The Ten Commandments of Lean Six Sigma: A guide for practitioners

By J Anthony, Vijaya Sunder M, C Laux, E Cudney
Emerald Publishing Ltd | November 2019

Citation

Anthony, J., Sunder M, Vijaya., Laux, C., Cudney, E. The Ten Commandments of Lean Six Sigma: A guide for practitioners Emerald Publishing Ltd .

Emerald Publishing Ltd, 2019

Abstract

Lean Six Sigma is a powerful methodology that reduces waste and variation in an organization and ultimately minimizes operating costs, optimizes productivity, and maximizes customer satisfaction. The success stories speak for themselves, but not all LSS stories have a happy ending, and a large body of scholarly research shows why. What is needed now is a set of accessible general guidelines for organizations seeking to implement and sustain such a powerful, but at times perilous, continuous improvement strategy. The Ten Commandments of Lean Six Sigma provides just that, offering guidance from the perspective of practitioners, researchers and academics who have been involved in training, teaching, researching and consulting on various topics of quality and continuous improvement such as Lean, Six Sigma and LSS. Delving into the cutting edge of business process enhancement, this book is an essential and practical guide for senior managers and executives who want to achieve operational and service excellence in manufacturing, service and public sector organizations of any size.

Vijaya Sunder M is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management (Practice) and Programme Director of the Operational Excellence for Leaders Programme at the Indian School of Business (ISB). He also serves on the advisory board of ISB’s Executive Fellow Programme in Management and Executive Education. Previously, he was Chair of the Experiential Learning Programme (2022-2025), Academic Director of the Centre for Business Innovation (2023–2024), and a BAT Research Fellow (2021–2023).

He holds a PhD in Operational Excellence from IIT Madras and brings over 18 years of industry experience from global corporations. He has served as Head of Business Process Excellence at the World Bank Group, Assistant Vice President at Barclays, and Quality Leader at American Express and Citi.

Professor Sunder’s research focuses on operational excellence, project management, behavioural operations, and human-AI collaboration. He has authored three books and published scholarly research in leading journals, including Production and Operations Management, Journal of Operations Management, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business Research, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. His articles have also appeared in Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Management and Business Review, and Rotman Management. His teaching case studies, published by Harvard Business Publishing, are among the bestsellers.
Professor Sunder has received several prestigious honours, including ASQ’s Global Crosby Award, IAQ’s

Walter E. Masing Award, and recognition as one of PEX Network’s (IQPC) Top 50 Operational Excellence Thought Leaders worldwide. In 2025, he was featured in Business Mint’s 50 Under 50 Brightest Minds of India for his contributions to the field of Operational Excellence. He is also a recipient of IIT Madras Best Researcher Award in 2018, the Quality Champion Award (Gold category) by the Quality Control of India (QCI), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India in 2022, and the Financial Times Responsible Business Education Award (Runner-up) in 2022.

At ISB, he teaches PGP, Executive MBA, and PhD courses such as Business Process Excellence, Operational Excellence, Digital Transformation in Services, Project Management, and Operations Management. He has won multiple “Professor of the Year” – Best Teacher: Teaching Excellence Awards for the PGP core and elective courses for the Class of 2021 (one award), Class of 2023 (two awards), Class of 2024 (one award), Class of 2025 (three awards), and the AMPH Class of 2024 (one award).

A TEDx speaker and sought-after keynote presenter, Professor Sunder has trained over 10,000 business executives worldwide and is widely known for his innovative and experiential pedagogies.

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Vijaya Sunder M