Project Management Articles

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 26th March 2008 @ 2:16 PM

Exceptions will always be there, but if you look closely, you can easily see that the majority of businesses that have successfully implemented Six Sigma have been able to do so because of their continual stress on following a systematic approach while implementing time-tested Six Sigma concepts and methodologies. For better understanding, we'll discuss some of the core components of the systematic approach as applicable to successful Six Sigma implementations. Mapping Organ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 24th March 2008 @ 2:00 PM

To bring about a successful process, the project should be disciplined and defined. Below are three steps that are incorporated for a profitable process: Establishing the Project Selection Steering Committee Every Project Selection Steering Committee should be made up of managers who have undergone training as Six Sigma Champions, or any other key Six Sigma knowledge resources, like the Black Belts, Master Black Belts or deployment Champion, who can apply their knowledge in establ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 24th March 2008 @ 1:01 PM

How Does The Theory Of Constraints Relate To Six Sigma? Considering the above definitions and explanations, it may seem that TOC is quite similar to the concepts and procedures deployed in Six Sigma implementation projects, but the fact is that both are quite different from each other. What is even more ironical is the fact that even though both Six Sigma and the theory of constraints share the same basic objective (i.e. process improvements, they are often found in conflict with each oth... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 24th March 2008 @ 12:57 PM

Even though the implementation techniques and tools put into practice by Black Belts could differ, Kaizen is by far the basic methodology used for such purposes. Additionally, it has been observed that principles of Lean Six Sigma are time and again merged with Kaizen concepts for providing faster and much better results. Kaizen Basics Six Sigma and Kaizen are said to be alike as they both are based on the principle that every organization is composed of a series of business proce... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 19th March 2008 @ 5:26 PM

Therefore, the right voice of the customer should be used for driving the right Six Sigma initiatives for cost reductions and strategically focused value enhancements as well as identifying Six Sigma projects and guiding conduct. Six Sigma and Strategy According to Six Sigma deployment procedures, separating organization strategies from the Six Sigma initiatives is inappropriate. For instance, if an organization aims to follow a low-cost supplier strategy, it would be suitable to ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 19th March 2008 @ 5:19 PM

Design of experiments, (DOE) or conjoint analysis as it is known in marketing context, is known to be the most powerful statistical method for establishing the linkage between a customer's decision-making process and the service or product being offered. After effective application of DOE, companies find it easier to gain an insight into the significant Xs affecting a customer's decision-making ability. Marketing Problems Eventually, the primary aim of marketing is to ca... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 19th March 2008 @ 5:13 PM

However, that should not cast doubt on the effectiveness of Six Sigma - because the truth is that there are many instances where this process has proved its worth in the non-corporate business domains. For better understanding, let's discuss the above proposition with the help of a case study. Six Sigma Implementations in Canada Post Prior to implementations, Canada Post was finding it quite difficult to remain profitable mainly due to the rising competition from courier agenc... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Wednesday, 19th March 2008 @ 5:11 PM

The experts may have been proven wrong, but we cannot afford to ignore their doubts - because deploying Six Sigma in small businesses is a challenging task that needs to be handled with extreme care. It is quite natural for them to express doubts because if we look at the big picture, we can easily see that it is the small businesses that are often found running short of funds and resources, things that are considered a prerequisite for successful Six Sigma deployments. However, small businesses... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 17th March 2008 @ 12:20 PM

Understanding the basic philosophy is important because it is only then will you be able to understand the real need, meaning and purpose of Six Sigma implementations. To get a clearer picture, let's look at some of the most prominent similarities between Six Sigma implementations and motorcycle rides. It's Always "The Long Road Ahead" Whether it is Six Sigma implementations or planned motorcycle rides, the stakeholders in both the cases know that they are about... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 17th March 2008 @ 12:17 PM

Considering these factors, professionals like Green Belts and Black Belts must be experienced and well trained for assuring successful deployment of Six Sigma. Although the sponsors, Champions, and Master Black Belts have the right to determine the overall strategy of the Six Sigma program, it is the Black Belts and Green Belts that have to be in the forefront. They control and implement the projects that are the nucleus of any give Six Sigma operation. Besides, they also serve as mediums for pr... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 17th March 2008 @ 12:08 PM

