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What is Six Sigma Process Management?
Book

What is Six Sigma Process Management?

Rowland Hayler and Michael Nichols
McGraw-Hill, 2005
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Writing about Six Sigma pins authors on the horns of a dilemma: Should they get specific about this complex system’s methods, steps, charts and graphs, and thus risk turning off their readers? Or should they gloss over the details, perhaps using general narratives or case studies instead, whetting readers’ appetites but leaving them undernourished for information? Rowland Hayler and Michael Nichols opted for the former to present Six Sigma in compact form in this short book. The authors are interested not only in the fundamental issues of Six Sigma, but also in how to use this tactic to manage a company’s ongoing processes. While hardly an introductory primer, this book manages a neat balancing act. getAbstract gives it a strong recommendation, particularly to those readers with some prior knowledge of Six Sigma.

Summary

Defining Success

Doing business requires creating an edge over your competition – while the competition is trying to get an edge over you. Luckily, you can turn to Six Sigma, a time-tested method for making your organization leaner and more profitable. Once you learn its essential management skills and practices, your company can streamline its operations and boost its product quality.

A company’s most essential activities are called “core processes.” As you invest in studying, understanding and improving the core processes that drive your company, you can create pockets of “cultural change” that lead to enhanced capabilities. The more this culture of change spreads, the more you can take on major initiatives to align your company with its markets and customers.

Simply put, Six Sigma process management helps a company’s leaders understand what really matters to their customers and how to meet their needs. Six Sigma can help your firm carry out its work more smoothly and at a higher quality level. It offers these advantages:

  • It helps define and prioritize your projects.
  • It allows you to ascertain whether your change initiatives really work.

About the Authors

Rowland Hayler is the director of international operations for a Six Sigma consulting company where Michael Nichols is a principal. Nichols also is a Six Sigma senior practitioner at the “master black belt” level at a major international company.

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