Six sigma on business processes: Common organizational issues

Six Sigma methodologies are now well understood with respect to their application to manufacturing and technical processes. Successes are well documented. However, when considering nonmanufacturing processes, both applications and successes in process improvement activities are limited. This article identifies and discusses several issues, common to many business processes, that serve as barriers to the implementation of Six Sigma or any statistical, scientific approach to process improvement. An example based on the author's experience at a mortgage company is used to illustrate how these issues can be overcome to implement Six Sigma effectively on a business process.