Lean Six Sigma in Higher Education Institutions

The authors of the book has gone a long way in closing the gap in understanding about the use and challenges of Lean Six Sigma in the Higher Education. Their analysis and conclusions should be used as a spring-board for transformational improvements in leadership, behaviors and processes within the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The book can be extremely beneficial to senior managers in the University Sector as well as many practitioners who have a vested interest on Operational Excellence methodology and its associated toolkit.

-- John Dennis, Director, International Lean Six Sigma Institute, UK

This is definitely a must-read book to any OPEX professional! Lean Six Sigma in Higher Education is one of the most relevant topics nowadays and the number of improvement opportunities in this sector is immense! This book presents a deep analysis in terms of challenges and opportunities in Higher Education and also why and how Lean Six Sigma plays an important role in terms of supporting continuous improvement initiatives there!

-- Dr Marcelo Machado Fernandes, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Owner & Founder at MF Treinamentos, Brazil

After over 30 years of academic research into Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence, finally a book on how to apply this to the Higher Education sector itself. A must read for any such institute looking to become or maintain world class status.

-- Professor Peter Hines, Managing Director, Enterprise Excellence Network, UK

The authors have a wealth of real-world experience that is critical in understanding how to use continuous improvement, in a practical way, to get results. This provides much needed insight for the field of higher education, which is often neglected when it comes to application of lean six sigma.

-- Michael O’Connell, Master Black Belt, Director, Aspire Highland Ltd., UK

This book provides the insights into the application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in Higher Education. It is an excellent resource for researchers and practitioners in this field for many years to come. The book encompasses a maturity model on LSS for Higher Education which can be a powerful tool for evaluating the maturity of Operational Excellence or Continuous Improvement in many university settings.

-- Professor E V Gijo, Head of Quality, Reliability and Operations Research, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, India

Steve and Jiju are masters in their field and have skilfully crafted together an essential handbook for the application of Lean six Sigma principles into the academic world. Anyone tasked with delivering an efficient and effective operation into this type of setting will be fully aware of the challenges facing Universities today, so I am delighted to see this being addressed. They have brought their vast wealth of experience together to provide a robust framework for a successful, sustainable deployment of Lean Six Sigma.

-- Scott Kelso, Senior Leader and Black Belt at Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, UK

This is a well-organized and user-friendly guide to help practitioners and academics at all levels to implement LSS at their own academic institution. Further, this book fills a much-needed gap on continuous improvement in higher education, which has been slow to introduce and develop operational excellence methodologies. The leadership maturity model present key characteristics necessary to help academic institutions implement and deploy Lean Six Sigma practices.

-- Dr Beth Cudney, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and ASQ Fellow – Maryville University, USA

Stephen Anthony and Jiju Antony have created a very timely masterpiece with Lean Six Sigma for Higher Education Institutions – the need to change, a book that provides readers with an overview of the current state of the art regarding operational excellence methodologies deployment in the higher education sector. The authors share a wealth of practical insights into the key challenges with adopting lean six sigma in academic institutions, and provide a maturity model that can be used by academic leaders to deliver sustainable change for the better in universities. Recommended for leaders in academic institutions the world over!

-- Daryl Powell, PhD. Chief Scientist, SINTEF Manufacturing, Norway

There is no question that education like all institutions needs to improve to meet their mission. The second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that organizations deteriorate if left alone and don’t get better without intervention. Stephen and Jiju Anthony’s book is a welcome contribution to the improvement of educational organizations. By applying Lean Six Sigma educational institutions will see an increase in the quality of education provided at reduced costs with increased satisfaction of students, faculty, and administrators. The Lean Six Sigma maturity model is a welcome strategic tool for helping academic leaders improve the performance of their organizations.

-- Ronald D. Snee, Honorary Member, American Society for Quality; DuPont Company (retired), Adjunct Professor, Temple University School of Pharmacy.

I am asked to review multiple written products each year. Seldom have I been as impressed as with this one! It clearly takes the reader through the 9 challenges that academic institutions face in bettering their internal systems by leveraging Lean Six Sigma. This is a critical system that can enable them to be successful in this world’s environment while providing critical and relevant knowledge to their students. As a current parent with students in university, I am seeing these needs first hand as they navigate both enrollment processes and relevancy in coursework. I am hopeful that academicians reading this content will see the opportunities before them and leverage Lean Six Sigma as a pathway to become one of the best.

-- Jd Marhevko, VP Quality, ZF Group, Electronics & ADAS Division. ASQ Fellow, Shainin Medalist, CSSBB, CMQ/OE, CQE, EIOM WIIA, Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame,