The Ultimate Six Sigma: Beyond Quality Excellence (Hardcover)

~ Keki Bhote (Author) "During the presidential campaign of 2000, the flagship journal The Economist asked the rhetorical question, "Will the real Al Gore stand up?..." (more)
Key Phrases: fifteen success factors, total value engineering, field escape control, Six Sigma, United States, General Motors (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Six Sigma started as a revolutionary quality tool at Motorola, gained fame as a powerful driver of cost savings at GE, and has spawned an entire industry of publications and consultants, many peddling a watered-down version of the original Motorola Six Sigma process.

Now, Keki Bhote, one of the founders of Six Sigma, taps into the rigors and rewards of this breakthrough process--but moves it beyond mere quality to focus on total business excellence in 12 key areas.

From customer loyalty to leadership to supply chain management, The Ultimate Six Sigma provides the techniques and metrics needed to measure success, and supplies self-assessment audits to help readers ensure that they're getting it right.

Case studies illustrate how Six Sigma has been successfully implemented in each key area.

Book Description

"Six Sigma started as a revolutionary quality tool at Motorola, gained fame as a powerful driver of cost savings at GE, and has spawned an entire industry of publications and consultants, many peddling a watered-down version of the original Motorola Six Sigma process.

Now, Keki Bhote, one of the founders of Six Sigma, taps into the rigors and rewards of this breakthrough process--but moves it beyond mere quality to focus on total business excellence in 12 key areas.

From customer loyalty to leadership to supply chain management, The Ultimate Six Sigma provides the techniques and metrics needed to measure success, and supplies self-assessment audits to help readers ensure that they're getting it right.

Case studies illustrate how Six Sigma has been successfully implemented in each key area."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1st edition (January 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814406777
• ISBN-13: 978-0814406779
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,683,641 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent broad gauge approach to Six Sigma, May 16, 2003

By	Billax (Orinda, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I'm sure no expert in the Six Sigma area, but I've read five or six books in the space and particularly liked this book. I'm a business person who has some responsibility for process efficiency and effectiveness and this book gave me more useful information about process measurement, process change and necessary culture change than any of the other books I've read. I particulary liked Chapter 14, which extends the quality movement to knowledge workers in service processes - the kind of processes that dominate US businesses today, even in manufacturing firms.

Mr. Bhote's analysis of the problems with these processes and his prescription to make them faster, better and cheaper is extensive and works in my business. Unlike the reviewer above, I think his description of Next Operation As Customer (NOAC) is both complete and addresses a VERY large problem for workplaces in all advanced economies - how to measure and improve business processes that are driven by the inventive, innovative work of white collar people. After all, the largest cost element, in aggregate, for US business is the direct labor cost of knowledge workers. His book is the only one I know that systematically addresses ways to get measurable productivity gains from this big corporate expense.

I can't speak to the efficacy of this book for Six Sigma green belts, black belts and master black belts. I am none of those. However, if you are a business person responsible for getting the most from your most expensive element of production, you won't be disappointed with this book.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Blinded by jargon, December 11, 2002

By	Elaine Greywalker "Visual Artist & Writer" (Richmond VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'll tell you right away, I didn't read this entire book. In fact I only browsed it. I was put off by the first half of the book which disses just about every other flavor of Six Sigma out there. Of course, this book tells you the *right* way to do it. As to jargon: on page 332 he uses the acronym NOAC (next operation as customer). Then he goes on to talk about it for two pages without ever really defining it. You see, he's a professional. Don't try this at home.

If you need a cook book and love jargon, this is the book for you.