Six Sigma and Cultural Structure

The author Alan Larson in the book “Demystifying Six Sigma” says that Six Sigma is the “Successful Evolution of Total Quality Management Systems”. Alternately it’s Total Business Management or Total Operational Management.

According to the author, Six Sigma is Total Quality Management and its described as below:

In a Six Sigma system everyone is committed to meeting customer’s expectations through collaborative focus.

All of the employees share a common passion for the success of organization. Employees at all levels of operations know their quality levels and are committed to make it better.

The company makes its operating policies based upon customers satisfaction. Thus customers also like to do business with the company. This is also referred to as Symbiosis. Symbiosis is a natural phenomenon and different species live together for mutual benefits. The outputs of the processes in the organization are predictable and the processes themselves are repeatable with minimal errors.

Some of the cultural aspects of Six Sigma companies are as below:

1. The total customer satisfaction is the driving force behind the company operations and functions.
2. They customer satisfaction levels are measurable and controllable.
3. Several programs are available to improve customer satisfaction level.
4. The management is driven by company’s vision and its deployed down to the lowest hierarchy level.
5. The processes of corporate are under control and committed to reduce errors through proper mechanisms.
6. Employees are encouraged to use their own intelligence rather than following the pre-built procedures.
7. Lots of trainings are given to each and everyone as per their role in the organization.
8. Employees are challenged to work more efficiently.
9. Rewards and recognitions are given to the achievers.
10. Everyone in the company knows what they are contributing to the success of the company.

The ideas for this article are taken from “Demystifying Six Sigma” by Alan Larson.

The author was one of the original divisional quality directors at Motorola chartered with developing, training, and deploying the culture and methods of Six Sigma. They were able to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and maximize customer satisfaction in all operations.