Implementing Six Sigma in service sector using AHP and Alderfer's motivational model - a case of educational services

The purpose of this paper is to describe the usefulness of Six Sigma model in services and education, in particular. This paper aims to explore the benefits and implementation challenges of Six Sigma for a case of educational services. Interactive sessions and unstructured interviews with academic experts and top management were considered as the source of inputs. The present work prioritises the barriers or challenges to Six Sigma implementation in education using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Further, this paper suggests the remedial actions to prioritised challenges, based on Alderfer's motivation model. The paper delivers tentative Define-Measure-Analysis-Improve-Control (DMAIC) measures for educational services. Services are more subjective compared to manufacturing, and gaps always exist in sensation and perceptions of various entities. Sometimes, this demands motivation-based behavioural changes in the attitude of associated people. This paper develops a conceptual model, suggesting remedies to the behavioural aspects when Six Sigma is applied to educational services. The novelty of this work lies in addressing various Six Sigma implementation issues, in the context of education, from operational as well as behavioural viewpoint. The paper concludes by highlighting the benefits of Six Sigma approach in services like education.

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