The 

Human Resource Management (HRM) profession and practices have undergone substantial change and redefinition over the
years. It is interesting to note that many articles on HRM issues have been critical of the traditional HRM Function. Well, the
observations were quite true, as many HRM practitioners have not yet adapted to the more strategic functions of HRM in an
organization. They failed to ride in the new emerging role of HRM.
Unfortunately, in many organizations HRM services  are not providing value but instead are simply going into the motion of
attending trivial administrative tasks. Unfazed, HRM Departments can be replaced with new technology or outsourced to a
vendor who can provide higher-quality services at a lower cost, which is by the way the emerging trend right now in doing
business. Although this seem to be a pessimistic view on this trend, it simply demonstrate that HRM departments need to ensure
that their functions are creating value for the company.

The management of Human Resources has now assumed strategic importance in the achievement of organizational growth
and excellence. As globalization advances and we move into the information age, organizations need to adapt to the changes
in technology and the changing issues in management of people.
Some critical issues have clearly emerged - planning, acquisition and development of human resources, responding to the
demands of the work place and, above all, evolving a strategy of dealing with industrial conflict. As a management practice, it
covers all the conventional areas of personnel management and industrial relations, as well as the relatively new areas such as
communication, counseling, training and development, and job enrichment. An attempt has been made in this paper to point out
the experiences on the emerging issues in managing human resources.

Conclusion
The traditional functions of HRM now need to be strategically directed towards developing and sustaining organizational
capabilities, through activities that overlap with traditional business functions such as finance, marketing, and non-traditional
activities, such as knowledge management. Human Resource Information System has great significance in every sector. It can
play a virtual role and help the communications process in the organization. Most importantly, organizations can hire and retain
the top performers, improve productivity and enhance job satisfaction of the employees. HRM has the responsibility to maximize
efficiency and profit, but in the emerging scenario, the role of HR manager is changing rapidly due to changes in government
policies, unions, labour legislations and technology. The trends have taken place in the organization, human resource planning,
job design, motivation, recruitment and skill development and employee relations. The challenges can be faced by HRM
effectively, if proper strategies are implemented. Hence, the role of HRM will be more significant in future due to the emerging
scenario.

Six Sigma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The often-used Six Sigma symbol.

Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in 1986.[1][2]As of 2010, it is widely used
in many sectors of industry, although its use is not without controversy.

Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and
minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes.[3] It uses a set of quality management methods,
including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Black Belts", "Green Belts",
etc.) who are experts in these methods.[3] Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence
of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or profit increase).[3]

The term Six Sigma originated from terminology associated with manufacturing, specifically terms associated with statistical
modelling of manufacturing processes. The maturity of a manufacturing process can be described by a sigma rating indicating its
yield, or the percentage of defect-free products it creates. A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products
manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million). Motorola set a goal of "six sigma" for all of
its manufacturing operations, and this goal became a byword for the management and engineering practices used to achieve it.
[edit]Historical overview

Six Sigma originated as a set of practices designed to improve manufacturing processes and eliminate defects, but its application
was subsequently extended to other types of business processes as well.[4] In Six Sigma, a defect is defined as any process output
that does not meet customer specifications, or that could lead to creating an output that does not meet customer specifications.[3]

Bill Smith first formulated the particulars of the methodology at Motorola in 1986.[1] Six Sigma was heavily inspired by six
preceding decades of quality improvement methodologies such as quality control, TQM, and Zero Defects,[5][6] based on the
work of pioneers such as Shewhart,Deming, Juran, Ishikawa, Taguchi and others.

Like its predecessors, Six Sigma doctrine asserts that:

Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e., reduce process variation) are of vital importance to
business success.

Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analyzed, improved and controlled.

Achieving sustained quality improvement requires commitment from the entire organization, particularly from top-level
management.

