Cisco’s It Implementation of an Organizational Change and Advanced Services for Operational Success

Innovations form the main sources of competitive advantages and are always of significance for the growth of a company. Companies or organizations put their greater efforts in improving their performance by finding new ideas and knowledge on the best way of beating their competitors and therefore give satisfaction to their customers. There are various factors involved in the innovation design system which can be either internal or external.

Six Sigma is a business instrument for the betterment of a process. It is a controlled approach and methodology for obviating defects in any process such as manufacturing, businesses and any product or service. Six Sigma has been gaining tremendous popularity in industry today. However, academics have conducted limited research on this rising phenomenon. Interpreting Six Sigma primarily requires giving out a conceptual definition and describing an underlying theory. This topic uses Grounded theory approach and meager literature available to suggest an initial definition and theory of Six Sigma. This paper indicates that although tools and techniques on the topic are similar to earlier approaches of quality management, it provides a structure which is more detailed. This emerging structure for quality management attempts to improve the quality of the yield of a process by identifying and obviating the defects and causes lowering variability in business processes. Also one of the important areas touched upon is the conceptual understanding of Six Sigma. Each Six Sigma project executed inside an

The concept of Six Sigma was developed in the early 1980’s at Motorola Corporation (Harry and Schroeder, 2000). Six Sigma can be defined as a statistical measure of the performance of a process or product (Kumi et. al., 2006). It is used as a quality control mechanism, which seeks to reduce defects or variations in a process to 3.4 per million opportunities thereby optimizing output and increasing customer satisfaction (Sambhe, 2012). Sigma is representing the standard deviation, a unit of measurement that designates the distribution or spread about the mean of a process (Six Sigma Academy, 2002). In addition, the Six Sigma uniquely driven by close understanding of customer needs, disciplined use of fact, data, and statistical analysis, and diligent attention to managing improving, and reinventing business processes (Pande, P., et. al. 2000). The Six Sigma methodology uses statistical tools to identify the factors that matter most for improving the quality of processes and generating bottom-line results. The Six Sigma DMAIC (Define, Measure,

Innovation can be one of the most challenging processing in the context of work, however the creation of new knowledge is the key to success in all businesses and organisations as keeping up with the trends with only help provide good results (Crowther, D. 2002).

Tidd and Bessant (2009) argued that “Unless an organization is able to move into further innovation, it risks being left behind as others take the lead in changing their offerings, their operational processes or the underlying models that drive their business”.

New York • Atlanta • Brussels • Buenos Aires • Chicago • London • Mexico City

They went further to state that “There was a considerable interchange of tools and techniques between lean manufacturing and Six Sigma” (McAdam and Donagan, 2003). Implementation challenges were highlighted in this study and were similar to those previously discussed. The researchers simple stated that “this study has found no recipe for success” (McAdam and Donagan, 2003). McAdam and Donagan (2003) significant finding from this study was “that three business improvement methodologies of different philosophical origins could all be systematically combined to contribute to organizational goals.” They support this finding by explaining that “there was a distinct lack of evidence, at any level, of complaints of unnecessary overlap and contradictory goals” (McAdam and Donagan, 2003). They recommend further research is this area because “the integration and aggregation of these approaches and their effects would appear to have the potential to produce a coherent approach to business improvement strategy” (McAdam and Donagan,

Although originally introduced by Motorola in 1986 as a quality performance measurement, six sigma has evolved into a statistically oriented approach to process and product quality improvement. Many organizations have reported significant benefits as a result of six sigma project implementation, though not all are yet success stories. Antony, J. and Banuelas, R. (2002) defines Six Sigma is a business strategy and a systematic methodology, use of which leads to breakthrough in profitability through quantum gains in product/service quality, customer satisfaction and

