Six Sigma in Higher Education

Six Sigma is defined by many economists as "a quality management strategy". It aims at detecting and removing defects from all sorts of business processes and helps a business organisation to consistently improve and maintain quality across all its functions and, thereby enhance customer satisfaction. It employs a set of quality management techniques to achieve its target. The motive behind employing Six Sigma is to ensure that the organisation achieves more profits using minimum resources (time, material and personnel).

In each project, Six Sigma involves all parties related to the business activity. They identify the problem area, analyse it, prepare a plan of action, implement and, thus, bring about a palpable improvement in the overall quality of business processes. Evidently, Motorola, the pioneer of Six Sigma benefited from it and reportedly saved around $17 billion by 2006. Now, approximately three-fourths of Fortune 500 companies across the world implement Six Sigma partially or throughout their business processes. However, insofar as education is concerned, Six Sigma is in its nascent stage, making steady inroads into the functioning of educational institutes.

Six Sigma in the Field of Education

Like that of any other industry, the success or failure of an educational institute depends on how well it earns the confidence of its customers, that is, students. Any attempt at augmenting the success rate of the institute must involve methods to improve the quality of education, teaching and learning techniques and performance of the students. Students expect the institute to provide better quality of education, contributing to their skill development. At the same time, they do expect flexibility and ease in administrative issues. Any complexities in the administration process will demoralise them. Hence, there is an indispensable need to maintain a sustained quality in all areas of the education process. Employing Six Sigma strategies will help the institute to enhance the performance levels of the administration, teaching fraternity as well as the students.

How Six Sigma Can Benefit Educational Institutes

Six Sigma is the only quality management technique that enables everyone in the organisation to participate in the process of improving performance standards of the organisation. It strives to bring perfection in every department of the institute, be it teaching, maintaining enrolments, improving learning methods or grading. It aims to eliminate imperfections by reducing the number of defects to 3.4 DPMO (Defects per Million Opportunities). Institutes can utilise latest technologies in inculcating better skills in students and bringing efficiency in administrative processes. For instance, institutes can introduce OHPs, power point presentations, video conferences, wherever needed, to improve quality of teaching. Besides, institutions can offer better service to students by implementing sophisticated document and content management software that eliminates complex paper-based processes.

Six Sigma Methodologies in Education

DMAIC (stands for Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) and DMADV (stands for Define, Measure, Analyse, Design, Verify) are the two methods to implement Six Sigma. While the former method is used to improve the existing product or process by removing defects, the latter is used to design and introduce a new product or process. They can be elaborated as:

DEFINE: At the Define stage, we identify the current state of a process or the problem area and decide in which state we would like to see the process in future.

MEASURE: At this stage, all details about the current state are gathered to have a clear insight into the problem area.

ANALYSE: This is the stage where the data gathered in the previous stage is analysed and a clear-cut plan of action is put forth. Recommendations about the potential technologies are made with a clear analysis of all pros and cons.

IMPROVE: This stage involves implementing the recommended solution to the problem. Wherever needed, the implementers employ appropriate new technological tools to ensure that the desired results are obtained.

CONTROL: Control stage involves ensuring that the initial results are continued throughout the process. It attempts to resolve any deviations by constantly monitoring the implementation process.

DMADV methodology involves:

DEFINE: At this stage, we devise objectives for the project or the service keeping in mind the customers' (parents and students) requirements.

MEASURE: Measure stage requires weighing the project capabilities vis-à-vis customer needs. At this stage, we also recognise CTQs (aspects that are Critical To Quality).

ANALYSE: We analyse various alternative procedures to implement the project and choose the best.

DESIGN: We design process details to maximise the project success. We can rope in simulations, if needed at this stage.

VERIFY: This is the last stage where we verify the project capability to fulfill the customer needs.

Key Players in Implementing Six Sigma

Implementing Six Sigma in educational institutions requires involvement of several key players starting from the Principal to the faculty. The key positions needed to carry out Six Sigma strategies are:

Executive Leadership or Champions : These positions are held by people who are at the top management level. The Principal in consultation with the Academic Board acts in this capacity to ensure that the other players have enough resources to implement and improve Six Sigma strategies. He also formulates a vision for various Six Sigma projects.

Master Black Belts : The Vice-Principal usually holds this position. Master Black Belts act as intermediary agents giving suggestions to the Champions and guiding Black Belts and Green Belts.

Black Belts: Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts. They ensure proper execution of Six Sigma projects in different areas, giving 100 percent of their time and energy. A group of senior faculty members take this position.

Green Belts: They are the real implementers. Usually teachers occupy this position as they are in direct contact with students.