Features that set Six Sigma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include:

A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma project.[3]

An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support.[3]

A special infrastructure of "Champions," "Master Black Belts," "Black Belts," "Green Belts", etc. to lead and implement the Six
Sigma approach.[3]

A clear commitment to making decisions on the basis of verifiable data, rather than assumptions and guesswork.[3]

The term "Six Sigma" comes from a field of statistics known as process capability studies. Originally, it referred to the ability of
manufacturing processes to produce a very high proportion of output within specification. Processes that operate with "six sigma
quality" over the short term are assumed to produce long-term defect levels below 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO).
[7][8] Six Sigma's implicit goal is to improve all processes to that level of quality or better.

Six Sigma is a registered service mark and trademark of Motorola Inc.[9] As of 2006 Motorola reported over US$17 billion in
savings[10] from Six Sigma.

Other early adopters of Six Sigma who achieved well-publicized success include Honeywell (previously known as AlliedSignal)
and General Electric, where Jack Welch introduced the method.[11] By the late 1990s, about two-thirds of the Fortune
500 organizations had begun Six Sigma initiatives with the aim of reducing costs and improving quality.[12]

In recent years, some practitioners have combined Six Sigma ideas with lean manufacturing to yield a methodology named Lean
Six Sigma.

[edit]Methods

Six Sigma projects follow two project methodologies inspired by Deming's Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. These methodologies,
composed of five phases each, bear the acronyms DMAIC and DMADV.[12]

DMAIC is used for projects aimed at improving an existing business process.[12] DMAIC is pronounced as "duh-may-ick".

DMADV is used for projects aimed at creating new product or process designs.[12] DMADV is pronounced as "duh-mad-vee".

[edit]DMAIC
The DMAIC project methodology has five phases:

Define the problem, the voice of the customer, and the project goals, specifically.

Measure key aspects of the current process and collect relevant data.

Analyze the data to investigate and verify cause-and-effect relationships. Determine what the relationships are, and attempt to
ensure that all factors have been considered. Seek out root cause of the defect under investigation.

Improve or optimize the current process based upon data analysis using techniques such as design of experiments, poka yoke or
mistake proofing, and standard work to create a new, future state process. Set up pilot runs to establish process capability.

Control the future state process to ensure that any deviations from target are corrected before they result in defects.
Implement control systems such as statistical process control, production boards, and visual workplaces, and continuously
monitor the process.

[edit]DMADV or DFSS

The DMADV project methodology, also known as DFSS ("Design For Six Sigma"),[12] features five phases:

Define design goals that are consistent with customer demands and the enterprise strategy.

Measure and identify CTQs (characteristics that are Critical To Quality), product capabilities, production process capability, and
risks.

Analyze to develop and design alternatives, create a high-level design and evaluate design capability to select the best design.

Design details, optimize the design, and plan for design verification. This phase may require simulations.

Verify the design, set up pilot runs, implement the production process and hand it over to the process owner(s).

[edit]Quality management tools and methods used in Six Sigma

Within the individual phases of a DMAIC or DMADV project, Six Sigma utilizes many established quality-management tools
that are also used outside of Six Sigma. The following table shows an overview of the main methods used.

5 Whys Histograms

Analysis of variance Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

ANOVA Gauge R&R Pareto chart

Axiomatic design Pick chart

Business Process Mapping Process capability

Cause & effects diagram (also known as fishbone or Ishikawa diagram) Quantitative marketing research through use of Enterprise Feedb
Management (EFM) systems
Chi-square test of independence and fits
Regression analysis
Control chart
Root cause analysis
Correlation
Run charts
Cost-benefit analysis
SIPOC analysis (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers)
CTQ tree
Design of experiments Taguchi methods

Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) Taguchi Loss Function

General linear model TRIZ

[edit]Implementation roles

One key innovation of Six Sigma involves the "professionalizing" of quality management functions. Prior to Six Sigma, quality
management in practice was largely relegated to the production floor and to statisticians in a separate quality department. Formal
Six Sigma programs adopt a ranking terminology (similar to some martial arts systems) to define a hierarchy (and career path)
that cuts across all business functions.

