September 2008 - Critics downplay Six Sigma as yet another passing fad in corporate America's quest for substantial cost savings to the bottom line. Advocates contend that the methodology has helped large corporations save millions--if not billions of dollars. According to a January 2007
iSixSigma report, the methodology saved
Fortune 500 corporations more than $400 billion since 1987.
But what does a Six Sigma project in travel involve, and how do results compare with other analytical studies of the business practices at hand? Travel and meeting buyers at two ardent corporate supporters of Six Sigma methodology--
Dominion Resources and
Motorola--in our Cover Story and Meetings Case Study detail how the process has helped them disprove commonly held beliefs and/or gain support and credibility for dramatic policy and practice changes.
A disciplined approach to change may be useful this fall, as buyers navigate the largest airline capacity contraction since 2001. In Feature, content director and airline specialist David Jonas reports the
impact dramatic service cuts will have on specific routes and airlines, and the travel industry as a whole.
Elsewhere in this issue, we delve into two other travel management concerns: the benefits and challenges of deploying new
social networking technologies for managed travel (Technology), and the opportunities presented by
value-added tax reclaim (Leading Practices).
Consolidation is the focus of the business travel practice at the core of our Case Study on oil field services firm
Weatherford International. The company researched, contracted and implemented a consolidated program in less than six months after senior executives decided that they really needed a travel procurement strategy instead of deals negotiated by hundreds of offices.
Payment practices--as well as emerging trends--are at the heart of the Profile on London-based telecommunications giant
BT and its decision to pioneer a new AirPlus International card offering and the Payment report on how
Paramount Pictures overhauled its travel booking, payment, expense and management processes to incorporate greater controls on, visibility of and leverage in its spending.
We welcome your feedback on these and other practices on which we should report in coming issues.
