The DMAIC is a known component of the Six Sigma Methodology, which was established for the purpose of addressing issues and concerns in order to enhance the working process and relationships. (“What is DMAIC? ”) The primary goal or objective of Six Sigma is to increase work productivity and efficiency and improve the quality of work outputs that are indicators of organizational success by eliminating all the flaws or deficiencies within all aspects of the business organization.
In terms of the technical definition of Six Sigma, it is being implemented and reviewed in order to obtain numerical data or figures that determine the rate or percentage of flaws or deficiencies as compared to the chances or inclinations of the organization to fail in various practices and operations. (“Six Sigma: What is Six Sigma? ”)
The results of outcomes of Six Sigma are entirely based on accurate measurements and statistics obtained from the various sub-methodologies that Six Sigma implements. From the results of outcomes of Six Sigma, business organizations are able to draw resolutions to determined flaws and deficiencies by relying on improvement projects tailored and recommended by the Six Sigma process depending on the current situation of the organization. (“Six Sigma: What is Six Sigma?
”) One might ask what the relation of DMAIC might be to Six Sigma. The answer to the inquiry would be that DMAIC is one of the sub-methodologies implemented by Six Sigma to carry out the process of measuring and obtaining statistics and records from the results or outcomes to arrive at resolutions to flaws and deficiencies obtained from Six Sigma improvement projects. DMAIC methodology stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.
Sometimes DMAIC is transformed into DMARICR to stand for Define, Measure, Recognize, Improve, Control, and Realize. This particular methodology describes how business organizations will go about identifying the flaws and deficiencies within the dimensions or structures of the institution, and to consequentially look for possible resolutions to address determined problems and concerns. (“Six Sigma”)
First, the organization needs to define the profile of the organization’s clients or customers, the current position of the organization and the projected future of the organization if its current position continues and if various changes will be implemented as suggested by improvement plans such as by the Six Sigma approach, the need to make changes, the numerous considerations that the organizations should make especially during the planning process, the required resources to complete the transformation of the organization, and the targeted date of completion for the plan or project proposed by the organization through Six Sigma.
(“DMAIC” & “The Six Sigma Project DMAIC Cycle”) Second, the organization needs to measure various dimensions of the organization in terms of accomplishing the primary goal of Six Sigma, the requirements or prerequisites that should constitute the planned changes, and the capability of the organization to meet these requirements and prerequisites. These three considerations are otherwise known as the rating or performance of the organization upon the review and analyses of business processes and operations.
Specifically, measuring the dimensions of the organization has something to do with the collection of data to solidify the kind of plan or strategies that fits the needs of the organization. Perhaps the most important purpose of measurement is to determine risks and potential threats to address the need of determining the progress of the organization in terms of change. (“DMAIC” & “The Six Sigma Project DMAIC Cycle”) Third, the organization needs to analyze the results or outcomes of the measurements from the previous process.
In this stage, the organization is able to determine what flaws or deficiencies are putting the organization at a vulnerable position, allowing it to map out a plan to address the identified problems. Through analysis, the plan will include the gaps between the current organizational situation to the desired or ideal organizational environment that will eliminate the flaws and deficiencies and open up to desirable results and outcomes. In addition, in this stage, the organization is able to clearly present the final plan to address the situation.
(“DMAIC” & “The Six Sigma Project DMAIC Cycle”) Fourth, the organization needs to improve the final plan by incorporating various techniques and strategies that clearly enhance the design, and therefore, the expected or perceived results or outcomes from the improvement plan of Six Sigma. In this stage, it is important for the organization to determine what the actual process will be like, determining the practical and concrete steps or activities that shall be carried out in order to complete the improvement plan.
The improvement of the improvement plan itself has something to do with various procedures and tangible tools or devices that will enhance its implementation, for instance the inclusion of technology and training of the human capital, etc. , will address this particular purpose. (“DMAIC” & “The Six Sigma Project DMAIC Cycle”) The fifth and the final step in the DMAIC methodology has something to do with control.
In this stage, the organization needs to control or manage the actual implementation process in order to supervise and determine whether there are unforeseen hindrances or difficulties or the implementation process is straying off the targeted direction, etc. The actual activities that organizations carry out during this stage ensures that the organization will not fail in completing the improvement plan and it will not return to previous working situations that clearly do not work well to contribute to organizational success.
The process of controlling the implementation process also has something to do with evaluating or assessing the entire process in order to determine what kinds of modifications are needed to improve the improvement plans. (“DMAIC” & “The Six Sigma Project DMAIC Cycle”) Six Sigma, particularly the DMAIC cycle, as a means to improve the dimensions and structure of the organization, meets various needs and expectations that develop the organization.
