Impact of Lean, Six Sigma and environmental sustainability on the performance of SMEs

Purpose This paper aims to explore the impact of lean, Six Sigma and environmental sustainability on the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan. The firm performance has been measured in terms of operational, business and environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach A survey-based methodology is adopted for collecting data from the main cities of Punjab, Pakistan. SMEs related to different industries such as service, manufacturing, automotive and retail were targeted. The data gathered were ordinal, and Spearman's correlation test was used as the data analysis technique. Findings The findings indicated that the three management styles positively impacted the environmental performance of SMEs. Moreover, no significant relationship was found between the three management styles and the SMEs' business and operational performance. Research limitations/implications To counter the inefficient and wasteful practices of SMEs and their detrimental impact on overall firm performance, SMEs have to refocus and reconfigure their management strategies. It is implied to use lean, Six Sigma and environmental sustainability practices to achieve this goal. Originality/value The study empirically investigates the impact of lean, Six Sigma and environmental sustainability on the performance of SMEs in Pakistan, which is the first study to be conducted in the Pakistani context.