3m Case Study

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When implementing Six Sigma, senior executives and managers are critical in a successful adaption of it. Senior Executives are in charge of establishing the necessary changes and procedures for eliminating past structure and implementing a new one. They are in charge of bigger and longer term parts of Six Sigma. Managers on the other hand are in charge of ensuring and demonstrating the proper steps and strategies for employees to adapt to Six Sigma. Their focus is more on the day to day process of implementing it, making sure employees are following and carrying out actions under the new Six Sigma strategies. Human Resources plays a role in this implementation of Six Sigma by dealing with Six Sigma issues from an employee perspective or determining which employees are properly adapting. They also offer assistance for those who are struggling in adjusting. This is because of the lack of creativity created due to Six Sigma’s structures and its limitation on innovative culture at a company.

Since Six Sigma is applied to all aspects of the production and planning process of 3M, it could create rigidity and bureaucracy that can limit creativity. This limits the innovative culture at create delays in the processes. In addition, its customer focus may be taken to extremes, where internal quality-control measures that make sense for a company are not taken because of the way Six Sigma stipulates customers. For example, an inexpensive measure that carries a risk of a slightly higher defect rate may be rejected in favor of a more expensive measure that helps to achieve Six Sigma, but adversely affects profitability from consumers. In regards to costs, Six Sigma focuses more along the lines of cutting or eliminating things that cost the company. For example, one big cost was the loss of jobs for 11% of the workforce. Although it saves money, it eliminates many people from working positions, another reason why employees are sometimes hesitant to implement Six Sigma.

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