Six Sigma and the knowledge revolution

Six Sigma is the biggest thing in business and the quality profession since Japanese manufacturing success and W. Edwards Deming launched the statistical process control (SPC) wave in the 1980s. The reason is simple: it produces business results. Meanwhile, at the end of the 20th century, an avalanche of new technology is changing everything about the way we live, work, invest, succeed, and fail. As we consider the Six Sigma imperative however, we must also consider the dramatic impact of technology changes, and the knowledge revolution that has already begun. This paper takes a closer look at what people are saying about Six Sigma, the Technology Machine, and the Knowledge Revolution, while making some predictions about what the winners will be doing in the year 2005.