APPLICATION OF 6 σ IN THE MANAGEMENT OF INDIAN

HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Six Sigma (6 σ) means a systematic innovative activity to statistically measure and analyze the causes of the defects that happen in all parts of management and then remove those causes. It can be applied to all service industries. To achieve 6 σ means, a process must not produce more that 3.4 defects per million opportunities. The fundamental objective of the six sigma methodology is the implementation of a measurement strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction through the application of 6 σ improvement projects. This is accomplished through the use of DMAIC (pronounced as De-May-Ick) process. DMAIC is an acronym of five interconnected phases:

Define: What problem need to be solved?

Measure: What is the capability of the process?

Analyses: When and where do defects occur?

Improve: How can process capability be improved by 6 σ? What are the vital factors?

Control: What control needs to be put in place to sustain the gain?

The DMAIC process of 6 σ is advantages to measure problems, stay focused on students i.e., the customers, verifying the cause with fact, in breaking old system, undertaking risks, measuring the results and sustaining the change in an educational institution.

Defining a problem requires listening to the students problems, because ultimately the effectiveness of a system in an educational institution depends on satisfying them. Implementing 6 σ requires positive attitude, and recognizing the opportunity to accept change in the organization. In the 1980’s, Motorola came up with this idea to combat threat from its Japanese counterparts. 6 σ is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola who had reported US$17 billon in savings from its implementation as on 2006. Bank of America, Caterpillar, Honeywell International, General electric, Ford, 3 M are some of the organization that have adopted 6 σ for business transformation and have succeeded. To name a few Indian companies who have adopted this techniques are Wipro, Maruti Udyog, Godrej, Bajaj Auto, and Hero Honda. Identifying the critical areas such as programmes offered; effectiveness of the academic delivery system; identifying defects and habitual process; integrating the information system and focusing on large scale cost reduction; analyzing and suggesting change for the business transformation and strategic improvement are the key factors. The 6 σ philosophy which has worked wonders in an industrial environment, needs to be introduced in the Indian Higher Education Sector, in the wake of disturbing reports about the quality of graduates says Mr. Shankar a HRD consultant. He laments that in most of the higher education institution principals and deans are bogged down to administrative work giving little time to pay attention to academic excellence (The Hindu, 2006).The researcher in this paper has attempted to analyze the possibilities of implementing six sigma techniques to meet the global competition by the Indian higher educational system.

Objectives of using 6 σ:

The objectives for using 6 σ in various leading organization were as follows:

• 6 σ is one of the strategy and tool which leading organization have started using to achieve accuracy and speed and at the same time reduce cost and increase customer satisfaction and profits.
• 6 σ’s target is to achieve less than 3.4 defects or errors per million opportunities.
• 6 σ’s is deployed strategically to change the culture of the organization by inculcating process control discipline.  

The issue is no longer whether 6 σ’s should be considered or not, but the question is when or how, since an organization cannot do today’s job with yesterday’s methods and be in business tomorrow. 6 σ simply means a measure of quality that strives for perfection. It is disciplined as a data driven approach and methodology of eliminating defect in any process. It is an organizational philosophy in establishing the belief in “doing things right, first time and every time”. The formula for 6 σ is equal to Quality (Q) multiplied by Acceptance (A) = Effectiveness (E). 6 σ represents standard deviation (a measure of variation) of a population in statistics. The underlying principle of 6 σ is that if one has 6 standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit then there will be practically no items that fail to meet the specification.

Organization structure of educational institution applying 6 σ:

The 6 σ hierarchy adopts martial arts terminology to describe its structure. Executive Leadership at the top sets up the vision and empowers others with the freedom and resources to explore new ideas for breakthrough improvements. Champions are the key management sponsoring the entire team to stay aligned with the institution vision and mission; providing resources at appropriate time and negotiating conflicts. The Head of the institution/Principal – Master Black Belt -- is a coach and mentor ensuring that the Black Belts are in their right track, providing advice, sustaining the change, reducing cost and providing student delight. Master Black belt are expert in-house coachers ensuring deployment of 6 σ across departments and functions. The Head of the department – Black Belt- is a full time committed person capable of tackling critical change opportunities inspiring the team by building confidence. Their primary focus is on 6 σ project execution. The Associate professors/Lectures with green belt are the team members who incorporate new methods into the day to day activities of the institution. These green belt employees operate under the guidance of Black belts to achieve results. The yellow belts are well trained in the 6 σ. The non teaching staff adorning yellow belt are the facilitators providing free flow of information and other resources for the smooth functioning of an educational institution.

Figure showing the structure of educational institutions based on 6 σ  

Problems identified in educational institutions:

ü  Lack of quality faculty members. Teaching is considered as the last resort of occupation due to the less remuneration offered by educational institution – particularly those that are privately owned.

ü  Suppression of knowledge by senior faculty, groupism and imbibing politics inside academic institution among faculty members and students.

ü  Lack of proper infrastructure facilities.

ü  Delay in obtaining financial resources.

ü  Lack of basic and standard safety measures in laboratories and the campus of the educational institutions.

ü  Delay in delivery of transcripts, scholarships and other students’ requirement due to inadequate non teaching staff or lack of necessary information.

ü  Insufficient library books or updated journals.

