MBA Six Sigma Program

Overview

If you’re in a competitive industry where there is less and less room for error, if quality is key and old business models no longer work, then you should become more familiar with one of the most widely discussed and reported business trends: Six Sigma.

At The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, MBA students are indoctrinated into Six Sigma methodology through a series of classroom experiences and online training from MoreSteam.com. The series culminates with a commissioned project from an actual
company, which benefits students and participating businesses alike. Students will serve on your company’s Six Sigma team for 15 weeks using DMAIC and Lean methodology to solve your business needs.

Who Should Participate?

Six Sigma is ideal for anyone in manufacturing, health care, retail, logistics, finance, or consulting services and everyone who wants to be involved in process improvement.

What Can You Expect?

Student involvement—students work in four-person teams for 15 weeks. They devote an average of 10 hours per week to the project under the coaching of Fisher team members.

Company Involvement

The company must identify project opportunities and provide thumbnail sketches of the tasks. In addition, they must identify project champion, team leader, and in-house team members. The company also provides access for Fisher team members to collect data on-site to be analyzed off-site.

How does the program work?

Participating companies are responsible for only the cost of bringing students on-site from the Ohio State campus if and when it is made necessary by the project. Students are non-paid consultants with no direct relationship to the company. They are bound by nondisclosure agreements required by the company of any other paid consultant. It is not necessary to have an active Six Sigma program as long as there is strong evidence of a quality improvement initiative and that there is full backing from senior management toward the goal of the project. If the firm has a black-belt qualified employee who would be willing to serve as the team’s coach, he or
she would provide guidance to the team concerning navigation of the company and access to the data they need to complete their project. Students receive credit for this program and are
assigned a letter grade heavily influenced by the level of success as judged by the sponsoring company.

Please contact:

Peg Pennington
Executive Director
Center for Operational Excellence
(614) 292-3081
pennington.84@osu.edu