Six Sigma identifies several key roles for its successful implementation.[13]

Executive Leadership includes the CEO and other members of top management. They are responsible for setting up a vision for
Six Sigma implementation. They also empower the other role holders with the freedom and resources to explore new ideas for
breakthrough improvements.

Champions take responsibility for Six Sigma implementation across the organization in an integrated manner. The Executive
Leadership draws them from upper management. Champions also act as mentors to Black Belts.

Master Black Belts, identified by champions, act as in-house coaches on Six Sigma. They devote 100% of their time to Six
Sigma. They assist champions and guide Black Belts and Green Belts. Apart from statistical tasks, they spend their time on
ensuring consistent application of Six Sigma across various functions and departments.

Black Belts operate under Master Black Belts to apply Six Sigma methodology to specific projects. They devote 100% of their
time to Six Sigma. They primarily focus on Six Sigma project execution, whereas Champions and Master Black Belts focus on
identifying projects/functions for Six Sigma.

Green Belts are the employees who take up Six Sigma implementation along with their other job responsibilities, operating under
the guidance of Black Belts.

Some organizations use additional belt colours, such as Yellow Belts, for employees that have basic training in Six Sigma tools.

[edit]Certification

In the United States, Six Sigma certification for both Green and Black Belts is offered by the Institute of Industrial
Engineers[14] and by theAmerican Society for Quality.[15]

[edit]Origin and meaning of the term "six sigma process"

Graph of the normal distribution, which underlies the statistical assumptions of the Six Sigma model. The Greek letter σ (sigma)
marks the distance on the horizontal axis between the mean, µ, and the curve's inflection point. The greater this distance, the
greater is the spread of values encountered. For the curve shown above, µ = 0 and σ = 1. The upper and lower specification limits
(USL, LSL) are at a distance of 6σ from the mean. Because of the properties of the normal distribution, values lying that far away
from the mean are extremely unlikely. Even if the mean were to move right or left by 1.5σ at some point in the future (1.5 sigma
shift), there is still a good safety cushion. This is why Six Sigma aims to have processes where the mean is at least 6σ away from
the nearest specification limit.

The term "six sigma process" comes from the notion that if one has six standard deviations between the process mean and the
nearest specification limit, as shown in the graph, practically no items will fail to meet specifications.[8] This is based on the
calculation method employed in process capability studies.

Capability studies measure the number of standard deviations between the process mean and the nearest specification limit in
sigma units. As process standard deviation goes up, or the mean of the process moves away from the center of the tolerance,
fewer standard deviations will fit between the mean and the nearest specification limit, decreasing the sigma number and
increasing the likelihood of items outside specification.[8]

[edit]Role of the 1.5 sigma shift

Experience has shown that processes usually do not perform as well in the long term as they do in the short term.[8] As a result,
the number of sigmas that will fit between the process mean and the nearest specification limit may well drop over time,
compared to an initial short-term study.[8] To account for this real-life increase in process variation over time, an empirically-
based 1.5 sigma shift is introduced into the calculation.[8][16] According to this idea, a process that fits 6 sigma between the
process mean and the nearest specification limit in a short-term study will in the long term only fit 4.5 sigma – either because the
process mean will move over time, or because the long-term standard deviation of the process will be greater than that observed
in the short term, or both.[8]

Hence the widely accepted definition of a six sigma process is a process that produces 3.4 defective parts per million
opportunities (DPMO). This is based on the fact that a process that is normally distributed will have 3.4 parts per million beyond
a point that is 4.5 standard deviations above or below the mean (one-sided capability study).[8] So the 3.4 DPMO of a six sigma
process in fact corresponds to 4.5 sigma, namely 6 sigma minus the 1.5-sigma shift introduced to account for long-term variation.
[8] This allows for the fact that special causes may result in a deterioration in process performance over time, and is designed to
prevent underestimation of the defect levels likely to be encountered in real-life operation.[8]

[edit]Sigma levels
A control chart depicting a process that experienced a 1.5 sigma drift in the process mean toward the upper specification limit
starting at midnight. Control charts are used to maintain 6 sigma quality by signaling when quality professionals should
investigate a process to find and eliminate special-cause variation.