ü  Failure to adhere to syllabus or relevance of syllabus and lack of scope to exhibit originality through research.

ü  Communication problems within the institution between the institution office and the various departments.

ü  Lack of opportunities for enhancement of academic knowledge for faculty members.

ü  Improper maintenance procedure.

ü  Lack of follow up.

ü  Lack of industry connectivity.

Measurement of faculty:

Faculty members are very sensitive to their performance evaluation measures. They bribe the students’ to give the best feed back or the feedback is obtained from favorite students. They also have “who are students to assess us” attitude. Implementing qualitative and quantitative measurements are not possible in assessing the subject knowledge abilities of teachers. Jack Welsh model of “differentiation” illustrated in his book “Winning” may be implemented. The top 10 may be rewarded by giving them important designation in the academic institution. The mediocre 70 may be provided avenues for improvement and the lower 10 may be shown the exit. The educational institution creates knowledge and intellectual capital where there can be no place for the under performers. An educational institution after identifying the problems and measuring it must strictly implement the improvement measures to become world class institution.

Important Components for implementation:

The educational institution needs to have the following inbuilt important components:

• The educational institution should be driven by enterprising top management and dynamic leadership as the head of institution.
• Focusing on the students’ satisfaction to achieve world class competition by providing efficient coordination, communication, cooperation and commitment.
• Six sigma uses variety of work techniques like TQM, statistical process control, and business process engineering. The academic / administration members should be clearly explained about the cause and effect relationship in this process. High caliber commitment is required for improved performance. Providing for structured and standard problems solving tools and methods for obtaining results that is expected. In short, new ways of thinking, communication and operating should be prevalent in the entire organization
• An educational institution is data driven; students’ data, faculty data, resources data and knowledge data.

Institution must be process based in a way to build competitive advantage in delivering value to students. 6 σ helps in positioning the process in designing the curriculum, measuring performance, improving efficiency and customer satisfaction or even running the institution. To effect creative change, 6 σ provides tools that are dynamic, responsive and proactive. Launching new ideas and methods are risky but 6 σ helps to manage setbacks. Faculty members are constant learners, training them and involving them in the process of 6 σ is not very difficult. The training may be imparted in phased manner over a period of three months so that the human resources engaged in implementation can understand, implement and improvise. This system implementation allows collecting and recording data accurately and consistently. Implementation of 6 σ provides invaluable experience for career development for the teaching and non teaching staff. Working on

6 σ improves the ability of the person and makes a difference in the delivery of services. It enlightens the people involved in the process to focus on problems and addressing the problems. The management can apply VOC (Voice of Customer i.e., student and other stakeholders) method to collect view points on various process and problems through structured questionnaire, assess and prioritize the same for rectification.

Challenges while implementation:

The biggest challenge that can be envisaged is “strong resistance”, presuming more work, shifting priorities, demanding time to organize meeting, failure to work in a team and reluctance to constant change. 6 σ disrupts and confuses in its initial stages of implementation thus hampering its implementation and killing the initiative of the organization. It is very important to highlight benefits to the leaders, setting clear goals patiently resolving conflicts, emphasizing the benefits and encouraging open dynamic participation from everyone. The management must be prepared to take risk, exercise judgment, make tough calls, coordinate the activities, tracking progress, avoiding / minimizing the impact on ongoing operation, setting meaningful and manageable goals and exert influence. It requires “total involvement” of every member of the educational institution to contribute to the overall success.

Power of 6 σ in educational institutions:

The objective is to provide utmost satisfaction to the student in their learning process. This can be applied to avoid wastage of intellectual, physical and financial resources, by providing better process by the happier and productive academic and administrative staff. The 6 σ in educational institution ensures:

Ø  Higher satisfaction to the student in terms of acquiring knowledge, opportunity to innovate, explore, experiment and experience the joy of their creations.

Ø  Improved admission and transaction facilities like obtaining diplomas, scholarships, bonafides, notification of selection of course, travel concessions forms by reducing the processing time.

Ø  Efficient emergency mechanism in the laboratories and the campus.

Ø  Better planning of available financial resources

Ø  Optimizing material and consumable management in labs.

Ø  Recruiting and retaining quality faculty and trained office staff who can deliver professional service.

Finally, the 6 σ methodologies can change the face of modern educational institution and their academic /administrative delivery system.

Conclusion:

The 6 sigma is well tested tool of quality in renowned industries in India and abroad. Its success lies in providing an environment encouraging problem solving, excellence and continuous improvement. It requires restructuring of the organization based on a culture of positive thinking. Sufficient resources, enough time and reviewing the progress are the key to the success. Training all the participants and offering rewards and incentives helps to achieve benchmarked targets. Finally its success lies in developing free flow of communication. Its implementation is a tough task but if applied with caution will turnaround the “ailing” higher education system in India.

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References

1. Laxma Reddy Gaddam, Sreedhar Amancha, (2005),”Six sigma and distance  Education”, Paper presented in ICDE International conference, November 19-23

2. PetPande, Larry Holpp, (2006), “What is six sigma”, Tata McGraw, New Dellhi
3. The Hindu, March 5^th 2006.
4. www.wikipaedia.com

(c) Padma Shankar, Review of Professional Management”, Volume 7, Issue 2, July –December, 2009. (ISS -1972-8686),