TABLE OF CONTENTS Six Sigma, developed by Motorola but made famous by General Electric, adds to the approaches of TQM. The Malcolm Baldrige award represents the United States symbol of highest achievement for business excellence. It grew out of a focus on TQM but today seeks to broaden its coverage. ISO 9000 is an international standard for quality performance, deployed by many companies. The Web site for the Malcolm Baldrige award [9] compares these approaches:
Although all three are quality measurement systems, the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, ISO 9001:2000 Registration, and Six Sigma each offer a different emphasis in helping organizations improve performance and increase customer satisfaction.
concentrates on measuring product quality and improving process engineering.
drives process improvement and cost savings.
is a product/service conformity model for guaranteeing equity in the marketplace.
concentrates on fixing quality system defects and product/service nonconformities.
focus on performance excellence for the entire organization in an overall management framework.
identify and track all-important organizational results: customer, product/ service, financial, human resource, and organizational effectiveness.
The popular literature may lead you to believe that TQM was a management fad that failed to deliver on its promise and had outrun its applicability by the end of the century. A recent Six Sigma book asserts that it solves all of the problems that TQM experiences ([10], pp. 43 9). I consider TQM still to be quite successful, when applied appropriately, and Six Sigma to be part of...
