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Some pros and cons of six sigma: an academic perspective

Jiju Antony
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Some pros and cons of
six sigma: an academic
perspective
Jiju Antony
Downloaded by HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY At 10:12 02 October 2014 (PT)
The author
Jiju Antony is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Six Sigma
Research Centre, Division of Management, Caledonian Business
School, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK.
Keywords
Quality programmes, Management strategy,
Statistical methods of analysis
Abstract
Six sigma is a powerful business strategy that employs a
disciplined approach to tackle process variability using the
application of statistical and non-statistical tools and techniques
in a rigorous manner. This paper examines the pros and cons of
six sigma in a detailed manner. This is followed by a section
about the future of six sigma and its links to statistical thinking.
It is believed that, although the total package may change, the
applications of six sigma will continue to grow in the
forthcoming years, due to the existence of sound principles of
statistical thinking within the six sigma strategy.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
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www.emeraldinsight.com/0954-478X.htm
The TQM Magazine
Volume 16 · Number 4 · 2004 · pp. 303-306
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0954-478X
DOI 10.1108/09544780410541945
303
Introduction
Six sigma is a business strategy that seeks to
identify and eliminate causes of errors or defects or
failures in business processes by focusing on
outputs that are critical to customers (Snee, 1999).
It is also a measure of quality that strives for near
elimination of defects using the application of
statistical methods. A defect is defined as anything
which could lead to customer dissatisfaction. The
fundamental objective of the six sigma
methodology is the implementation of a
measurement-based strategy that focuses on
process improvement and variation reduction. A
number of papers and books have been published
showing the fundamentals of six sigma, such as,
what is six sigma (Hoerl, 1998; Breyfogle III,
1999; Harry and Schroeder, 1999), why do we
need six sigma (Snee, 2000; Pande et al., 2001),
what makes six sigma different from other quality
initiatives (Pyzdek, 2001; Snee and Hoerl, 2003),
six sigma deployment (Keller, 2001; Adams et al.,
2003), critical success factors of six sigma
implementation (Antony and Banuelas, 2002), six
sigma project selection process (Snee, 2002) and
organisational infrastructure required for
implementing six sigma (Adams et al., 2003; Snee
and Hoerl, 2003).
I personally have experienced that senior
management in many organisations view six sigma
as another quality improvement initiative or
flavour of the month in their list. I am often told by
many engineers and managers, in small and big
companies, that there is nothing really new in six
sigma compared to other quality initiatives we have
witnessed in the past. In response, I often ask a
simple question to people in organisations who
practise TQM, “what do you understand by the
term TQM?”. I often get many varying answers to
this question. However if I ask a bunch of six sigma
practitioners, “what do you know of the term six
sigma?”, I often get an answer which means more
or less the same thing and concurs with what I
would have expected. The following aspects of the
six sigma strategy are not accentuated in previous
quality improvement initiatives:
.
Six sigma strategy places a clear focus on
achieving measurable and quantifiable
financial returns to the bottom-line of an
organisation. No six sigma project is approved
unless the bottom-line impact has been clearly
identified and defined.
.
Six sigma strategy places an unprecedented
importance on strong and passionate
leadership and the support required for its
successful deployment.
.
Six sigma methodology of problem solving
integrates the human elements (culture
 Some pros and cons of six sigma
Jiju Antony
change, customer focus, belt system
infrastructure, etc.) and process elements
(process management, statistical analysis of
process data, measurement system analysis,
etc.) of improvement.
.
Six sigma methodology utilises the tools and
techniques for fixing problems in business
processes in a sequential and disciplined
fashion. Each tool and technique within the
six sigma methodology has a role to play and
when, where, why and how these tools or
techniques should be applied is the difference
between success and failure of a six sigma
project.
.
Six sigma creates an infrastructure of
champions, master black belts (MBBs), black
belts (BBs) and green belts (GBs) that lead,
Downloaded by HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY At 10:12 02 October 2014 (PT)
deploy and implement the approach.
.
Six sigma emphasises the importance of data
and decision making based on facts and data
rather than assumptions and hunches! Six
sigma forces people to put measurements in
place. Measurement must be considered as a
part of the culture change.
.
Six sigma utilises the concept of statistical
thinking and encourages the application of
well-proven statistical tools and techniques for
defect reduction through process variability
reduction methods (e.g. statistical process
control and design of experiments).
Just like any other quality improvement initiatives
we have seen in the past, six sigma has its own
limitations. The following are some of the
limitations of six sigma which create opportunities
for future research:
.
