IMPlementation

Where Do You Stand?

Measure the
effectiveness of
your Six Sigma
Implementation

any organizations around the world have implemented Six Sigma and
improved their market share, customer satisfaction, reliability, product
performance and financial savings. But there are several organizations that
have been unable to implement the method successfully for a variety of reasons.
Fortunately, an assessment model provided by George Eckes in his book, Making
Six Sigma Last, can help organizations strike a balance between Six Sigma and
quality acceptance. In his Q A = E model, E is the effectiveness of the Six Sigma
implementation. The measures are divided into two main categories: the elements
of a Six Sigma initiative (Q-index) and quality acceptance (A-index).1
Q and A

By Jung-Lang
Cheng, Cheng
Shiu University

Business management is a strategy deployment vehicle that integrates market and

customer requirements with a competitive assessment. Business management is
designed, led and managed so it is easy for customers to do business with an organization and to help employees serve customers in a changing environment.2 There are
four factors that contribute to business management (see Figure 1, p. 16):
1. Managers of the steering organizationincluding executives, Champions,
Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Green Beltsdevelop a culture of cooperation, communication and collaboration among individuals within the
organization.3
2. Project management evaluates individual or group projects, and then chooses
which ones to implement so the organizations objectives will be achieved.4, 5
3. Management consultants develop a good working relationship with an organization to promote organizational change. If the organization faces barriers
to implementing Six Sigma, the management consultants can step in to help
enhance organizational performance.6
4. Training and education are essentially a communication process that ensures
managers and employees apply and implement Six Sigma techniques effectively.7 Putting employees through a series of training and education activities
provides them with an understanding of the Six Sigma concepts involved and
enables them to ask the right questions for difficult situations they encounter.8
A successful Six Sigma system is based on implementing the define, measure,
analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) structure.9 The business process owners in
a Six Sigma project thus need to incorporate the DMAIC method in their activities.
The ultimate aim of creating and confirming Six Sigma requirements is to
identify which areas must be improved and initiate action to incorporate factors
unique to the organizations environment.10 The initiative is driven by top management, which strongly influences and enables the restructuring of the organization,
and can thus change employee attitudes toward Six Sigma11 (see Figure 2, p. 16).
Six Sigma only works when leadership is passionate about developing a dynamic
commitment and willingness to change. After Six Sigma has been deployed in the
organization, top management needs to disseminate the message that its time to
address problems with a Six Sigma system that can not only improve the bottom
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Where Do You S tand ?

Figure 1. Q-index framework

Figure 3. The research flow of Q A = E

Management consultant

The AIDC
samples

Instruct

Business
management

Steering
organization

Project
management

Support
Training and education

A1: Create requirements

A2: Confirm requirements
A3: Dynamic commitments
A4: Measurement acceptance
A5: System structure

Q1: Business management

Q2: Training and education
Q3: Management consultant
Q4: Project management
Q5: Steering organization

A6: Management support

Figure 2. Quality acceptance framework

System structure

Confirm
requirements

Audit
The Range
(R) 3

Create
requirements

A = ( Ai /n 2)/6,
i = 1, 6
N = the samples

The Range
(R) 3

Q = ( Qi /n 2)/5,
i = 1, 5
N = the samples

Six Sigma

E
Management support
Dynamic commitments

Shape Six Sigma vision

Measurement acceptance

line, but also improve customer satisfaction.12

The measurement acceptance factor assesses whether employees are aware of Six Sigma management
systems, why Six Sigma is important and how Six Sigma
works in the organization. The most important element in shaping the vision of Six Sigma is to create
new behaviors and emphasize how strategic initiatives
can help an organization meet its business objectives.13
Field study
The Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC)
was established to produce the most advanced aircraft
engine parts and to provide services related to assembly, testing, maintenance and production planning.
AIDC has cooperated with many foreign companies
and has accumulated experience and technical know-

16

May 2012

W W W . AS Q . ORG

AIDC = Aerospace Industrial Development Corp.

