and Zu, Fredendall & Douglas (2008) indicate that Six Sigma uses a common platform of knowledge, practice, and quality resources, complementing them with certain features and specific resources in order to increase effectiveness.

To Linderman, Schroeder, Zaheer & Choo (2003, p. 195) "Six Sigma is an organized and systematic method for strategic process improvement and new product and service development that relies on statistical methods and the scientific method to make dramatic reductions in customer defined defect rates."

To Schroeder et al. (2008, p. 540) Six Sigma has "four relevant constructs or elements (parallel-meso structure, improvement specialists, structured method, and performance metrics)." This parallel-meso structure provides a hierarchical structure independent of the organizational structure, where continuous improvement experts, called "belts", lead the projects, supported by companies' executives, the so-called "champions." Six Sigma dedicates itself to improving the organization and organizational change management. To Choo, Linderman & Schroeder (2007), Six Sigma has a positive impact on learning and knowledge management.

An important feature of Six Sigma that refers to the field of project management is its projectized structure. Zu et al. (2008) have shown that the core activities that differentiate Six Sigma from other quality initiatives are its structured procedures for improvement, characterized by disciplined and standardized execution of planned improvement activities through projects. Linderman et al. (2003) highlight the projectbased characteristic of Six Sigma and its specific goals to offer a differentiated performance facing other improvement initiatives. Snee (2001, p. 66) proposes a definition of Six Sigma projects as "aimed at the problem in which the solution is not known.. .we also need one or more measurements that quantify the magnitude of the problem and can be used to select the project goals and monitor progress."

Six Sigma has a program structure, deployed in projects carried out following the same management and methodology. According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) definition, (PMI, 2008), a program can be defined as a group of related projects managed in a coordinated manner to achieve strategic benefits and control that would not be available if they were individually managed.

Thus, it is possible to deploy Six Sigma within enterprises as a Program organized through projects in order to improve processes, increase customer satisfaction and financial results.

2.1 The role of Six Sigma project leaders

The program structure offers levels of proficiency of experts on Six Sigma methods, tools and techniques, and in dedication to the program specialist. The hierarchy of this structure is similar to martial arts, thus the term "belts." Leaders of Six Sigma projects are in general Black Belts, while Green Belts tend to support, but can also eventually lead projects.

According to Schroeder et al. (2008), the Black Belt is a full-time, well-trained specialist, who serves as a highly qualified project leader and reports to high leadership. The Black Belts' selection is not only based on technical competencies, but also on leadership competencies. Green Belts receive fewer hours of training in Six Sigma and, in general, work part-time on projects, while Black Belts receive extensive training and are responsible for providing assistance to Six Sigma project teams, supporting as mentors and supporting training activities.

Davison & Al-Shaghana (2007) identified differences between companies that have and don't have Six Sigma regarding human resources, such as training, employees' participation and creating quality awareness. Buch & Tolentino (2006) also mention that the employees believe that their participation in the Six Sigma program will add value to their carrier and the organization. Kumar & Antony (2008) also identified differences between knowledge transfer among SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) which adopt Six Sigma and ISO (International Organization for Standardization) in the United Kingdom.

Since Six Sigma program can be analyzed according to the perspective of programs, Table 1 compares critical success factors (FCS) for projects as discussed by Shao & Muller (2011) with critical success factors mentioned in Six Sigma literature.

Since project leaders' competencies are one of the key critical success factors, we decided to explore their impact on the success of Six Sigma projects.

Gijo & Rau (2005) identify the obstacles to the implementation of Six Sigma, highlighting the difficulty in project execution due to a lack of resources and the difficulty in selecting people with interpersonal competencies to lead projects. Several authors show the importance of careful selection of project leaders based on their leadership competencies (Johnson & Swisher, 2003; Zu, Fredendall & Douglas, 2008). However, Six Sigma project leaders' key competencies have not been properly described. The literature of the Project Management field has devoted more attention to the behavioral competencies required of project managers.

2.2 Project managers' competencies

Some of the major associations and institutes dedicated to the field of project management have individual competencies of project managers' guidelines. Among the most widespread is the Competence Baseline of International Project Management Association (IPMA, 2006) and the Project Manager Competency Development Framework (PMCDF) from the Project Management Institute (PMI, 2007). A comparative analysis of these reference models shows that there are similarities between them with regard to behavioral competencies.

The Project Manager Competency Development Framework (PMCDF) (PMI, 2007) describes knowledge, performance and personal competencies. Knowledge competencies are described in the PMBOK, currently in its 5th edition (PMI, 2013); performance and personal competencies, on the other hand, are formed by units of competence, for example, "project planning," deployed in elements of competence (approved project schedule, etc.). Similarly, the ICB presents technical competencies (in Project Management and behavioral), but also highlights contextual competencies (IPMA, 2006).

There is less consensus within academic literature. To Caupin et al. (1999), a project manager should be someone with communication competencies, initiative and motivation, openminded, responsive, sensitive, unbiased, conflict solver, problem solver and leadership. Brill, Bishop & Walker (2006) present a list with 117 in nine groups of competencies: problem solving, leadership, knowledge of the context, analytical competencies, ability to handle...

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