It seems to be a complicated process that is satiated with various terminologies and concepts that define how it works and how it addresses the needs and concerns of organizations efficiently and competently. However, the DMAIC cycle as an improvement process and methodology is entirely simple. It is similar to the dimensions of daily human activities, if they are analyzed deeply since the primary goal of the DMAIC is to improve the performance of the organization just by eliminating the flaws or deficiencies that serve as obstacles or hindrances to the organization’s success.
For instance, the DMAIC as a process is entirely similar to solving mathematical problems, as solving mathematical problems require the perfection or understanding of various solutions or formula that help in eliminating the mistakes or blind alleys that constitute the problem-solving process. Like the DMAIC, the problem in the equation or given situation is determined as well as the other components or elements that it lacks making them the subject for the problem-solving process.
Next, one follows various equations or formulas derived from analysis, however, most of the time, one faces blind alleys which fail to generate the correct answer to the problem. Moreover, like the DMAIC process, the individual goes back into various problem-solving processes and determines what steps during the equation went wrong, and in an effort to finally solve the problem, eliminates the wrong equations and formulas to come up with the correct and absolute formula and answer to the problem. DMAIC suggests a step-by-step process by which the primary and goals and objectives of the Six Sigma shall be realized.
Moreover, it also realizes that the success of organizations is directly attributed to the non-existences of flaws or deficiencies that unbalance the status or position of the organization. Take for instance the case of Sodexho – a company that focuses on the production of food products and facilities that help in the process of management and supervision. One of the previous problems faced by Sodexho was the issue of diversity and inclusion or integration of individuals who belong to varied cultural backgrounds.
Sodexho addressed the issue by implementing DMAIC to determine the flaws and deficiencies of the multicultural program and policy that the company is planning to implement. (Dreaschlin & Lee, 1) The DMAIC process was instrumental in helping the company design or structure the improvement plan according to the analyses and measurements of the organization’s dimensions. First, the needs of individuals, employees or customers alike, belonging to racial and ethnic groups were defined. Tests in cultural competency were employed in order to determine how well the members of the organization are sensitive of multiculturalism.
Second, the measurement was conducted through surveys and questionnaires on the current structure of the organization in addressing multicultural issues. In addition, the company utilized a scorecard that predicts what the outcomes would, more specifically the results to diversity in the workplace. Part of utilizing the scorecard is determining what behaviors, processes, or operations influence the outcomes in order to determine how the dimensions or structure of the organization is going to be modified completely.
(Dreaschlin & Lee, 1) Consequently, the DMAIC process was again used to assess or evaluate whether the plan is good enough to be implemented considering the measurements done on the possible results or outcomes of the program or policy. Moreover, for the most part, DMAIC was primarily instrumental in the management and supervision process of the program or policy implemented, ensuring that every business process or operation is sensitive to multicultural concepts and concerns.
Overall, the Six Sigma DMAIC process was beneficial to the company as it helped in determining how to approach the subject of multiculturalism. The final result of the implementation of the DMAIC was the increased accountability of managers. The metrics utilized, such as the survey, the scorecard, and other assessment tools, were applied to the process of providing compensation and benefits. This helps in cost-efficiency since the effort put forth not only be the management but also by other members of the organization is measured accurately and are proportioned with appropriate fees.
Works Cited
Dreaschlin, Janice L. & Lee, Peggy D. (2007). “Applying Six Sigma and DMAIC to Diversity Initiatives. ” The Journal of Healthcare Management. Retrieved from Entrepreneur. com, Inc. 15 December 2008. <http://www. entrepreneur. com/tradejournals/article/172010508_1. html>. “DMAIC. ” (2003). Retrieved from iSixSigma. com. 15 December 2008. <http://www. isixsigma. com/dictionary/DMAIC-57. htm>. “Six Sigma. ” (2008). Retrieved from Breakthrough Management Group International.
15 December 2008. <http://www. bmgi. com/methodologies/methodologies_six_sigma. aspx>. “The Six Sigma Project DMAIC Cycle. ” (2008). Retrieved from De La Salle University. 15 December 2008. <http://quality. dlsu. edu. ph/tools/DMAIC_cycle. pdf>. “Six Sigma: What is Six Sigma? ” (2008). Retrieved from iSixSigma. 15 December 2008. <http://www. isixsigma. com/sixsigma/six_sigma. asp>. “What is DMAIC. ” (2008). Retrieved from Tech-FAQ. 15 December 2008. <http://www. tech-faq. com/dmaic. shtml> .