Tag: Kano model

Recruitment has always been a good indicator of how the wider economy is faring. Since the global downturn, many recruitment companies have been squeezed. The rise of Internet-based recruitment, including social media tools, has added to their problems. Employers are watching their costs and they understand the alternative routes to new employees. As a result, […]

Through scenario planning, organizations can delight their customers by preparing for problems before they happen and testing solutions on employees first.

Imagine receiving the following message from your organization’s travel assistant: “You will really like your next business trip! I have booked you into a hotel right in the city center. It is a bit far from the factory and not really cheap, but after work you can do lots of things!” But what if you […]

In the Measure phase of the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) improvement methodology, data is collected and analyzed to provide a performance baseline for the process under study. Asking questions is one of the primary ways of collecting data. But as author Edward Hodnett noted, “If you don’t ask the right questions, […]

How often have you been truly delighted by a dining experience? Recently, a co-worker and I had the good fortune to have such an experience. We were in Arizona to deliver Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) training, and had dinner at the Macaroni Grill #135 in Phoenix. Our waiter was attentive and the […]

I will be the first to admit that I still have a few cases of 8-track tapes. For those too young to know what 8-track tapes are, please ask your parents. As a customer who purchased a lot of music, my needs were simple. I wanted clearer sound and something smaller to store. The music […]

The quality of a product or service is a key element in creating customer satisfaction. The level of satisfaction is ultimately dependent on the fulfilment of customer needs. The Kano survey is a valuable tool for capturing the voice of the customer (VOC), providing critical information on the importance of products and services and the […]

When competition for new markets and customers increases, the level of customer satisfaction becomes a key factor for long-term business success. Satisfied customers often become loyal customers and help to ensure future cash flow. In their article “Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services” (Harvard Business Review, 1990) F.F. Reichfeld and W.E. Sasser report that a […]

Nearly all medium and large companies spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on customer surveys every year. Customer survey results are used to amend strategies, design new products and services, and focus improvement activities. Gathering customer data is only the first step. The second step involves making best use of the data – analyzing […]

In many industries, improvement projects quickly face an obstacle: The lack of easy to get and reliable data. This is especially true when the critical-to-quality elements (CTQs) of the project are “soft attributes” such as taste, smell or texture. Facing such a problem in the food and drink industries is obvious. While in a Kano […]

During a Six Sigma symposium, speaker after speaker presented good information on Six Sigma concepts, tools and approaches to use when working on a Six Sigma project. If these Six Sigma tools, approaches templates, etc., are good for Six Sigma projects, why not use them in day-to-day software development and IT processes? Learning Objectives It […]