Six Sigma Success Story: Booths, belts and BofA spirit

From Bradenton Herald, FL ... The second annual Best of Six Sigma Expo was a way to honor workers who had improved bank operations and to spread these lessons. ...

" ... When Ken Lewis became chief executive in 2001, he looked to other industries to improve customer satisfaction marks that had flagged after a series of mergers. He adopted the manufacturing world's "Six Sigma" program for improving quality control and consulted Walt Disney Co. to create the spirit program. Under these initiatives, Bank of America has reported increased customer service ratings and improved profits. But Wednesday's event also comes as the company tries to overcome bad publicity from regulatory investigations and wrestles with morale challenges as it cuts thousands of jobs in its FleetBoston Financial Corp. merger. In the Six Sigma program, employees follow a regimented process for analyzing problems and fixing them. Through training and hands-on work, they earn "green belts" and "black belts," like karate students ... "