Submitted by: Submitted by seanincola
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Words: 7450
Pages: 30
Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 10/11/2012 08:55 PM
C ase Study
S ix Sigma at 3 M, Inc.
O n January 1, 2001, 3 M a nnounced t hat W. James
McNerney Jr. was elected t he c hairman and c hief ex
ecutive o fficer o f t he f irm (see A ppendix 1 f or t he
a nnouncement). A t t he a nnual shareholders meet
ing in May 2001, McNerney announced t hat " At t he
t op o f my agenda is a h eadlong a nd c ompanywide
i mplementation o f t he Six Sigma a pproach t o
process and business i mprovement . .. I've seen f irst
hand h ow Six Sigma can energize an o rganization,
increase sales and cash f low, satisfy customers better,
and s trengthen m anagement d evelopment."
M cNerney i nitiated a massive t raining p rogram
f or h undreds o f senior executives. Senior executives
w ere c harged w ith l eading t he t raining e fforts f or
all o f m iddle managers and c oming u p w ith a list o f
100 key six sigma projects.
A ccording t o some sources, McNerney h ad al
ready " sold" 3M's board o f d irectors o n t he c oncept
b efore he t ook t he p osition.'
.
Historically, 3M competed p rimarily on p roduct
leadership and q uality-and a lmost never on price.
Many 3 M managers believed t hat t he f irm was already
a quality company, w ith many high-quality products
such as Post-it Products and Scotch tape commanding
very high m arket shares in t heir respective markets.
However, 3M's financial performance was " flat" and
was n ot expected t o i mprove unless some m ajor
changes were made. The decision had already been
made t o d eploy a Six Sigma program. The question f or
t he senior management o f t he f irm was h ow t o use
t he Six Sigma program as a key lever f or t ransforming
t he f irm t o become more competitive.
.
HISTORy1
3 M was f ounded in 1902 a t t he Lake Superior t own
o f Two Harbors, Minnesota. Five businessmen a greed
t o m ine a m ineral deposit f or g rinding-wheel abra
sives. B ut t he deposits proved t o be o f l ittle value,
and t he n ew M innesota M ining and M...