Lean and Lean Six Sigma for Higher Education Institutions
Keywords:
Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Higher Education Institutions, Case Study, Conceptual FrameworkAbstract
Private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are facing challenges with rising costs and declining student numbers. In 2017, only 42.6% of the vacancies offered by private HEIs in Brazil were fulfilled. In order to be able to stay competitive in this new scenario, private HEIs need to improve their services offered to their students. To overcome these challenges, many HEIs in many countries are adopting the Lean Thinking and the Lean Six Sigma (LSS), a powerful methodology that combines Lean with Six Sigma (SS), and provides tools and techniques to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes of the organization. The purpose of this paper is to perform a literature review on the application of the Lean Thinking and LSS in HEIs, focusing on conceptual frameworks and case studies. For this, a bibliographic search was carried out using the Scopus database. After the quality and relevance filters, three conceptual frameworks published after 2017 and seven case studies published after 2015 were found. The papers were analyzed in detail and their insights were presented. The results of this study can contribute and motivate researchers, LSS practitioners and HEIs staff to advance the LSS studies in HE.References
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