Strategic Six Sigma for Champions:
Keys to Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Reviewer comments

• I am impressed with this book because it:
1. Makes the case for customer value

2. Discusses how to identify the appropriate markets and the appropriate metrics

3. Presents questionnaires as a tool to collect customer value data

4. Details the process of linking customer value results to Six Sigma projects

• I would recommend this book for Six Sigma practitioners – quality managers, green belts, black belts, and master black belts.  I would anticipate that this book could be a part of the curriculum in the training of black belts.  A secondary audience would be the research directors and analysts that are charged with the collection of the customer information as an input into the Six Sigma initiative.  Master Black Belts and Champions would benefit the most from this book.

• I am deploying Six Sigma in a Fortune 500 Company that practices value oriented marketing.  I feel that this book is 100% on the mark!!!  I especially liked the practical examples.  You presented a market segmentation template then applied it to a business.  I liked the clear presentation. I think the [discussion of] surveys will also have a practical appeal.

• The key strengths of this book include:
1. Customer value focus versus customer satisfaction

2. Application of P/M matrix to align strategic direction with Six Sigma initiatives

3. Questionnaire construction and data collection

4. Emphasis on value driver linkages to Six Sigma project selection

• I  would definitely – in fact, enthusiastically – recommend this book to others.  The book is very timely because of value oriented marketing, the current focus on strategy, and the recent surge to introduce Six Sigma in sales and marketing. 

About the Book

Recent advances in the measurement and management of customer value now make it a powerful tool for identifying and prioritizing Six Sigma projects.  No longer do black belts have to rely solely on costs to justify the selection of Six Sigma projects.  Now the real power and potential of Six Sigma can be turned to its strategic purpose – create and sustain value differences that will translate into greater market share and enhanced profitability.

The authors take the position that few organizations understand how to incorporate the voice of the customer, no matter what its dialect, into how they do business.  Companies struggle to use any market research they may do to guide their competitive planning, with the result that most planning processes lack any real link to the customer and, instead, reflect the agendas and beliefs of internal managers.  This is equally true for many Six Sigma projects.  Although many black belts talk about the importance of the voice of the customer, few actually know what information to collect and even fewer know how to use it. 

This book has two objectives.  The first is to provide the reader with an approach for using the voice of the customer to identify Six Sigma projects and to guide their conduct.  The second objective is to show the reader how to obtain the correct voice of the customer – customer value. 

There are two sections to Six Sigma Meets Customer Value.  The first section focuses on how to use customer value information to identify Six Sigma projects.  This section places a strategic emphasis on the identification and execution of Six Sigma projects, and moves beyond traditional cost cutting approaches.  The second section of Customer Value & Six Sigma focuses on how to acquire the information discussed in section 1.  This section demonstrates how to apply the same statistical rigor to the collection and analysis of the customer information that should drive Six Sigma initiatives as is applied to the Six Sigma projects themselves.  Together, the two sections provide the underpinnings and the tools for value-based, market-driven Six Sigma initiatives. 

Benefits

This book shows how to use the right voice of the customer to drive the right Six Sigma initiatives for both strategically focused value enhancements and cost reductions.  Real examples from both the manufacturing and services sectors demonstrate how to ask the right questions of customers, determine which customers to ask, cost-effectively transform that data into strategically useful information, and use that information to enhance business processes for more profitable increases in market share.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Customer Value versus Customer Satisfaction: Strategic Implications
• Chapter 2  The Value Information Platform
• Chapter 3  Customer – Strategy – Process: Key Linkages
• Chapter 4  Achieving Strategic Focus: Which Customers?
• Chapter 5  Asking the Right Questions
• Chapter 6  Developing the Questionnaire
• Chapter 7  Data Collection – Where, How, and How Much?
• Chapter 8  Transforming Data into Valid and Reliable Information
• Chapter 9  Using Customer Value Tools Strategically with Six Sigma
• Chapter 10  Metrics for Monitoring Process Improvements
• References
• Glossary
• Index