See also: Three sigma rule

The table[17][18] below gives long-term DPMO values corresponding to various short-term sigma levels.

It must be understood that these figures assume that the process mean will shift by 1.5 sigma toward the side with the critical
specification limit. In other words, they assume that after the initial study determining the short-term sigma level, the long-
term Cpk value will turn out to be 0.5 less than the short-term Cpk value. So, for example, the DPMO figure given for 1 sigma
assumes that the long-term process mean will be 0.5 sigma beyondthe specification limit (Cpk = –0.17), rather than 1
sigma within it, as it was in the short-term study (Cpk = 0.33). Note that the defect percentages only indicate defects exceeding
the specification limit to which the process mean is nearest. Defects beyond the far specification limit are not included in the
percentages.

Sigma Short-term
DPMO Percent defective Percentage yield Long-term Cpk
level Cpk

691,46
1 69% 31% 0.33 –0.17
2

308,53
2 31% 69% 0.67 0.17
8

3 66,807 6.7% 93.3% 1.00 0.5

4 6,210 0.62% 99.38% 1.33 0.83

5 233 0.023% 99.977% 1.67 1.17

6 3.4 0.00034% 99.99966% 2.00 1.5

7 0.019 0.0000019% 99.9999981% 2.33 1.83

[edit]Software used for Six Sigma

Main article: List of Six Sigma software packages

[edit]Application

Main article: List of Six Sigma companies

Six Sigma mostly finds application in large organizations.[19] An important factor in the spread of Six Sigma was GE's 1998
announcement of $350 million in savings thanks to Six Sigma, a figure that later grew to more than $1 billion.[19] According to
industry consultants like Thomas Pyzdek and John Kullmann, companies with fewer than 500 employees are less suited to Six
Sigma implementation, or need to adapt the standard approach to make it work for them.[19] This is due both to the infrastructure
of Black Belts that Six Sigma requires, and to the fact that large organizations present more opportunities for the kinds of
improvements Six Sigma is suited to bringing about.[19]

[edit]Criticism

[edit]Lack of originality

Noted quality expert Joseph M. Juran has described Six Sigma as "a basic version of quality improvement", stating that "there is
nothing new there. It includes what we used to call facilitators. They've adopted more flamboyant terms, like belts with different
colors. I think that concept has merit to set apart, to create specialists who can be very helpful. Again, that's not a new idea.
The American Society for Quality long ago established certificates, such as for reliability engineers."[20]

[edit]Role of consultants

The use of "Black Belts" as itinerant change agents has (controversially) fostered an industry of training and certification. Critics
argue there is overselling of Six Sigma by too great a number of consulting firms, many of which claim expertise in Six Sigma
when they only have a rudimentary understanding of the tools and techniques involved.[3]

[edit]Potential negative effects

A Fortune article stated that "of 58 large companies that have announced Six Sigma programs, 91 percent have trailed the S&P
500 since". The statement was attributed to "an analysis by Charles Holland of consulting firm Qualpro (which espouses a
competing quality-improvement process)."[21] The summary of the article is that Six Sigma is effective at what it is intended to
do, but that it is "narrowly designed to fix an existing process" and does not help in "coming up with new products or disruptive
technologies." Advocates of Six Sigma have argued that many of these claims are in error or ill-informed.[22][23]

