Rating: 
Summary: Good Orientation but....
Review: As an Industrial Engineer I already knew many if not all of the ideas behind the "Six Sigma Strategy". These gentleman have found a way to package the IE focus into a neat little package. UNfortunatly it lacks depth. The book was a good read as an intro to the Black Belt training I had, but it does not offer any substance for those of you looking to apply any of the concepts. This book only talks on a high level about them. It acts as more of a sales pitch at best for the ideas behind six sigma. It is probably worth it but the if you are looking at trying to improve your business processes and look for solutions you would be better off hiring an Industrial Engineering Consultant. If you were to ask my opinion of a better book to read I would STRINGLY recommmend "The Goal" or "Critical Chain" both by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. His books offer a more realistic approach at solving these issues. As info Six Sigma has been a failure in our company many of which is blamed by the fact that the program requires a total commitment by upper(many companies don't have the Jack Welch type leadership)
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time
Review: Six Sigma superficially is an excellent concept and this book serves the reader well in providing a detailed description of the concept. Early chapters take the reader on a journey through various companies providing an education on the importance of benchmarking, measuring defect rates, implementation strategies, and measuring six sigma performance. When the book begins to focus on implementation and deployment in later chapters the paint strokes begin to get very broad. The ideas provided to the reader are oversimplified and basic. For example, "Companies that improve their ability to consistently meet their customer's needs will produce positive bottom-line results." Really? I believe that the 1% of managers that are unware of this concept are not reading this book. The inability of this book to lay out a detailed plan for implementation results from the fact that each business is significantly different. If after reading this book the six sigma concept is appealing one could consider employing a consultant or creating a team for implementation. In my opinion the book also applies more to businesses with easily measurable performance such as manufacturing products as opposed to service providing businesses. Although customer satisfaction can be measured it is much easier to note an increase in monthly unit production. In summary six sigma is a difficult concept to initiate without the full commitment of your management team but the individual businessman will gain some valuable managerial skills through the book's good advice.
Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately too much of a commercial
Review: I purchased this book to learn more about the reemergence of six sigma as an approach to business change. Unfortunately this book is more of a commercial for the authors services than a discussion of the approach, where it can be applied and how to be successful with it.The book first part of the book is filled with hyperbole and leans heavily on the idea that if it worked for GE and Motorola then it will work for you. It is important to recognize that the average six sigma project generates less than $100,000 in value. So the value of the technique is in spreading it out wide and far in your organization and letting the people doing the work improve what they do. This is not an approach for people looking to do transformational change or to address signficiant structural issues. To the authors credit they do describe the six sigma processes and steps at a level that you can understand it and have a conversation about six sigma at a dinner party. They achieve this result. However, the book does not go much beyond this. It is very light on the applicaiton of this to services -- a real issue given that most people are employed in service related activities. It directs people to invest heavily in training black belts in the techniques whcih is the service provided by the authors. For people who have an understanding of TQM techniques much of this is a reconfiguraiton of the techniques not the breakthrough revolution that the book describes. Although this has more detail than Hammer's Rengineering the Corporation, this book is too heavy on the advertising messages to help people understand the technique and its applicability to their business.
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