How Firms and Corporates Grow in any Economy
The rules of economics and business are such that in any economy, old or new, recession or boom, the basic rules governing growth are the same. Indeed, ever since the modern day capitalist model of business emerged, growth at any cost and in any economy has been the driving force behind all the decisions that […]
Is Dubai Really Tax Free ?
Expats want to flock to Dubai. Apart from the high quality of life, the foremost reason for such enthusiasm for Dubai is the fact that Dubai is a tax-free nation. There is no income tax on income generated in Dubai. Also, there is no sales tax on the majority of goods and services. Therefore, there […]
Talent Management and Corporate Strategy: Aligned for Driving Excellence
Talent Management in the contemporary scenario has received increasing importance from the corporate world and have been acknowledged as the key for providing a competitive edge and a leadership advantage by developing the top talents and resources in an organizations. Talent Management can be regarded as a process of acquisition, hiring and retaining the most […]
What is Due Diligence, Why it is Important, and How it Works and, What it Does ?
What is Due Diligence? Many of us would have heard the term Due Diligence in various contexts and situations where one party to a transaction often tells the other to do their due diligence or states that it is considering the same. Indeed, as anyone who has negotiated an employment contract or a legal drafting […]
The Need for Person Independence in Software Project Management
The Perils of Person Dependence Imagine you are a project manager of a software project and are managing multiple resources. If by chance, one of your employees has an emergency (personal or otherwise) and has to take leave suddenly, your first priority should be to ensure that the employee gets time off and next, you […]
No understanding of Six Sigma is complete without truly understanding where it came from - Motorola. The backdrop of the story shows how Six Sigma implementations changed the way Multi-National Corporations conducted operations worldwide.
It started in 1981. Motorola like most American companies was reeling under the threat of Japanese competition. Recovering from World War-2, the Japanese had built such a remarkable quality initiative that they were way ahead of any American company and were undercutting them on prices causing grave losses in terms of profitability and market share. Motorola was compelled into action. But the management at Motorola made an ambitious plan. They decided to give the Japanese a taste of their own medicine and beat them at their own game i.e quality.
For this reason, the management summoned the top engineers in Motorola and told them to combine all the best quality management practises known till that time and make an aggregated methodology which would be the base of Motorola’s competitive quality improvement program. Thus was developed the first Six Sigma program.
Motorola immediately took up a loft goal. They already were a respected manufacturing firm and had stringent quality measures. However, analysis had revealed that they were lagging way behind the Japanese and to be competitive they had to improve their quality goals by a 1000% in five years. Thus an ambitious goal of a 10:1 quality improvement came into picture.
Most experts thought it was suicidal for Motorola to attempt to do so, especially given the fact that Motorola was making huge investments in the quality initiative. Media criticised Motorola for using shareholder funds for goals that can be compared to fantasies. However the management did not pay heed. At the end of 5 years, almost every business unit functioning inside Motorola Inc. had achieved the 10:1 goal, boosting the morale of the workforce and silencing the critics.
However, Motorola realised that the Japanese were once again way ahead of them. This is because the Japanese had also launched a similar program. Even though their program was not as good as Motorola, they were ahead because of their previous lead. The Motorola Management became even more ambitious and launched another 1000% improvement drive. This time the goal had to be achieved in two years. The stream of criticisms started once again as to how success had shot to Motorola’s head and how the management was pursuing impossible programs. But to everyone’s surprise Motorola had triumphed once again.
Thus a third program was launched with the same 1000% or 10: 1 improvement in quality program. This time, when the program ended in 1991, Motorola failed. They reached a target of 8:1 when measured on a company wide basis even though some individual units had met the target.
When all these results were done Motorola had achieved a target of 800:1 improvement in their quality. Even the critics were full of applauses. Motorola had defeated the Japanese threat and Six Sigma became the biggest buzzword on the management scene with companies left, right and centre jumping to implement it, trying to reap the same benefits that Motorola did.
This is how Six Sigma was born!
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
The Cost of Poorly Performing Processes – Need for Six Sigma
February 12, 2025
