Organized by: University College Cork, Purdue University, Heriot-Watt University

The keynote speakers and workshop leaders of this international event are pioneers and leading practitioners of both Six Sigma and Lean Production strategies. The Eighth International Conference on Lean Six Sigma would like to invite papers for the following themes:

Abstracts for the conference should have the following structure, and answer the representative questions:

Abstracts should contain no more than 250 words. Write concisely and clearly. The abstract should reflect only what appears in the original paper.

1. Purpose of this paper
   What are the reason(s) for writing the paper or the aims of the research?
2. Design/methodology/approach
   How are the objectives achieved? Include the main method(s) used for the research. What is the approach to the topic and what is the theoretical or subject scope of the paper?
3. Findings
   What was found during the work? This will refer to analysis, discussion, or results.
4. Research limitations/implications (if applicable)
   If research is reported on in the paper this section must be completed and should include suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process.
5. Practical implications (if applicable)
   What outcomes and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified? Not all papers will have practical implications but most will. What changes to practice should be made because of this research/paper?
6. Social Implications (if applicable)
   What will be the impact on society of this research? How will it influence public attitudes? How will it influence (corporate) social responsibility or environmental issues? How could it inform public or industry policy? How might it affect quality of life?
7. What is originality/value of paper
   What is new in the paper? State the value of the paper and to whom.

The submission relate to the conference objectives and themes:

Specific objectives of the ICLSS conference include:

• Create an awareness of the prowess of Lean Six Sigma in problem-solving and enhancing competitiveness of an organization
• Build a network of individuals, corporations and institutions willing to take a change agent role in leading Six Sigma and Lean strategies
• Build a quality and cost reduction mindset for Business Executives and Senior managers through Six Sigma and Lean Principles
• Share well-proven results for practitioners of Six Sigma, Lean Production System and Lean Six Sigma through presentation of case studies, workshops and tutorials
• Build a network of industries and academic institutions partnership committed to developing Lean Six Sigma research and training collaboration
• Bring in the Best Practice Management of Lean Six Sigma through shared experiences with internationally renowned practitioners and academics

Instructions for Reviewers

Please review the paper for the following structure and content:

• Originality: Does the paper contain new and significant information adequate to justify publication?
• Relationship to Literature: Does the paper demonstrate an adequate understanding of the relevant literature in the field and cite an appropriate range of literature sources? Is any significant work ignored?
• Methodology: Is the paper’s argument built on an appropriate base of theory, concepts or other ideas? Has the research or equivalent intellectual work on which the paper is based been well designed? Are the methods employed appropriate?
• Results: Are results presented clearly and analysed appropriately? Do the conclusions adequately tie together the other elements of the paper?
• Implications for research, practice and/or society: Does Does the paper identify clearly any implications for research, practice and/or society? Does the paper bridge the gap between theory and practice? How can the research be used in practice (economic and commercial impact), in teaching, to influence public policy, in research (contributing to the body of knowledge)? What is the impact upon society (influencing public attitudes, affecting quality of life)? Are these implications consistent with the findings and conclusions of the paper?
• Quality of Communication: Does the paper clearly express its case, measured against the technical language of the field and the expected knowledge of the journal’s readership? Has attention been paid to the clarity of expression and readability, such as sentence structure, jargon use, acronyms, etc.

Please ensure you complete all required above of your reviewer comments. Try to avoid straight yes or no answers when completing the review.

Recommendations:

• Accept
• Minor Revisions
• Major Revisions
• Reject (Paper has already been accepted for publication)

Minor revisions may more often require the author to make relatively small adjustments to the paper, the type of which that would not take too much more time. These may be to bring the paper more in line with author guidelines with a slightly reduced word count, formatting changes or the labelling of tables or figures; further evidence of an understanding of the extant research literature; or to elaborate a little more on the research findings.

Major revisions might require the author to make more significant improvements, the type of which that may take weeks or even months rather than days. Authors may be asked to address flaws in the methodology; collect more data; conduct a more thorough analysis; or even adjust the research question to ensure the paper contributes something truly original to the body of work.

Importantly, constructive feedback should be provided by the reviewers so that authors are clear on how to improve their papers.

Note: All queries related to conference and submission of abstracts and full papers must be forwarded to either Professor Jiju Antony or Dr. Chad Laux