Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Articles Article Faculty Publications -Articles Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lean Six Sigma competitiveness for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME): an action research in the Indian context Subject The topic of the resource Design of experiments (DOE); India; Lean six sigma; MSME; PI controller; Printing industry Description An account of the resource Purpose: The aim of the article is to ascertain the challenges, lessons learned and managerial implications in the deployment of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) competitiveness to micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSME) in India and to establish doctrines to strengthen the initiatives of the government. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts the Action Research methodology to develop a case study, which is carried out in the printing industry in a Tier III city using the LSS DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) approach. It utilizes LSS tools to deploy the strategy and to unearth the challenges and success factors in improving the printing process of a specific batch of a product. Findings: The root cause for the critical to quality (CTQ) characteristic, turn-around-time (TAT) is determined and the solutions are deployed through the scientifically proven data-based approach. As a result of this study, the TAT reduced from an average of 1541.21303.36min, which in turn, improved the sigma level from 0.55 to 2.96, a noteworthy triumph for this MSME. The company realizes an annual savings of USD 12,000 per year due to the success of this project. Top Management Leadership, Data-Based Validation, Technical Know-how and Industrial Engineering Knowledge Base are identified as critical success factors (CSFs), while profitability and on-time delivery are the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the MSME. Eventually, the lessons learned and implications indicate that LSS competitiveness can be treated as quality management standards (QMS) and quality tools and techniques (QTT) to ensure competitive advantage, sustainable green practices and growth. Research limitations/implications: Even though the findings and recommendations of this research are based on a single case study, it is worth noting that the case study is executed in a Tier III city along with novice users of LSS tools and techniques. This indicates the applicability of LSS in MSME and thus, the modality adopted can be further refined to suit the socio-cultural aspects of India. Originality/value: This article illustrates the deployment of LSS from the perspective of novice users, to assist MSME and policymakers to reinforce competitiveness through LSS. Moreover, the government can initiate a scheme in line with LSS competitiveness to complement the existing schemes based on the findings of the case study. 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bhat S.; Gijo E.V.; Rego A.M.; Bhat V.S. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived TQM Journal, Vol-33, No. 2, pp. 379-406. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Emerald Group Holdings Ltd. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-01-01 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-04-2020-0079" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-04-2020-0079</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85089378186&amp;doi=10.1108%2FTQM-04-2020-0079&amp;partnerID=40&amp;md5=9e50c9e9ead6c60cfef727cdbfff01d5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85089378186&amp;doi=10.1108%2fTQM-04-2020-0079&amp;partnerID=40&amp;md5=9e50c9e9ead6c60cfef727cdbfff01d5</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Restricted Access Relation A related resource ISSN: 17542731 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Online Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Article Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Bhat S., Department of Mechanical Engineering, St Joseph Engineering College, Mangalore, India; Gijo E.V., SQC and OR Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, India; Rego A.M., Department of Mechanical and Automobile Engineering, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India; Bhat V.S., Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mangalore Institute of Technology and Engineering, , Moodabidri, India