how in its core capabilities. As a result, it has grown into

one of the top aircraft engine manufacturers in Taiwan
and one of the leaders in the Asia-Pacific region.
Although AIDC has achieved a high level of business
performance, employee acceptance with regard to
implementing Six Sigma is still unknown. That makes
the organization a prime candidate to explore which
organizational factors can enhance and improve the
performance of Six Sigma implementation
The Q A = E formula can be used to evaluate
the current quality level and uncover improvement
factors that could improve business performance (as
presented in Figure 3). As mentioned earlier, the
formulas measures are divided into two categories:
Six Sigma and quality acceptance. Each factor in the
two categories is explored using five to six objectively
formulated questions. Table 1 shows the E outcome,
which is divided into five classifications to illustrate the
level of performance when implementing Six Sigma.
Findings of Q A = E score
A total of 80 questionnaires were mailed to AIDC and
distributed internally. The mailing consisted of the

W h e r e D o Yo u S t a nd?

Table 1. Classification of Q A = E scores

Extent

Q A = E score

Results

0-20

Wasted their money on Six Sigma.

21-40

Some tactical results, initiative will

likely die.

41-60

Significant tactical results, initiative

will focus on projects for the life of
Six Sigma.

61-80

Culture transformation, but may take

some time.

81-100

Culture transformation, a world-class

Six Sigma organization.

Source: George Eckes, Making Six Sigma Last, John Wiley & Sons, 2001.

Table 2. Likert scale of Q-index

and A-index value
Q-index

Summary and suggestions

A-index
Rating

Contents

Rating

Contents

1. Business
management

3.78 2 =
7.56

1. Create
requirements

3.63 2 =
7.26

2. Training and
education

3.69 2 =
7.38

2. Confirm
requirements

3.81 2 =
7.62

3. Management
consultant

3.50 2
=7

3. Dynamic
commitments

3.31 2 =
6.62

4. Project
management

3.49 2 =
6.98

4. Measurement
acceptance

3.50 2 =
7.00

5. Steering
organization

3.52 2 =
7.04

5. System
structure

3.56 2 =
7.12

6. Management
support

3.63 2 =
7.26

Overall average

3.57 2 =
7.14

Overall average

3.60 2 =
7.20

questionnaire, a cover letter and a stamped, preaddressed return envelope. As a response incentive,
AIDC was told it would receive details of the studys
results. Seventy-four questionnaires were returned,
representing a 92.5% response rate. The respondents
demographic information was gathered, including
gender, department, position in the organization, job
tenure and role in steering the organization.
Table 2 shows the average value of the Q-index
is 3.60. The highest value is business management
(3.78), and the lowest is project management (3.49).
The average value of the A-index is 3.57. The highest
value is confirm Six Sigma requirements (3.81), and
the lowest value is dynamic commitments (3.49). In
this case, the equation would be 7.20 7.14 = 51.408.

E = Q-index A-index

51.408

Classification of
Q A = E extent

Table 3. Classification of Q A = E scores

Extent

Q A = E score

Wasted their money on Six Sigma.

Results

Some tactical results, initiative will

likely die.

51.408

Significant tactical results, initiative

will focus on projects for the life of
Six Sigma.

Culture transformation, but may take

some time.

Culture transformation, a world-class

Six Sigma organization.

The data from the formula indicates AIDCs Six Sigma

implementation has benefited from management
performance, but the organization still has room to
improve when it comes to Six Sigma implementation
(Table 3). The organization can reach levels four and
five by adopting a better management approach. The
results suggest there are two specific approaches that
can improve Six Sigma performance:
1. Use management consultants to guide the Six
Sigma project. AIDC needs to implement the transformation of its Six Sigma culture if it wants to reach level
four. Table 4 shows the improved values of the Q A
factors, from which we can draw several conclusions.
Figure 4 (p. 18) shows AIDC should invite management consultants to guide the Six Sigma project, thus
enhancing the values of the management consultant
from 7 to 8.42 and project management factors from
6.98 to 8.42. As a result of the change to the factors in
the Q-index, there are improvements to the A-index
values of dynamic commitments from 6.62 to 8.42
and measurement acceptance from 7 to 8.42 (Figure
5, p. 18).
2. Implement organizational change. If AIDC wants
to attain level five, which represents a world-class
Six Sigma organization, it needs to implement further organizational change. That means integrating

Table 4. The Q A = E score

Current E value

Improved E value

Q-index value = 7.20

Q-index value = 8.56

A-index value = 7.14

A-index value = 7.14

E = Q-index A-index = 51.408 E = Q-index A-index = 61.12

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Where Do You S tand ?

