SIX-SIGMA PROGRAM TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF PRODUCTS: A CASE STUDY OF SOUTH AFRICAN MEAT INDUSTRY

The study aims to understand the root cause of poor-quality problems in the organisation under study and further aid to propose an effective framework for improving quality and addressing the underlying problem. This study answered the following research question: What is the impact of Six Sigma on quality in the South African meat industry? Qualitative research approached was adopted as a suitable research method for this study in which unstructured interviews and observations were used to gather data and presented in a case study form for ease of interpretation and understanding by the audience. Key findings of this study include the poor number of employees with higher education qualifications and poor top management practices. Hence, it was recommended that the top management of the organisation should provide bursaries and encourage enrolment for high educational qualifications, and this should be part of the key performance appraisals (KPAs). Future research will focus on testing the proposed framework to assess its effectiveness in the meat industry and replicating the study in other industries to enable ease of generalization of the application of Six Sigma.