This paper examines Six Sigma as a leading Total Quality Management (TQM) framework for improving quality, reducing process variation, and accelerating customer-centered change in enterprises. It traces the methodology's application to new product development and introduction (NPDI), outlines how the DMAIC model aligns with cross-functional business processes, and illustrates how sustained Six Sigma deployment can transform organizational culture — drawing on the example of Jack Welch's implementation at General Electric. The paper also connects Six Sigma practices to sales, marketing, supply chain management, and service delivery, demonstrating its broad applicability across industry sectors.
The paper demonstrates effective use of parallel structure to reinforce its central argument: each DMAIC phase is compared point-by-point to a corresponding stage in the new product development and introduction process. This technique of structural analogy — showing how one framework maps onto another — is a strong way to argue for the practical relevance of a methodology without simply asserting it.
The paper opens with a broad introduction establishing Six Sigma's role within TQM. The second section defines and contextualizes Six Sigma deployment at the enterprise level, including its cultural effects at GE. The third major section introduces the DMAIC model and systematically aligns each phase with the NPDI process. A brief conclusion synthesizes the central claims about DMAIC's applicability and Six Sigma's capacity to drive cultural and commercial transformation.
Of the many Total Quality Management (TQM) frameworks in use for streamlining production, improving quality, and creating more effective production and service delivery strategies, Six Sigma has proven to be one of the most effective. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate how Six Sigma continues to be one of the most effective quality management techniques for simplifying, streamlining, and accelerating customer-centered change within enterprises (Mast, 2007). Six Sigma is often used in conjunction with agile development and production techniques, TQM frameworks including Business Process Management (BPM), and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). When Six Sigma is used as part of these broader frameworks, it is typically relied upon to drive greater cost and time savings out of processes that have grown archaic and out of step with customers (Cocolicchio, 2007). The best practices of Six Sigma project management and execution center on aligning company processes, programs, and strategies so that they make significant and profitable contributions to customer satisfaction and loyalty (Fundin & Cronemyr, 2003).
One of the most significant contributions of Six Sigma from a sales and marketing standpoint is to ensure that the new product development and introduction (NPDI) process is effective and targeted to the most important customer needs (Pestorius, 2007). Six Sigma used from this standpoint has proven to be very effective in removing variation in new product definition, from specification through functional prototype to the finally delivered product (Cocolicchio, 2007). Increasingly, Six Sigma is also being used to streamline services-based business models, with the primary objective of these projects being to integrate the many departments and functional areas of a business that are critical to fulfilling customer expectations (Mast, 2007). Best practices in using Six Sigma from a services standpoint also center on creating entirely new platforms and programs for delivering unique customer experiences (Pestorius, 2007). Companies committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences are quick to use Six Sigma to measure the overall value of their design, development, and product prototype efforts and the corresponding effects on their company's profitability and performance (Hasan & Kerr, 2003).
Six Sigma is predicated on a structured, scalable, and proven methodology that can be applied to a multitude of scenarios, problem areas, and strategic areas in need of improvement within enterprises. In the context of the NPDI process, Six Sigma continues to be highly effective in defining the optimal mix of cross-functional coordination points within and outside an enterprise creating new products and services. When Six Sigma is used as part of any new product development process, continual improvement in development, engineering, sourcing, supply chain, and production are all attained (Hasan & Kerr, 2003). Practitioners are quick to point out that when Six Sigma is part of the NPDI process, there is less variation in project and product definition and a significant reduction in scope creep as well (Pestorius, 2007).
Six Sigma can revolutionize the NPDI process and ingrain it into a culture so pervasively that it can permanently change a company for the better. Often, when the financial performance and Return on Investment (ROI) of Six Sigma projects and programs show positive gains, TQM and its related concepts become a core part of company culture (Sherman, 2006). Six Sigma is delivering measurable financial gains across many different projects, ranging from operations and supply chain management to marketing, pricing, customer service, and the nascent area of service lifecycle management that concentrates on monetizing warranties (Fundin & Cronemyr, 2003). Six Sigma begins to have a galvanizing effect on a company's culture over time when significant results across each area of a business's value chain are reported in financial terms that CEOs and boards of directors can have confidence in achieving on a consistent basis (Mast, 2007).