In the current era of cut-throat competition, every industry has to prove its uniqueness and education is not an exception. Educational institutes need to show that they can provide quality education at an affordable price. In this regard, they can take cue from the success stories of the industries which adopted Six Sigma in their quality enhancement strategies, and employ it in all departments to increase efficiency levels by eradicating defects.

Best Practices on Six Sigma in Higher Education Institutions  

Higher Education and the Role of Higher Education Institutions

Higher education is the penultimate stage where students are expected to achieve an all-round skill-set development before entering the job market. Higher education institutions are an interface between the students and the corporate houses. They are responsible to inculcate requisite technical and interpersonal skills among the students. Thus, they turn them into world class professionals who prove their mettle and climb the corporate ladder of success.

Institutions must keep securing "continuous quality improvement" across all departments as their vision and not just a policy statement. It is true of not only private institutions, which are profit-oriented but also of public institutions governed by the state. Countries need to possess perennial sources of producing competent and well-trained workforce to acquire and sustain a competitive edge over other countries. And it is only the higher education institutions that can supplant the nation's workforce with world class professionals. Hence, institutions must have vibrant mechanisms to trace and treat defects in any of the educational processes.

Problems Confronting Higher Education Institutions

Problems confronting colleges and universities vary by not only country but also institute. However, we can broadly list them as:

a. Lack of Access

Access to universities and colleges is a serious concern for the rural students. This is more so in developing countries where higher education institutions are concentrated in urban areas. Therefore, many of the students at high school level may not even know about the higher educational opportunities. As a result, they cannot hone the skills expected of a person to enter higher education institutions.

b. Quality in Teaching and Learning Methods

Research has shown that traditional instructor-centred teaching techniques are the real cause for student drop-outs. This is more serious a problem than the rising cost of higher education.

c. Complex Administrative Procedures

Higher education institutions are the bases of complex educational processes. They involve teaching, research and social and educational services. Higher education institutions are not just education providers, but education refiners as well. They conduct research into teaching and learning methodologies and provide improved curricula, teaching and learning techniques for high and primary education institutions. Naturally, this involves several layers of administrative processes. If the institutions fail to centralise various departments and simplify the procedures, it will cost them dearly. They will also lack efficiency in rendering the service and student satisfaction.

d. Campus Atmosphere

Unlike in high schools, students in colleges and universities spend most of their time on campus. Next to teaching, facilities provided on campus will have a huge impact on student satisfaction. Hence, institutions must ensure quality in every aspect of the accommodation and refreshment facilities provided for the students. Thus, they should facilitate an exciting and quality life for the students on campus. However, many a higher education institute overlooks this aspect. They focus mostly on giving quality education rather than quality life. They may not maintain an efficient mechanism or provide enough resources to resolve problems as and when they arise. Thus, it often leads to clashes between the management and the students.

These problems necessitate the institutions to explore new ways of improving the existing systems. Besides, they even look for better systems to replace the existing ones. It is where the institutions must exercise caution and do not jump into solutions without proper analysis. They must employ proper quality management techniques to analyse the defects in the existing processes. It is where the concept of Six Sigma comes in handy for the institutions.

What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma is a data-driven quality enhancement tool introduced by Motorola in its manufacturing unit in the late 1980s. Its enormous success rate in Motorola, GE and other companies has made it immensely popular. It gave them huge returns on investment (ROI). Eventually, many business houses started applying Six Sigma principles to improve quality in each of their business processes. Likewise, higher education institutions can also employ Six Sigma principles to provide better services in all aspects of educational processes. Applying Six Sigma can help them get to the root of the problem and find a lasting solution. It enables them to identify and remove defects from all service products and give their customers (students, parents, professors, employees, etc.) the best services.

Best Practices on Six Sigma

A best practice is an ideal view that there is no other technique, method, activity, etc. that can bring about the desired result better than the one we choose. And in the context of education, Six Sigma is all about getting the right service product at the right time and at the right cost. Six Sigma approaches, when carefully planned and executed by well-trained personnel, can solve any teaching and non-teaching issue. Some of the best practices for institutions to implement Six Sigma principles include:

1. Creating Competent Mechanism

Six Sigma differs from other quality management techniques in that it requires the acceptance and involvement of all the employees in the organisation. And it functions through a hierarchically professionalised system, where everybody from the Vice-Chancellor to the teachers gets involved. There are some universities which even introduce Green Belt training courses for students and involve them in on-campus Six Sigma projects. This adds to their value in the job market. Creating a competent mechanism requires:

• Commitment from the top management - VC in collaboration with Rector and Deans must select and set a vision for Six Sigma projects. They should provide enough freedom and resources to other professionals to produce breakthrough developments
• Training for all professionals like Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Green Belts to make them experts in playing cross-functional roles, if required
• Reducing gaps in knowledge levels of the professionals through cross training
• Securing high performance through commitment without being complacent