The challenge of having quality data available,
especially in processes where no data is
available to begin with (sometimes this task
could take the largest proportion of the project
time).
.
In some cases, there is frustration as the
solutions driven by the data are expensive and
only a small part of the solution is
implemented at the end.
. The right selection and prioritisation of
projects is one of the critical success factors of
a six sigma program. The prioritisation of
projects in many organisations is still based on
pure subjective judgement. Very few powerful
tools are available for prioritising projects and
this should be major thrust for research in the
future.
.
The statistical definition of six sigma is 3.4
defects or failures per million opportunities.
In service processes, a defect may be defined
as anything which does not meet customer
needs or expectations. It would be illogical to
assume that all defects are equally good when
304
The TQM Magazine
Volume 16 · Number 4 · 2004 · 303-306
we calculate the sigma capability level of a
process. For instance, a defect in a hospital
could be a wrong admission procedure, lack of
training required by a staff member,
misbehaviour of staff members, unwillingness
to help patients when they have specific
queries, etc.
. The calculation of defect rates or error rates is
based on the assumption of normality. The
calculation of defect rates for non-normal
situations is not yet properly addressed in the
current literature of six sigma.
.
Due to dynamic market demands, the
critical-to-quality characteristics (CTQs) of
today would not necessarily be meaningful
tomorrow. All CTQs should be critically
examined at all times and refined as necessary
(Goh, 2002).
.
Very little research has been done on the
optimisation of multiple CTQs in six sigma
projects.
.
Assumption of 1.5 sigma shift for all service
processes does not make much sense. This
particular issue should be the major thrust for
future research, as a small shift in sigma could
lead to erroneous defect calculations.
.
Non-standardisation procedures in the
certification process of black belts and green
belts is another limitation. This means not all
black belts or green belts are equally capable.
Research has shown that the skills and
expertise developed by black belts are
inconsistent across companies and are
dependent to a great extent on the certifying
body. For more information on this aspect,
readers are advised to refer to Hoerl (2001).
Black belts believe they know all the practical
aspects of advanced quality improvement
methods such as design of experiments, robust
design, response surface methodology,
statistical process control and reliability, when
in fact they have barely scratched the surface.
.
The start-up cost for institutionalising six
sigma into a corporate culture can be a
significant investment. This particular feature
would discourage many small and medium
size enterprises from the introduction,
development and implementation of six sigma
strategy.
.
Six sigma can easily digress into a bureaucratic
exercise if the focus is on such things as the
number of trained black belts and green belts,
number of projects completed, etc. instead of
bottom-line savings.
.
There is an overselling of six sigma by too
many consulting firms. Many of them claim
expertise in six sigma when they barely
 Some pros and cons of six sigma
Jiju Antony
understand the tools and techniques and the
six sigma roadmap.
.
The relationship between cost of poor quality
(COPQ) and process sigma quality level
requires more justification.
.
The linkage between six sigma and
organisational culture and learning is not
addressed properly in the existing literature.
.
The “five sigma” wall proposed in Mikel
Harry’s book, Six Sigma: The Breakthrough
Management Strategy Revolutionising the
World’s Top Corporations, is questionable.
Companies might redesign their processes
well before even four sigma quality level.
Moreover, it is illogical to assume that the
“five sigma” wall approach is valid for all
processes (manufacturing, service or
Downloaded by HERIOT WATT UNIVERSITY At 10:12 02 October 2014 (PT)
transactional). Moreover, the decision of
re-design efforts over continuous
improvement depends on a number of other
variables such as risk, technology, cost,
customer demands, time, complexity, etc.
What does the future hold for six sigma?
In my opinion, six sigma will be around as long as
the projects yield measurable or quantifiable
bottom-line results in monetary or financial terms.
When six sigma projects stop yielding bottom-line
results, it might disappear. I also feel that while six
sigma will evolve in the forthcoming years, there
are some core elements or principles within six
sigma that will be maintained, irrespective of the
“next big thing”. One of the real dangers of six
sigma is to do with the capability of black belts (the
so-called technical experts) who tackle challenging
projects in organisations. We cannot simply
assume that all black belts are equally good and
their capabilities vary enormously across industries
(manufacturing or service), depending a great deal
on the certifying body. Another danger is the
attitude of many senior managers in organisations
that six sigma is “an instant pudding” solving all
their ever-lasting problems.
