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Professor Cobs From: Sevens Kim Cooper Subject: Report – Six Sigma as a Modern Approach to Business Operations Management In accordance with our final assignment, I have researched a possible career opportunity after graduating with a degree in Business Operations Management. This report describes Six Sigma as a modern approach to business operations management and elaborates on the work as Six Sigma Black Belt. I want to give insight on the background of Six Sigma and how this program will influence business operations in the future.
In this report, I will focus on job requirements, Job placement, career opportunities and salary as a Six Sigma Black Belt. I am hoping to provide better understanding about the program, its history and future. I want to give details about the challenges of the Job as Six Sigma consultant and why companies today rely heavily on them. Finally, I will Include information gathered In an Interview with a SIX Sigma consultant In Germany, showing the international opportunities available for graduates of the Business Operations Management program.
They also show, how Six Sigma changes companies and saves them money continuously over many years of steady investment in the employment of a Six Sigma professional. The interview attached to this paper gives first-hand information from a Six Sigma Black Belt. It covers her take on international Job placement, salary, Job description and responsibilities as well as the path she chose in order to become certified. She tells the reader about her background in the industry and why she enjoys her work as a Black Belt.
Overall, this report is to provide interesting facts and information about the work within Six Sigma and the opportunities for a young professional with a Business Operations Management background. It will answer basic questions about the methodology of Six Sigma and why this line of employment is a good choice if you are looking for a long-term career. Introduction Companies hire Six Sigma Green Belts, Black Belts or Master Black Belts to increase their productivity, save money by optimizing production and service and to improve customer relations.
I was surprised to find out about the plethora of employment opportunities available to Six Sigma- certified professionals as well as the education background that is required in order to be able to become Six Sigma certified. Overall, I learned a lot about this career-field and the responsibilities and duties that come with it and I am now more convinced than before that this career path is the right one for me. Discussion 2. 1 What is Six Sigma Six Sigma is a strategy for business management that was developed by Motorola in 1986.
Ever since then, the program has been adopted by many large national and international companies, I. E. General Electric, Ford, Target, Stardom Hotels, Honeywell and many more. The focus of Six Sigma is to eliminate faults and mistakes that decrease productivity by implementing quality management methods with the help of certified Six Sigma Green Belts, Black Belts and Master Black Belts. The goal of the methodology is to achieve production that is 99. 99% free of errors and defects.
Originally, Six Sigma was developed for the manufacturing industry, but throughout the last 30 years, it has been expanded to other businesses as well. Six Sigma can be used in the service industry, to improve customer relations, as well as in healthcare (Isakson 25). By the 1990, two thirds of the Fortune 500 organization had introduced Six Sigma initiatives. The basic idea of Six Sigma is, that an increase in quality will lead to a reduction of prevent problems from occurring.
This goal is achieved by trained and certified Six Sigma professionals that work on four to six projects a year. There are three skill- levels of Six Sigma certification – Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black Belt. Throughout this report, I will focus my studies on the work of the Six Sigma Black Belt, s it is the intermediate level of certification and serves as a link between the Green Belt and Master Black Belt. 2. 2 Job Description of a Six Sigma Black Belt A Six Sigma certified Black Belt is the link between the Green Belt and the Master Black Belt.
This technical expert’ (Antonym, 305) is the assistant to the Master Black Belt, but manages several projects himself as well. A Black Belt is familiar with the Six Sigma methodology and knows the processes which to follow in order to accomplish measurable savings and decrease in errors during an organization’s daily business. The Black Belt also works with several Green Belts within a company to complete various projects during the course of a year There is no national exam that is taken in order to become a Black Belt.
Many large corporations that utilize Six Sigma also train and certify associates. While the American Society for Quality requires all Black Belt to take a standardized test to ensure they have the knowledge to work in this position, other training facilities do not give an exam at the end of the course. This fact is often criticized because any company can claim to be accredited within the Six Sigma program, but there is not national standard set that they have to comply with. A Black Belt has to be creative and able to comprehend complex facts and circumstances.