This is being done mainly to minimize the negativities as well to optimize the possibilities brought about by globalization. Such initiatives no doubt offer huge benefits, but they have also created new challenges for businesses, especially for those that are in the process of improving quality and productivity through the use of improvement techniques such as Six Sigma. New challenges have been created because the success of Six Sigma projects depends a lot on the level of coordination between ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 17th March 2008 @ 11:51 AM

Many businesses have now been successful in executing Lean Sigma in sales and gaining benefits that have been obvious only in case of organizational processes and functions. In addition, success stories of innovators and industry leaders prove that this methodology is not only effective but also helpful in providing practice guidelines for employing Lean Six Sigma in sales operations. Selecting an Appropriate Project Focus Area Many organizations are clueless about applying... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 11th March 2008 @ 7:38 AM

While all these aspects of Six Sigma are quite true, they still do not provide the complete picture because they fail to highlight the indirect yet more vital aspects of this technique. In effect, concentrating solely on cost reductions and other direct benefits will be just like "missing the woods for the trees." Discussed below are some of the indirect, yet more vital aspects of Six Sigma. Improved Competencies This aspect may not be as clearly visible and verifia... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 11th March 2008 @ 7:36 AM

CEOs and board members of companies that are planning to implement Six Sigma for the first time should not retain any doubts in their minds. Over the last few years, Six Sigma has proven itself to be quite effective in managing automated IT processes across almost all business domains. For a better understanding, let's discuss some of the standard procedures enacted by Six Sigma for the effective management of automated IT processes. Identifying the Main Process Components ... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 11th March 2008 @ 7:32 AM

CMMI can be used in order to achieve a common objective, such as be a software product, maintenance or upgrade. It is implemented mostly in the IT (Information technology) industry where the work environment is characterized by several ongoing projects running at the same time. Since all the ongoing projects are connected to each other and since the effects of a change in a single project can be felt across all ongoing projects, CMMI has become the most sought after process improvement system f... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Tuesday, 11th March 2008 @ 7:27 AM

In effect, we can say that Six Sigma is applicable in any organization, irrespective of the actual number of processes that might be there in the organization. To understand how this process is helping insurance firms, it is essential to talk about some of the main processes where it has been successfully deployed. Policy Conversion Process The main worry for most insurance firms is usually policy conversion turnaround time, which determines how well the firm is able to ma... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 10th March 2008 @ 7:30 PM

The deployment however is not an easy task because, in most companies, there is a huge communications gap between people who actually run the business and people who might be responsible for designing, developing, and deploying the desired IT systems. What this implies is that if the people who actually run the day to day operations fail to convey their exact needs and requirements to the IT people, it would become very difficult for the IT professionals to design and develop the most app... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 10th March 2008 @ 7:18 PM

Setting up Six Sigma in places of high dispersion or workforce mobility like field services or sales has been established to be very demanding. However, relating the same principle to mobile workforces would be highly paradoxical as the mobile workforces usually spend their time doing business with the customers in person. Six Sigma's key forte is its ability to concentrate on providing customers with what they really expect. Amongst all the organizations that have tried to imbibe i... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 10th March 2008 @ 5:12 PM

The Process Including the finance department in Six Sigma deployment is a decision usually made at the design stage of the operation. Here, the department is treated as an associate in the establishment and operation plan. Easy said than done, many operations people are of the view that people related to accounting or anything to do with it are scorekeepers, auditors, or bookkeepers. Making them adapt to the awkward inclusion of the finance department is always a barrier. All t... more...

Business » Project Management | By Tony Jacowski @ Monday, 10th March 2008 @ 4:58 PM

Six Sigma helps because it utilizes time-tested tools such as QFD (Quality Function Deployment) that enables companies to translate seemingly vague customer inputs and feedbacks into key business deliverables. For better understanding, we'll discuss the basic characteristics of QFD, its functionalities and its deployment process in detail. How QFD Is Different? QFD is different because unlike most of the other quality management tools that primarily focus on eliminati... more...