I also believe that the six sigma toolkit will
continue to add new tools, especially from other
disciplines such as healthcare, finance, sales and
marketing. Having a core set of tools and
techniques is an advantage of six sigma that brings
speed to fix problems and its ease of accessibility to
black belts and green belts.
I would like to raise the point that six sigma does
provide an effective means for deploying and
implementing statistical thinking (Snee, 1990;
2002) which is based on the following three
rudimentary principles:
(1) All work occurs in a system of interconnected
processes.
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The TQM Magazine
Volume 16 · Number 4 · 2004 · 303-306
(2) Variation exists in all processes.
(3) Understanding and analysing the variation are
keys to success.
Statistical thinking can also be defined as thought
processes, which recognise that variation is all
around us and present in everything we do. All
work is a series of interconnected processes, and
identifying, characterising, quantifying,
controlling and reducing variation provide
opportunities for improvement (Snee, 1990). The
above principles of statistical thinking within six
sigma are robust and therefore it is fair to say that
six sigma will continue to grow in the forthcoming
years. In other words, statistical thinking may be
used to create a culture that should be deeply
embedded in every employee within any
organisation embarking on six sigma programs.
However the total package may change in the
evolutionary process. It is important to remember
that six sigma has a better record than total quality
management (TQM) and business process
re-engineering (BPR), since its inception in the
mid-late 1980s. The ever-changing need to
improve will no doubt create needs to improve the
existing six sigma methodology and hence develop
better products and provide better services in the
future. As a final note, the author believes that
companies implementing or contemplating
embarking on six sigma programs should not view
it as an advertising banner for promotional
purposes.
Conclusion
Six Sigma as a powerful business strategy has been
well recognised as an imperative for achieving and
sustaining operational and service excellence.
While the original focus of six sigma was on
manufacturing, today it has been widely accepted
in both service and transactional processes. This
paper highlights the pros and cons of six sigma
from the viewpoint of an academician. Although
the total package may change as part of the
evolutionary process, the core principles of six
sigma will continue to grow in the future. Six sigma
has made a huge impact on industry and yet the
academic community lags behind in its
understanding of this powerful strategy. It will
therefore be incumbent on academic fraternity to
provide well-grounded theories to explain the
phenomena of six sigma. In other words, six sigma
lacks a theoretical underpinning and hence it is our
responsibility as academicians to bridge the gap
between the theory and practice of six sigma.
 Some pros and cons of six sigma
Jiju Antony
References
Adams, C., Gupta, P. and Wilson, C. (2003), Six Sigma
Deployment, Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, MA.
Antony, J. and Bañuelas, R. (2002), “Key ingredients for the
effective implementation of six sigma program”,
Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 20-7.
Breyfogle, F.W. III (1999), Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter
Solutions Using Statistical Methods, John Wiley & Sons,
New York, NY.
Goh, T.N. (2002), “A strategic assessment of six sigma”, Quality
and Reliability Engineering International, Vol. 18 No. 2,
pp. 403-10.
Harry, M.J. and Schroeder, R. (1999), Six Sigma: The
Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing the
World’s Top Corporations, Doubleday, New York, NY.
Hoerl, R.W. (1998), “Six sigma and the future of the quality
profession”, Quality Progress, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 35-42.
Hoerl, R.W. (2001), “Six sigma black belts: what do they need to
know?”, Journal of Quality Technology, Vol. 33 No. 4,
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pp. 391-406.
Keller, P.A. (2001), Six Sigma Deployment, Quality Publishing,
Tucson, AZ.
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The TQM Magazine
Volume 16 · Number 4 · 2004 · 303-306
Pande, P., Neuman, R. and Cavanagh, R. (2001), The Six Sigma
Way, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Pyzdek, T. (2001), The Six Sigma Handbook: A Complete Guide
for Greenbelts, Blackbelts and Managers at All Levels,
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Snee, R.D. (1990), “Statistical thinking and its contribution to
total quality”, The American Statistician, Vol. 44 No. 2,
pp. 116-21.
Snee, R.D. (1999), “Why should statisticians pay attention to six
sigma?”, Quality Progress, September, pp. 100-3.
Snee, R.D. (2000), “Impact of six sigma on quality engineering”,
Quality Engineering, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 9-14.
Snee, R.D. (2002), “The project selection process”, Quality
Progress, September, pp. 78-80.
Snee, R.D. and Hoerl, R.W. (2003), Leading Six Sigma
Companies, FT Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Further reading
ASQ (1996), Glossary and Tables for SQC, Quality Press,
Milwaukee, WI.
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