Figure 5. A-index value comparison

Average value

Average value

Figure 4. Q-index value comparison

3
2
1

3
2
1
0

Current

Current

Figure 7. A-index value comparison

5

Average value

3
2
1

3
2
1

Improved

improvement efforts with Q-index and A-index factors.

Table 5 shows that the value of performance reaches a
score of 81 if these actions are taken.
Figure 6 shows that all improved factors included in
the Q-index have a score of more than 4. The maximum range value is project management (2.72), and
the minimum range value is training and education
(0.8). All factor values included in the A-index (Figure
7) also must be more than 4. The maximum range
value is dynamic commitments (3.08), and the minimum range value is confirm requirements (0.98).
Like many other organizations, AIDC has implemented Six Sigma and achieved remarkable improvements in market share, customer satisfaction and
financial savings, but some improvements can still be
made via the Q A = E method.
The first step AIDC should take is to root Six Sigma
performances in the business process. If the organiza-

May 2012

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W W W . AS Q . ORG

Current

Improved

tion wants to improve business performance by implementing Six Sigma, the key critical factors are not the
Six Sigma tools or techniques themselves, but rather
the adoption of Six Sigma culture within the organization. Thats why its crucial for the organization to
choose the right staff members and motivate them to
undertake the necessary changes in the right way.
AIDC should also enhance the accountability of
top management. The Q A = E method is used to
evaluate the quality current level and then uncover

Table 5. The Q A = E score

Current E value

Improved E value

Q-index value = 7.20

Q-index value = 9.04

A-index value = 7.14

A-index value = 8.97

E = Q-index A-index = 51.408 E = Q-index A-index = 81.09

W h e r e D o Yo u S t and?

the key improvement factors that can upgrade business performance. Selecting the factors to improve
should be based on the features and characteristics of
the organization, with different organizations paying
attention to different factors.
The responsibility of top management is to remain
closely involved in this process and decide which factors
are priorities for adjustment that will help the organization achieve successful Six Sigma implementation.
References
1. George Eckes, Making Six Sigma Last, John Wiley & Sons, 2001.
2. Amit Chatterjee, Innovating Growth Through Six Sigma, Global Journal
of Flexible Systems Management, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 33-37.
3. Taina Savolainen and Arto Haikonen, Dynamics of Organizations Learning and Continuous Improvement in Six Sigma Implementation, TQM
Magazine, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 6-17.
4. Jack Meredith and Samuel Mantel, Project Management: A Managerial Approach, Wiley, 2003.
5. Ricardo Banuelas and Jiju Antony, Critical Success Factors for the Successful Implementation of Six Sigma Projects in Organizations, TQM
Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 92-99.
6. Diane Kulisek, Full-Time Quality Manager or Part-Time Quality Consul-

tant, Quality Progress, July 2007, pp. 61-64.

7. Y.H. Kwak and F.T. Anbari, Benefits, Obstacles and Future of Six Sigma
Approach, Technovation, Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 708-715.
8. Craig Sutton, Get the Most Out of Six Sigma, Quality, Vol. 45, No. 3, pp.
46-49.
9. George Byrne, Ensuring Optimal Success With Six Sigma Implementations, Journal of Organizational Excellence, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 43-50.
10. M.W. Ford and J.R. Evans, Models for Organizational Self-Assessment,
Business Horizons, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 25.
11. K.M. Henderson and J.R. Evans, Successful Implementation of Six
Sigma: Benchmarking General Electric Co., Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 260-281.
12. Shirshendu Mukherjee, A Dose of DMAIC, Quality Progress, August
2008, pp. 44-52.
13. S.T. Foster Jr., Quality Survival Guide: Leadership, Quality Progress, July
2007, pp. 25-35.

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