He is expected to have extensive knowledge about the implementation of the Six Sigma, ‘explain Six Sigma philosophies and principles and demonstrates team leadership’ (Duffel , 1 7) and have to possess the ability to carry out projects that have been identified and defines by a Master Black Belt or Champion. The goal of every project is to find a way to make procedure and processes better than they were prior to the project. A Black Belt dedicates 100 percent of his time to Six Sigma related studies and projects.
He also monitors the work of the Green Belts who dedicate only some of their time to Six Sigma and are still expected to carry out work-tasks within the company. An example for a Green Belt is a Front Desk Agent who does not only check people in and out of rooms but also works on a Six Sigma project with 25 percent of his work-hours. 2. 3 How Six Sigma changes Companies Figure 1. 1 Companies and the Year they Implement Six Sigma Table 1 : Companies And The Year They Implemented Six Sigma Company Name
As Claire Duffel explains in her article “Six Sigma experts in emend; US to produce more’, many companies are searching rained professionals and offer them high salaries as well as benefit packages. She further elaborates that ‘Six Sigma reduces process variation through a set of statistical- and data-driven tools, leading to a reduction in defects, and an increase in both customer satisfaction and bottom-line profitability (Duffel, 17). Six Sigma follows the DYNAMIC project methodology which has five phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (Isakson, 25).
These are the key steps any certified Six Sigma professional follows in order to identify problems and find a elution that saves the company money. Controls are put in place at the end of every project, so that its success can be monitored. It is safe to say, that the implementation of Six Sigma with the help of certified personnel can be a drastic measure that will change a company tremendously. By saving an organization billions of dollars, the management can now invest in new technology to further productivity and create new employment opportunities.
A growing company has positive effects on the economy, employment and development of new technologies. 2. 4 Education Education is the key to any successful career. Becoming a Six Sigma Black Belt requires extensive training and experience in business operations management. In order to becoming a Black Belt, any candidate must follow the hierarchy that is given by Six Sigma, therefore a Green Belt qualification is a pre-requisite. These certificates can be obtained through a company that trains its associates or through various schools and colleges that offer certificate courses.
The course for a Black Belt at Syracuse University costs approximately $6000 (Duffel, 17). Generally, a Bachelor’s degree and four to seven years of experience in business management or a related sector are expected from a Black Belt, since this associate has to be able to understand the way a business operates and must identify weaknesses of this operation. This requires experience no school can teach. Because of the growing popularity of Six Sigma, there is no prescribed field of study to be completed before becoming certified.
A Black Belt is only the second stage in the hierarchy of Six Sigma, meaning the salary increases with growing experience and achieving the next higher position. This to me is encouragement and motivation to continuously work hard and gain more knowledge about Six Sigma . 2. 6 Growing within Six Sigma ‘Six Sigma will be around as long as the projects yield measurable or quantifiable OTTOMH-line results in monetary or financial terms’ (Antonym, 305). Because companies profit immensely from Six Sigma, it is likely to continue to grow in popularity meaning that there will be a demand for trained professionals.
Because there is no standard test to proof the level of training received, not all trained associates are equally efficient or good. This is the opportunity to set yourself apart from the crowd. A successful Black Belt is a great asset to an organization, and if you are able to build a reputation for yourself, it could mean better employment opportunities as well as an increase in salary and the opportunity to receive further training within the hierarchy of Six Sigma.
A company is likely to pay for a Black Belt to become certified as a Master Black Belt if they have seen the impact the associate had and how beneficial he was throughout the years. This is a great opportunity for personal growth and a progress in your career. There are many ways to grow within Six Sigma by furthering one’s education and becoming certified in higher levels of the hierarchy, but also by showing great results and achieving improvements through the projects that are being managed by a Black Belt.