The application of Six Sigma in the foreign branches of Chinese commercial banks

The service quality has already been the focus of the managerial field. In China, this trend has raised the public concern as well. Nowadays, the Chinese banks are exploiting the global market with hundreds of branches being established in all over the world. Meanwhile they are facing with plenty of problems regarding with the explosive growth. How could they find out the best way to improve their service and core competitiveness are the key problems which they are dealing with under the cruel competition environment. Six Sigma, as a system method for continuous improvement, which can improve the performance of the organizations and make huge profits, is the first and best choice to enhance the quality of banking services. By carrying out Six Sigma projects, commercial banks call dig out their potentials, increase efficiency, deliver more excellent service, maximize the gain and achieve customer satisfaction. Though Six Sigma is originated from the manufacturing industry, it is becoming more and more popular in service industry, especially in banking industry. Chinese commercial banks are facing an increasingly fierce market competition both domestically and abroad. Banking corporations care about the process of the service, the feeling of the customers, and the efficiency. It is important for them to deliver high level and standard services to customers even among large volume of transactions. Six Sigma can help banks to achieve this goal. It is proved that more and more world famous banking corporations gain successful results through Six Sigma projects such as Bank of America, Citi Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, HSBC and JP Morgan Chase. In China, China Construction Bank and China Merchant Bank have begun to adopt Six Sigma and have achieved substantial results. However, due to different environments, a variety of local laws and regulations and different customer segmentations, few foreign branches of Chinese commercial banks have taken such method into actions. Recognizing Six Sigma and finding the ways to be carried out are the most crucial and necessary measures to be taken at this very moment. This article takes ICBC Milan branch transformation project as a case to study the feasibility and implement method of six sigma in the field of foreign branch of Chinese commercial banks, exploring the suitable path for them to implement six sigma management.