Grounding of Six Sigma’s Breakthrough Cookbook: how to research a methodology?

The Six Sigma programme has developed into a standard for quality and efficiency improvement in business and industry. This fact makes scientific research into the validity and applicability of this methodology important. This article explores the possibilities of a scientific study of the methodological aspects of the Six Sigma programme, and its Breakthrough Cookbook in particular. The objective of the paper is to provide researchers with a scientifically sound approach for studying the validity and applicability of a methodology such as Six Sigma. Several research methodologies are considered, whereupon a grounding research approach is developed. A comparison of the results of a literature review and the proposed research plan learns that current literature on the methodological aspects of Six Sigma does not meet scientific standards of precision and consistency.