Quality Management and Six Sigma

This paper reviewed literature on the CSFs of Six Sigma implementation in different sectors, worldwide and a comprehensive framework was proposed for Six Sigma critical success factors (CSFs). All those factors was extracted from literature review and seem essential for optimizing financial return from Six Sigma projects and for achieving the full potential of its application in all organizations. A case study was also conducted, in which the CSFs were prioritized in five major car maker companies who applied and experienced a number of Six Sigma projects in Iran, as a developing country. According to the literature review, it was found that factors such as leadership and top management commitment, linking Six Sigma to business strategy, supporting organizational infrastructures, and training and understanding Six Sigma concepts are the most important factors, any organization should consider as first priorities in its Six Sigma project. However, some boundaries and limitations might exit in each of the reviewed studies, such as the number of companies, available resources, time constraints, etc. In some of the reviewed resources, it was found that due to the limited budget and time constraints, postal surveys were carried out for data collection. On the other hand, in some of the other reviewed resources, semi-structured interviews with employees in the companies enabled the author to have a deeper insight into the practice of Six Sigma business strategy. Considering the research limitations, according to Gillham (2000), the scaled questions have disadvantages because respondents often do not use the whole scale. This was also found in the case study presented in this study, in which a seven point scale was used in the questionnaire and the mean value of CSFs had a range of 5.10 to 6.38, denoting considerable, high and very high influence. The results of the case study imply that not all companies have equal mean values of CSFs. Also, their influence rates of CSFs are not equally prioritized. Also, it has been found that almost all CSFs have same values, except for "training" that has a smaller value. Furthermore, it was highlighted that although companies such as Iran khodro and Saipa have similarities, for instance in having most of the market share, the CSFs do not have the same prioritization in both of the companies. In the analysis of the data of all companies, it was found that "understanding methodology and techniques of Six Sigma" had the highest mean value and the first priority, while, "training" had the lowest mean value and the last priority. From one point of view, this seems ambiguous; but after interviewing with top and executive managers it was found that Iranian companies are dealing with the problem of training effectiveness. In other words, there might not be any problem with scheduling or financing the training programs, rather the main problem is in implementation and taking the learnt theories into action. They were not sure whether they have used correct tools and techniques. An important point is that they do not have any defined system for measuring the effectiveness of their Six Sigma training programs. Another important result from the analysis is the second priority, i.e. "linking Six Sigma to customers", which has a mean value of 5.97, and is very close to 5.99 that is the value of the first priority, i.e. "understanding methodology and techniques of Six Sigma". It might be due to the fact that almost all companies were found to have problems and difficulties in their after sales services in recent years and therefore, customer satisfaction is now the first strategic priority for them. However, considering the strategic plans written in the car companies, such as Iran Khodro and their policy of developing exports in the next 20 years To solve analytical or managerial problems in laboratory medicine and to decrease errors to a negligible level, Six Sigma methodology is the right choice. Some may find this assertion too optimistic. They claim that Six Sigma methodology is suitable for industry, but not for medical purposes. Unfortunately, such claims typically come from people who never practiced Six Sigma methodology in the healthcare sector. As mentioned previously, if we do not measure, we do not know, and if we do not know, we cannot manage. The quality of many commercial products and services is very high because it is quite easy to apply quality principles in the industrial sector. Regrettably, currently, the same is not true in medicine. Unfortunately, people make more errors than machines do, and consequently, if human intervention in a process is high, the number of errors would also be expected to be high. To decrease the error rate, we should decrease human intervention by using high-quality technology whenever possible. However, it may not currently be possible to apply sophisticated technology to all medical disciplines equally; however, for laboratory medicine, we certainly have the opportunity to apply technology. If we continue to apply technology to all branches of medicine, we may ultimately decrease the error rate to a negligible level. Six Sigma is the microscope of quality scientists. It shows the reality and does not mask problems. The errors that we are interest are primarily analytical errors, which represent only the tip of the iceberg. However, the reality is quite different. When we see the whole iceberg and control it all, then it will be possible to reach Six Sigma level and even higher quality in clinical laboratories Preface......Page 7 Yang, Ching-Chow......Page 9 Ali Rizwan, PhD......Page 39 Arash Shahin......Page 51 Bianca Soares de Oliveira Gonçalves and Marcel Andreotti Musetti......Page 61 Maher Lazreg......Page 75 Stelian Brad......Page 97 Ajit Ashok Shenvi......Page 117 Maria Teresa Baldassarre, Nicola Boffoli and Danilo Caivano......Page 143 Carla Ilane M. Bezerra, Adriano B. Albuquerque and Luiz Sérgio Plácido......Page 163 Timo Liukkonen, Ph.D......Page 191 Wei Zhan......Page 215 Dr. M. Meenakshi and Prof. M. Seetharama Bhat......Page 233 Abdurrahman Coskun, Tamer Inal, Ibrahim Unsal and Mustafa Serteser......Page 255 María Mitre......Page 271