In some aspects of quality improvement, TQM and Six Sigma share the same philosophy of how to assist organizations to accomplish Total Quality. They both emphasize the importance of top-management support and leadership. Both approaches make it clear that continuous quality improvement is critical to long-term business success. However, why has the popularity of TQM waned while Six Sigma’s popularity continues to grow in the past decade?
Unlike TQM, Six Sigma was not developed by technicians who only dabbled in management and therefore produced only broad guidelines for management to follow. The Six Sigma way of implementation was created by some of America’s most gifted CEOs – people like Motorola’s Bob Galvin, Allied Signal’s Larry Bossidy, and GE’s Jack Welch. These people had a single goal in mind: making their businesses as successful as possible. Once they were convinced that tools and techniques of Six Sigma could help them do this, they developed a framework to make it happen.
The differences between TQM and Six Sigma are summarized in the table mentioned below
TQM vs. Six Sigma
TQM
Six Sigma
A functional specialty within the organization.
An infrastructure of dedicated change agents. Focuses on cross-functional value delivery streams rather than functional division of labour.
Focuses on quality.
Focuses on strategic goals and applies them to cost, schedule and other key business metrics.
Motivated by quality idealism.
Driven by tangible benefit far a major stockholder group (customers, shareholders, and employees).
Loosely monitors progress toward goals.
Ensures that the investment produces the expected return.
People are engaged in routine duties (Planning, improvement, and control).
Slack resources are created to change key business processes and the organization itself.
Emphasizes problem solving.
Emphasizes breakthrough rates ofimprovement.
Focuses on standard performance, e.g. ISO 9000.
Focuses on world class performance, e.g., 3.4 PPM error rate.
Quality is a permanent, full-time job. Career path is in the quality profession.
Six Sigma job is temporary. Six Sigma is a stepping-stone; career path leads elsewhere.
Provides a vast set of tools and techniques with no clear framework for using them effectively.
Provides a selected subset of tools and techniques and a clearly defined framework for using them to achieve results (DMAIC).
Goals are developed by quality department based on quality criteria and the assumption that what is good for quality is good for the organization.
Goals flow down from customers and senior leadership’s strategic objectives. Goals and metrics are reviewed at the enterprise level to assure that local sub-optimization does not occur.
Developed by technical personnel.
Developed by CEOs.
Focuses on long-term results. Expected payoff is not well-defined.
Six Sigma looks for a mix of short-term and long-term results, as dictated by business demands.
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