Download PDF SIX SIGMA FOR EVERYONE by GEORGE ECKES

Sinopsis

In this chapter, we describe the strategic component of Six Sigma. First, we describe what management must do to create Six Sigma as a true management philosophy in your company; that is, using it as a strategic weapon. The strategy of Six Sigma is called Business Process Management. We address what it is and provide an example. While you may not be directly involved in the strategic creation of Six Sigma, your involvement in later project teams is a direct result of the creation of Six Sigma as a strategy in your organization. Learning what your management has done to create Six Sigma as a vibrant management philosophy will motivate you to see your place in the organization as Six Sigma is implemented.

Quality initiatives have come and gone. You may have been part of one either in your current job or another place you have worked. Chances are these initiatives failed because their implementation involved jumping immediately into quality tactics without creating a strategy for the tactics to work.

A strategy may be defined as a plan or method for obtaining some goal or result. Unlike other quality initiatives, Six Sigma has a strategic component aimed at not only developing management’s commitment to Six Sigma, but their active involvement.

One of the problems with previous quality initiatives is that the workforce soon came to see the quality activities as nothing more than a way for them to work harder. They saw how they had to change the way they worked and how they had to participate in teams, learning new concepts, but they didn’t see management changing. In fact, with some quality initiatives the workforce soon saw that management would use the increased work to downsize the organization. When experts would analyze the results of a failed quality effort, high on the list of reasons behind the failure was the lack of management support.

Six Sigma is different because the work first and foremost begins with management. Management of any organization is responsible for the strategy of how work gets done (a plan or method for obtaining some goal or result). As a management strategy, Six Sigma is the plan or method for obtaining the goals or results of the business. To better understand how Six Sigma operates as a strategy, let’s first put you in the position of executive management.

Content

1. Why Has My Company Adopted Six Sigma? What Can Six Sigma Do for You?
2. The Strategic Component of Six Sigma
3. The Tactics of Six Sigma: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control
4. 10 Technical Tools to Master While on a Six Sigma Team
5. 10 “Soft” Tools You Will Need on a Six Sigma Team
6. 10 Common Questions about Six Sigma
7. Process Capability and Sigma Conversion Table

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