조직변화의 성공요인에 관한 연구 : 6시그마를 중심으로

Abstract

최근 10여 년 동안 서구 선진기업은 물론 국내 기업에 가장 광범위하게 도입된 경영관리기법은 6시그마이다. 하지만 6시그마 연구의 다수가 현상을 기술하는데 머물고 있으며 학문적 의미와 조직성과에 미치는 영향을 이론적으로 접근하려는 시도는 빈약한 실정이다. 이에 본 연구는 6시그마가 성공적으로 실행되는 과정과 조직성과에 미치는 영향을 탐구하여 성공모델을 제시하고, 각 성공요인의 의미를 경영학 이론으로 재해석하였다.|||| 본 연구는 6시그마를 도입했던 19개 대상 기업을 선정하고 다중사례연구를 실시하여 최고경영진의 몰입, 톨게이트 점검, 벨트조직 운영이라는 요인으로 구성된 성공모델을 도출하였고, 각 성공요인에 대한 경영학적 의미를 조직변화준비, 조직통제, 병렬학습조직의 관점에서 해석하였다.|||| 지금까지 많은 기업들이 6시그마를 경험하였지만 그 효과와 평판은 아직도 찬사와 부정이 혼재되어 있다. 하지만 과학적인 검증 없이 6시그마를 일시적인 유행으로 치부해 버리거나 만병통치약으로 맹신하는 것은 무익하다. 이런 측면에서 본 연구의 의의를 세 가지로 요약할 수 있다. 첫째, 6시그마의 성패는 도입여부가 결정하는 것이 아니라 어떻게 실행하느냐가 관건이라는 점을 성공모델로 규명한 것이다. 둘째, 실무적 현상이던 6시그마에 경영학적 의미를 부여함으로써 향후 이론화 작업의 토대를 제시한 것이다. 마지막으로 6시그마 또는 여타 경영관리기법을 도입하려는 기업들에게 성공적 실행을 위한 실무적 시사점을 제시한 것이다.In today’s dynamic and turbulent business environment, organizations need to be adaptable in order to survive. Over the last ten years, numerous firms have embraced the need for change armed with new initiatives and change management strategies. But the startling truth is that between 70~80% of all change initiatives fail. Managers face the dilemma of needing to implement change yet with an increasing awareness of the limited prospect for success. During this same period many change-minded, high profile global and Korean organizations have chosen to implement Six Sigma change initiatives. Six Sigma programs typically have a quantifiable quality focus, but may also aim to improve processes, increase organizational learning, satisfy customers, and improve the bottom line. Therefore, the authors have chosen to analyze the general causes of change initiative failure through the specific lens of Six Sigma as implemented in 19 Korean firms.|||| Six Sigma has become one of the most recognized of management techniques. Literally speaking, Six Sigma means the quality goal of improving processes to below 3.4 DPMO (defects per million opportunities). Moreover, Six Sigma uses a project-based approach to organizational change, and includes specific protocols for communications and particular nomenclature for identifying the role and hierarchical status of change program participants. Although there are many practitioner-driven books and writings on Six Sigma, academic literature on this important topic is limited. Moreover, since the available studies on Six Sigma effectiveness depend on the self-reported surveys of participants or on collated data from internal company reports, the conclusions must necessarily be limited.|||| To address this gap in the literature and rigorously research Six Sigma effects, we first surveyed relevant academic management theories and drew up a theoretical framework upon which to base our analysis. We then examined the performance impacts of Six Sigma on 19 case study firms ? 8 worst case and 11 best case implementations ? using theoretical replication, and identified the critical success factors for implementation.|||| The results reveal several common success factors: commitment of the top management team, implementation of Six Sigma tollgate reviews, and implementation of a Six Sigma belt system. Each success factor was interpreted by the authors in terms of organizational change readiness, organizational control, and parallel learning structure. In addition, the success factors had the significant correlation with two organizational characteristics such as organizational scale and financial slack. The result of study can be summarized as follows.|||| It was most critical for successful Six Sigma implementation that the top management team should play the role of change messenger who could consistently share the messages for organizational change readiness with employees (Self & Schraeder, 2009). The messages were evaluated according to discrepancy (is the change necessary?), appropriateness (is the change being introduced the right change to make?), principal support (are key organizational members supportive of the change?), and valence (what is in it for me if we change?). We found that the messages were observed as specific change initiative activities: linkage Six Sigma to business strategy, resolving the conflict with other change programs, linkage Six Sigma to human resources management, and understanding philosophy and methodology within Six Sigma. Also, these activities had the influence upon tollgate reviews and belt system.|||| The five core stages of the Six Sigma approach are Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC). In Six Sigma, “tollgate reviews” are conducted at the end of the major DMAIC stages and are periodic project reviews in order to address specific project milestones.