Six Sigma projects are deployed using a common methodology that begins with defining enterprise-level objectives and then progresses through business transformation, process improvement, and business unit improvements at the product, costing, and process levels (Hasan & Kerr, 2003). Change management is also a critically important factor in the development and execution of Six Sigma projects and initiatives (Fundin & Cronemyr, 2003). Best practices in Six Sigma project management and implementation can effectively coordinate each phase of the Six Sigma methodology while staying focused on the strategic goals and objectives of the plan. This is one aspect of Six Sigma strategy performance that becomes more achievable over time, as the culture of a given organization becomes more deeply ingrained with TQM analytics, frameworks, and initiatives (Sherman, 2006).
The cultural strength of Six Sigma to reorder an organization is seen in the history of TQM and its galvanizing effect at General Electric. Jack Welch brought a culture of accountability, metrics, and performance measurement — including Six Sigma — to GE, as he believed that the many unprofitable processes and business units the company was engaged in at the time could be turned around with the technique. He also believed that Six Sigma held the secrets to effectively competing with the most formidable competitors of the era: Japanese manufacturers who had en masse adopted TQM techniques and were soundly outperforming U.S. manufacturers on quality (Mast, 2007).
What Jack Welch demonstrated was that by committing entirely to Six Sigma and the results this TQM technique could bring across GE's entire value chain, the corporate culture could undergo a transformation as well. The challenges Welch faced in changing GE's culture toward higher performance are fairly common across many other corporations. These include fear of change, loss of status, and — most critically for employees — the potential loss of access to information and, ultimately, their jobs. What GE did was give employees an opportunity to contribute to TQM initiatives and strategies, thereby gaining greater insight into how those strategies would affect their roles. This is considered another best practice in the use of TQM strategies in general and Six Sigma specifically (Sherman, 2006).
What Jack Welch ultimately accomplished was a complete redefinition of GE's culture based on Six Sigma, making the two so tightly intertwined that employees over time automatically thought in its terms when planning and executing projects. The focus on TQM-measurable results and the role of Six Sigma becomes part of the collective intelligence and identity of a company when implemented well (Mast, 2007). Successful deployments of Six Sigma revolutionize cultures, as the academic literature has powerfully demonstrated.
The DMAIC framework in many respects aligns with the NPDI process used in many consumer, commercial, and service-based businesses for launching new products. Due to this close alignment between DMAIC and new product development strategies, Six Sigma is used extensively for coordinating cross-functional teams and strategies across many different departments simultaneously. The Define Phase, for example, is where the business case is established, a specific business process is mapped, Voice of the Customer (VoC) feedback is gathered, and specific customer requirements are defined (Fundin & Cronemyr, 2003). This is directly comparable to the development of a new product based on a Market Requirements Document (MRD), which in turn drives development across the enterprise.
The Measure Phase is directly comparable to the market research phase of evaluating a new product concept through consumer and market-based feedback. The Analyze Phase is essential in both Six Sigma development and in the new product development process, as it isolates the customer problems and pain points on which a product's unique value proposition is based (Cocolicchio, 2007). The Improve Phase of the DMAIC process is essential for managing the piloting and testing of Six Sigma solutions. It is equally essential during new product development for measuring and quantifying the unique value proposition of the product or service being produced. The final phase, Control, is essential to both the Six Sigma and the new product introduction process (Pestorius, 2007).
The DMAIC process aligns very well with the new product development and introduction process and is used extensively for that purpose in applying Six Sigma to marketing. Six Sigma can change an entire company's culture and synchronize the many processes involved in new product introductions, making them more profitable and more capable of gaining market share as a result.
Cocolicchio, B. (2007). Sales and marketing the Six Sigma way. Quality Progress, 40(9), 79.
Fundin, A. P., & Cronemyr, P. (2003). Use customer feedback to choose Six Sigma projects. ASQ Six Sigma Forum Magazine, 3(1), 17–21.
Hasan, M., & Kerr, R. M. (2003). The relationship between total quality management practices and organisational performance in service organisations. TQM Journal, 15(4), 286–286.
Mast, J. de (2007). Integrating the many facets of Six Sigma. Quality Engineering, 19(4), 353.
Pestorius, M. S. (2007). Apply Six Sigma to sales and marketing. Quality Progress, 40(1), 19–24.
Sherman, J. (2006). Achieving real results with Six Sigma. Healthcare Executive, 21(1), 8–14.
You’re 95% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 1 section.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.