A BusinessWeek article says that James McNerney's introduction of Six Sigma at 3M had the effect of stifling creativity and
reports its removal from the research function. It cites two Wharton School professors who say that Six Sigma leads to
incremental innovation at the expense of blue skies research.[24] This phenomenon is further explored in the book, Going Lean,
which describes a related approach known as lean dynamics and provides data to show that Ford's "6 Sigma" program did little to
change its fortunes.[25]

[edit]Based on arbitrary standards

While 3.4 defects per million opportunities might work well for certain products/processes, it might not operate optimally or cost
effectively for others. A pacemaker process might need higher standards, for example, whereas a direct mail advertising
campaign might need lower standards. The basis and justification for choosing 6 (as opposed to 5 or 7, for example) as the
number of standard deviations is not clearly explained. In addition, the Six Sigma model assumes that the process data always
conform to the normal distribution. The calculation of defect rates for situations where the normal distribution model does not
apply is not properly addressed in the current Six Sigma literature.[3]

[edit]Criticism of the 1.5 sigma shift

The statistician Donald J. Wheeler has dismissed the 1.5 sigma shift as "goofy" because of its arbitrary nature.[26] Its universal
applicability is seen as doubtful.[3]

The 1.5 sigma shift has also become contentious because it results in stated "sigma levels" that reflect short-term rather than long-
term performance: a process that has long-term defect levels corresponding to 4.5 sigma performance is, by Six Sigma
convention, described as a "six sigma process."[8][27] The accepted Six Sigma scoring system thus cannot be equated to actual
normal distribution probabilities for the stated number of standard deviations, and this has been a key bone of contention about
how Six Sigma measures are defined.[27] The fact that it is rarely explained that a "6 sigma" process will have long-term defect
rates corresponding to 4.5 sigma performance rather than actual 6 sigma performance has led several commentators to express the
opinion that Six Sigma is a confidence trick.[8]

[edit]See also

Business process

Design for Six Sigma

Total quality management

Total productive maintenance

[edit]References
^ a b "The Inventors of Six Sigma". Archived from the original on November 6, 2005. Retrieved January 29, 2006.

^ Tennant, Geoff (2001). SIX SIGMA: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services. Gower Publishing, Ltd..
p. 6. ISBN 0566083744.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k Antony, Jiju. "Pros and cons of Six Sigma: an academic perspective". Archived from the original on July 23,
2008. Retrieved August 5, 2010.

^ "Motorola University - What is Six Sigma?". Retrieved 2009-09-14. "[...] Six Sigma started as a defect reduction effort in
manufacturing and was then applied to other business processes for the same purpose."[dead link]

^ Stamatis, D. H. (2004). Six Sigma Fundamentals: A Complete Guide to the System, Methods, and Tools. New York, New
York: Productivity Press. p. 1. ISBN 9781563272929. OCLC 52775178. "The practitioner of the six sigma methodology in any
organization should expect to see the use of old and established tools and approaches in the pursuit of continual improvement and
customer satisfaction. So much so that even TQM (total quality management) is revisited as a foundation of some of the
approaches. In fact, one may define six sigma as "TQM on steroids.""

^ Montgomery, Douglas C. (2009). Statistical Quality Control: A Modern Introduction (6 ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley
& Sons. p. 23.ISBN 9780470233979. OCLC 244727396. "During the 1950s and 1960s programs such as Zero Defects and Value
Engineering abounded, but they had little impact on quality and productivity improvement. During the heyday of TQM in the
1980s, another popular program was theQuality Is Free initiative, in which management worked on identifying the cost of
quality..."

^ "Motorola University Six Sigma Dictionary". Archived from the original on January 28, 2006. Retrieved January 29, 2006.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Tennant, Geoff (2001). SIX SIGMA: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services. Gower Publishing,
Ltd.. pp. 25.ISBN 0566083744.
^ "Motorola Inc. - Motorola University". Retrieved January 29, 2006.

^ "About Motorola University". Archived from the original on December 22, 2005. Retrieved January 28, 2006.

^ "Six Sigma: Where is it now?". Retrieved May 22, 2008.