2. Gathering Appropriate Data

Having set a competent system of professionals, the Executive Leadership has to now identify and gather appropriate data about a problem. Green Belts, who are the actual Six Sigma practitioners, can do it best. Collecting maximum information will help the leadership in sorting a problem in the best possible manner. They can analyse the gravity of the problem, decide on the future change and make a course of action to achieve it. To understand this, let us look at an example. A school in Venice was facing the problem of poor ventilation in the classrooms. The management wanted to implement Six Sigma to resolve it. On recognising the problem, they appointed a teacher and a care taker to collect information about this. After gathering the data, they found to their surprise that some of the teachers are carrying their pets to the classrooms and using windows to keep books. This helped them solve the problem quickly and effectively, much to the satisfaction of both the students and teachers.

3. Using Right Techniques and Tools

It is the selection of right and not "the best" techniques or technological tools that determines the success of Six Sigma principles. Many of the institutions err because they are obsessed with the best technologies available in the market and not the most suitable ones. So the next best practice is choosing the appropriate technique or technology for the problem in hand. Supposing the problem to be "boring lectures", the instructor can adopt Active Learning strategies such as Creating Learning Centres in the classroom. He can involve the students in a variety of learning styles. The instructor can conduct quizzes or ask the students to make a case study depending on the topic and present it. Conducting quizzes or student teaching exercises can help the instructor know what concepts the students have not grasped properly. Thus, he can revise those concepts and make them clearer. However, the selection of any of these techniques must follow through the previous best practice, i.e. gathering data. The instructor can also take student feedback in this respect.

Conclusion

Innovation and productivity are the keys to the success of any business organisation, including educational institutions. They need to constantly improve the existing processes or adopt new ones to serve their customers-internal or external-best. The best practices on Six Sigma are based on facts and consensus among all the parties involved. Thus, adopting them can help the institutions achieve higher quality in all educational processes.

Six Sigma in Distance Education: A Roadmap for Breakthrough
Laxma Reddy Gaddam and Sreedhar Amancha

The authors attempt to provide the readers with a bird's eye view of Six Sigma concept and its relevance to maintaining quality in Distance Education. They track the origin and development of Six Sigma as a quality management strategy in production and service sectors. Besides, they describe how Six Sigma formulae show the companies their defect levels before and after the application of Six Sigma. At the end, they show what makes the Six Sigma approaches successful.

A Framework for Applying Six Sigma Improvement Methodology in an Academic Environment
Lawrence O. Jenicke, Anil Kumar, Monica C. Holmes

This is a research-based article which provides a pragmatic view on the possibilities and limitations of Six Sigma in higher education setup. The authors compare and contrast the variations between an industrial and academic setup. Thus, they quantify the administrative possibilities for implementing Six Sigma in institutions. At the same time, they also present three layered hierarchical system useful for the implementation of Six Sigma.

Six Sigma in Education
By Tony Jacowski

For those who want to have a quick look at the nitty-gritty of Six Sigma vis-à-vis higher education, this is a good article. The article briefs on the techniques used in Six Sigma. Besides, it attempts to explain why educational institutions need to improve quality in educational processes and how Six Sigma helps them achieve that.

Assessing Organizational Performance in Higher Education

Barbara A. Miller enjoys expertise in analysing and evaluating organisational development of the tertiary institutions and their programmes. Her present work provides a comprehensive view on defining, evaluating and selecting suitable techniques to improve an organisation's performance. It describes various types of assessment techniques including Six Sigma and categorically explains their usefulness in various academic situations. Thus, it helps the policy makers, educationists, trainers and teachers adopt appropriate strategies to improve the academic processes based on their needs.

Design for Six Sigma for Green Belts and Champions: Applications for Service Operations--Foundations, Tools, DMADV, Cases, and Certification

The authors Howard S. Gitlow, David M. Levine and Edward A. Popovich present practical, end-to-end approaches. These comprehensive guidelines help the administrators in an educational setup implement Six Sigma for bringing in quality and efficiency. They meticulously analyse each phase in the DMADV Six Sigma methodology. Thus, they provide a realistic view on introducing new service products in the academic institutions.

Six Sigma Best Practices: A Guide to Business Process Excellence for Diverse Industries

This is an indispensable volume for providing effective training on the principles of Six Sigma across different industries, including education. The author Dhirendra Kumar has chiselled his sizeable experience with business optimisation tools, including Six Sigma into an exemplary test for all professionals of Six Sigma. The implementers such as Green Belts and Black Belts have a lot to derive from this book. It helps them acquire requisite skills to gain expertise in these areas. Apart from the practitioners, even the executive leadership can rope in this volume as a guide to put Six Sigma strategies in use. Thus, it helps them attain excellence across all functions along with enhanced profits and customer satisfaction.

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