4. Management’s initiatives and resource management
Six Sigma business management strategies were first fabricated by Motorola Inc, USA.
JackWelch introduced Six Sigma at Honeywell International and General Electric, who
achieved tremendous results. Due to involvement of management, many organizations
initiated Six Sigma to reduce cost and earn profit by maintaining quality. Based on the
literature pertaining to the use of Six Sigma in SMEs, a Strength, Weakness,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was carried out and the findings
are presented in Table II. The internal strengths & weaknesses of the SMEs, and the
external opportunities & threats it faces, in view of the quality related issues are
summarized on the basis of literature review, which is as follows:
From the literature regarding the role of SME management and the quality
initiatives (with respect to Six Sigma) indicate that there are numerous benefits by
using the Six Sigma methodology. However, there is a need to have systematic plan or
strategy to overcome the weakness and threats pertaining to quality improvement
journey. This strategy may include and not limited to establishing contact with
reputed human resource placement agencies for sustainable supply of quality human
resource, strategic alliances with Six Sigma suppliers and customers (industrial units),
development of SME based models, etc.