The term six sigma (6σ) began as an operational appraisal or a measure of quality. Utilizing six sigma, procedure objectives are established in parts per million (PPM) in every part of the manufacturing procedure. From the time when its source, six sigma has now progressed into a procedure for enhancing organizational proficiency and efficiency by concentrating on productivity, price decrease, and improved quality. Six Sigma is a fixated and quantifiable management discipline that utilizes a disciplined, data-driven approach to work to remove imperfections across every business area, together with management, service delivery, design, production and customer satisfaction, stressing breakthrough improvement for improved bottom line

Many business organizations today are looking for the best strategies to improve the quality of their products. Six Sigma is a methodology that provides a process to measure quality using a data-driven process (iSixSigma). This framework can be adapted for use in any industry to produce near perfect quality products or service. In addition to the methodologies Six Sigma has certifications or belts that include White Belt, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt, and Master Black Belt. There are 2 sub-methodologies that are used in the Six Sigma process, the DMAIC (Define, measure, Analyze, improve, control) and DMADV (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) (iSixSigma). Six Sigma was developed by Motorola in 1986 as a way to improve the quality in the manufacturing process (Investopedia). In 1995 General Electric was an early adopter when it successfully implemented Six Sigma; in the first five years General Electric estimated the benefits at $10 billion (iSixSigma).

Innovation refers to finding new ways to improve the existing products, services, processes, technologies, and employee performance in an organizational setup. In today's competitive business environment, organizations have to focus on bringing innovation in each and every aspect of their business operations; like products or service offerings, enterprise resource planning systems, marketing and promotional efforts, and organizational structure. The market challenges and competitive pressures also force organizations to use a blend of all these innovation processes in their business activities. Therefore, it is vital to give an equal focus on product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation, and organizational innovation within the limited organizational resources and capabilities.

Innovation is the key factor to defeat path dependency and stay competitive in today 's economy. Yet, Innovation is not necessarily about new technology, excessive research and development or about creating completely new ideas. Most of the time innovation is learning from others and re-inventing. Most of the successful firms adapt, refine or combine the innovations. They also apply creative imitation.

Looking at the success of Motorola, many companies like Texas Instruments, Allied Signal etc started using Six Sigma methodology to bring organization-wide improvements.

In 1987, Motorola presented the Six-Sigma procedure. Their goal was to diminish procedure yield variety so that six standard deviation lie between the mean and the closest detail limit. As indicated by this procedure in a great deal of one million open doors, 3.4 defects (per million) are permitted. As it were this is otherwise called defects per million opportunities (DPMO). It is apparent from different method of distribute media that as of now the majority of the businesses fabricates 2% to 3% mistakes in a considerable measure of one million mechanical operations (Ateekh, 2012). Extensive organizations, for instance Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Honeywell are utilizing six-sigma as a change apparatus. This is because of the accentuation on configuration and acquiring so as to assemble to international standard a percentage of the best technologies/change methods from driving organizations on the planet, together with advancements created in its own offices. The review of hundred assembling organizations by Thomas et al. (2008), highlights that the effective execution of six sigma prompts more prominent opportunities for organizations to accomplish monetary maintainability through consistent development and assembling effectiveness. Then again, Peter et al.

The company has demonstrated that Six Sigma could lead to higher quality output, increased productivity, and energised employees. Today, records available in the public domain indicate that more than 30,000 employees have been trained in Six Sigma, with plans to complete GreenBelt training for all salaried employees. Globally, over 11,000 projects have closed and more than 12,000 projects are currently underway. Apart from implementing Six Sigma within the organization, 3M has demonstrated the need to assist their customers in developing creative solutions for their business and manufacturing challenges. Hundreds of 3M industrial business-customer Six Sigma projects have been accomplished. Here, three examples are given of a major automotive manufacturer, a well-known food producer, and a leading manufacturer who had quality problems. The automotive manufacturer had a significant challenge with its largest-selling vehicles. 3M assisted in using Six Sigma to provide a cost effective solution in a short time frame. The well-known food producer needed to keep track of the product that its makes and ships. In the event of a product recall, it needed to locate every food item shipped, right down to the hour it left the production line. With the assistance of the 3M Six Sigma project, 3M-developed