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Six Sigma Quality MBA + Online Options

May 5, 2021 12:00 am0 commentsViews: 1390

To increase your value in your company, you should think about earning your MBA in Six Sigma Quality. Six Sigma is probably the most common and widely used quality management methods that is used in global business today. Six Sigma is renowned for its ability to raise production and operational efficiency, as well as offer improvements in customer service.

Earning your MBA in Six Sigma Quality will arm you with the quality management skills that global businesses and supply chains want to see in their organizations.

In a typical Six Sigma Quality MBA, you will learn how to use the DMAIC (define-measure-analyze-improve-control ) approach to managing quality. The study of this approach to managing quality and handling process improvements helps you to hone your skills in these areas:

  • Determining what the causes are of process problems and challenges
  • How to use the newest statistical tools to analyze and measure deviations from effective company processes
  • How to take appropriate corrective actions to reduce issues and to improve organizational processes
  • How to control process deviations to ensure that there is an efficient process and a good, quality outcome

Earning your Six Sigma Quality MBA will provide you with the managerial and organizational tools to improve business process capability. With these types of advanced business tools, you will be able to compete for many high paying quality management jobs in many fields.

What Is a Six Sigma Quality MBA?

A Six Sigma Quality MBA allows the student or professional to develop very strong analytical and problem solving skill sets. You also will learn to understand statistical tools, managerial flexibility and much more so that you can successfully implement and control complex quality control situations.

A typical Six Sigma Quality MBA will teach you how to do the following:

  • Learn how to implement the DMAIC approach to find the original root cause of any process inefficiency. Also, learn how to eliminate them and to develop improvements in processes.
  • Use statistical tools and skills that will allow you to make a quick, positive impact on your career.
  • Understand the most advanced concepts of Six Sigma, including waste elimination, value stream mapping, roles and responsibilities in Six Sigma, and team management.
  • Better understand the impact of complex relationships internationally on corporations

A Six Sigma also will help you to increase both quality and reliability through reducing errors in a process. The major focus is to identify variation in all parts of the company, to seek the root cause of the issues, and apply controls to boost predictability and reliability. The end result is typically a very high level of quality, and being able to largely eliminate rework. Doing this allows the company to meet cost and delivery targets.

When you earn your MBA in the Six Sigma Quality system, you will have the opportunity to earn different ‘belts’ in the system with ‘black belt’ being the highest:

  • Black belt: Typically is qualified to lead problem solving projects; also can train and coach project teams
  • Green belt: Helps with data collection and analyzing for black belt projects
  • Master black belt: Trains and coaches green belts and black belts. He or she functions at the program level by coming up with key metrics and general strategic direction.
  • Yellow belt: Can participate as a member of a team; often will review process improvements in support of the project.
  • White belt: May work on problem solving teams that support projects. Not allowed at this point to work on a Six Sigma project team.

Specific Requirements

To qualify for a Six Sigma quality MBA program, you will usually need to have at least a bachelor’s degree in business, statistics, finance or marketing. You also will need to have a minimum of three years of relevant work experience to get into one of these competitive programs.

It also is helpful to have a  background in marketing, psychology, computers and information science, as well as English.

Expect to need the following qualifications to be admitted into most good MBA programs:

  • 3.0 GPA or higher
  • Strong statement of purpose
  • Resume that reflects extensive management experience in business
  • All college transcripts
  • GMAT or GRE scores may be required, or can be waived for highly experienced professionals
  • At least one professional and one academic reference

Types of Courses to Expect

In your MBA program, you will need to take a core set of classes, followed by specialized classes in the Six Sigma discipline. At Southern New Hampshire University, for example, they offer a 100% Online MBA accredited program, where you’ll be required to take the following courses. SNHU can also be seen ranked in our 50 most affordable online mba chart which includes dozens of other reputable programs.

  • Applied Statistics for Managers
  • Six Sigma Quality Management
  • Project Management
  • Mathematics and Statistics for Business
  • Economics for Business
  • Business Law
  • Human Behavior in Organizations
  • Accounting and Financial Analysis
  • Leading in an Organization
  • Business Environment, Innovations and Entrepreneurship

Career Path and Salary

Many Six Sigma Quality MBA professionals end up in an upper managerial role in all types of businesses, and they enjoy strong career prospects.

Management Analyst

For example management analysts will see 11% more jobs by 2029, and you can expect that someone with an MBA in this quality management field will see higher demand. Generally, it is expected that consulting service demand will increase as companies want to improve their efficiency and cost controls.

Management analysts enjoy a median salary of $87,660, as of May 2020, and someone with an MBA in an area such as Six Sigma should see a salary as high as $156,850 per year with many years of experience.

Operations Research Analyst

Another strong career possibility for someone with an MBA in Six Sigma Quality is operations research analyst. This operations management professional utilizes mathematical and analytical methods to solve company problems and to make more effective decisions.

Operations research analysts often can use Six Sigma training to more effectively identify problems in the organization and determine how to best fix them.

This is an excellent career to consider after you earn your MBA; there is a 25% increase in demand expected by 2029. Due to the many technology advances that companies have experienced, they want to get more efficient and save money. Therefore, we expect that demand for demand in this field should increase. This is especially the case for a highly trained Six Sigma professional.

The pay in this booming field is also excellent, with a median salary of $86,200, and the top 10% earn more than $144,330 annually. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the best industries for this occupation include:

  • Federal government: $119,720
  • Manufacturing: $94,340
  • Professional services: $85,950
  • Company management: $91,000
  • Finance or insurance: $86,280

Six Sigma Quality Job Titles and Responsibilities

After you earn your MBA, you can transition into several specific Six Sigma jobs or careers, depending upon your experience and interests. These include:

  • Analyst: Responsible for initiating and coordinating quality related data from the production phase, and reporting the data with modern statistical techniques.
  • Associate: Works in quality improvement projects but may not do so full time.
  • Auditor: Performs and reports on various internal and external quality system audits.
  • Black belt: Usually a full time leader and a Six Sigma expert; responsible for implementing process improvement in the company to boost customer satisfaction.

May 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and job growth figures for Management Analysts and Operations Research Analysts represents national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data Accessed May 2021.