Engineering a robust interaction between the project management principles set forth by PMBOK® and contemporary practices like Six Sigma / TOC (theory of constraints), can actually yield rich dividends to organizations. In a complex world of rapidly converging technologies, philosophies and ideas, we often see that there is a synergistic overlap between project management and contemporary practices. The rigorousness and comprehensiveness of Project Management makes it a self-evolving philosophy that keeps enriching itself by continuously imbibing the goodness of contemporary practices. Philosophies like Six Sigma and TOC play a great complementary role in project management and have maintained their relevance because of their inherent strong focus on problem-solving and objectivity.

1. Complementing Project Management with Contemporary
Philosophies
Krishna V R Muppavarapu
Six Sigma
Theory of constraints
Project Project Project
Phase Phase Phase
Project Management

2. Complementing Project Management with Contemporary
Philosophies
Krishna V R Muppavarapu*
Satyam Computer Services Limited, 3rd Floor, Lakeshore Towers, Raj Bhavan Road, Somajiguda,
Hyderabad, India
ABSTRACT
Engineering a robust interaction between the project management principles set forth by PMBOK® and contemporary
practices like Six Sigma / TOC (theory of constraints), can actually yield rich dividends to organizations. In a complex
world of rapidly converging technologies, philosophies and ideas, we often see that there is a synergistic overlap
between project management and contemporary practices. The rigorousness and comprehensiveness of Project
Management makes it a self-evolving philosophy that keeps enriching itself by continuously imbibing the goodness of
contemporary practices. Philosophies like Six Sigma and TOC play a great complementary role in project management
and have maintained their relevance because of their inherent strong focus on problem-solving and objectivity.
The case study of a unique outsourcing project being carried out at a major software services firm based in India
highlights how Six Sigma and TOC were used to reinforce the effectiveness of project management for complex
projects. TOC was used to identify constraints at the project management level iteratively, while Six Sigma was used to
manage the constraints using historical data and benchmarks. Three mega-concepts viz., project management, TOC and
Six Sigma were synergized with each other to align the project team goals with the organizational goals.
The key learning is that each philosophy complements the others in a big way. Senior management should strive to
create an organizational culture of project management based on PMBOK®’s recommendations and ensure that project
managers develop an attitude of adopting contemporary practices. Failure to do so would straitjacket the immense
transformational power these philosophies have on organizations.
Keywords: Project Management, Six Sigma, theory of constraints, PMBOK®
1. INTRODUCTION
Organizations worldwide are realizing the importance of a scientific approach to project management. Irrespective of
their size, the sector in which they are in, the nature of their operations and the geographies they operate in,
organizations are ensuring that project management is an indispensable part of their businesses.
While a few organizations develop their own project management methodologies, by and large PMI’s PMBOK® has
become a universal reference point as far as project management is concerned. This is mainly due to the exhaustiveness
and comprehensiveness of the body of knowledge that PMI developed. The highly scientific approach as is evident from
structure of the PMBOK® makes it an indisputable authority in the domain of project management. The various versions
of PMBOK® are a testimony to its evolutionary nature.
Apart from project management practices, there are also increasing references to concepts like Six Sigma and theory
of constraints (TOC) that are being used in organizations irrespective of their domains and areas of operation. These
concepts have been used widely with huge success and great results to their credit.
*
Further author information:
E-mail: krishna_muppavarapu@satyam.com, Telephone: +91 9866176258

3. There has been a lot written about these two concepts – Six Sigma and TOC. Both these concepts are highly
objective in their dealing with various types of problems. They are heavily oriented towards using metrics to arrive at
solutions. The high level of objectivity somewhat compensates for the inability of these tools to be applied to some
unique problems without making some startling assumptions. Nevertheless the number of case studies that are available
for Six Sigma and TOC are enough proof that these concepts are quite effective in problem solving.
This paper attempts to highlight the fact that a careful marriage of contemporary practices with project management
practices can actually synergize and unleash their transformational powers.
2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Projects and initiatives are the lifelines of organizations. The success or failure of a project has great implications for
stakeholders and for the organization in general1. Projects need to be handled in such a way that there is alignment and
harmony between the business goals, the external environment and the organizational scenarios to ensure success.
Business External
goals environment
Project
manage
ment
Organizational
scenarios
Figure 1. Project management as a business model aid
Various sections of the PMBOK® Guide3 are dedicated to dealing with these factors in a most scientific way. In each
Knowledge Area of PMBOK®, the interlinking between business goals, external environmental conditions and
organizational scenarios is quite evident and is done through elaborate and rigorous models. Project managers who
follow the recommendations of PMBOK® often find it easy to set stakeholder expectations right at the outset of the
project and also to conform to those expectations over the project lifecycle.
Project management is a relatively older and a more mature domain when compared to other practices or
philosophies. The very fact that PMI was established as early as 1969 qualifies project management discipline as an
established philosophy. Though project management is as contemporary in its approach as many other new philosophies,
in this paper the author shall use chronological genesis and evolution as indicators of contemporariness. In that sense, for
example, a new management philosophy founded in 1990 is more contemporary than one founded in 1950’s.

4. 3. SIX-SIGMA
Six Sigma is one of the most interesting concepts of modern management. From being a statistics based tool used for
reducing defects in the manufacturing industry, it has grown into being a philosophy applicable to a variety of industries
and a variety of problems.
3.1 The Genesis
Six Sigma as a concept was developed and used aggressively by Motorola in the early 1980s. A lot has been written
about the origin of this concept and its subsequent popularization as a philosophy. There are interesting tales about Six
Sigma that add flavor to its mysticism2.
3.2 Six Sigma Fundamentals
Six Sigma started off as a great refinement to the concept of process capability studies. The entire concept revolves
around the pivots called “mean”, “normal distribution” and “variance / standard distribution”. It has been nature’s way to
give us a lot of data that is normally distributed. Then there is the “central limit theorem†” that empowers Six Sigma
professionals to optimize their analysis costs by allowing the data population parameters to be estimated using
reasonable sample sizes and apply Six Sigma concepts. The very nature of the normal distribution function and other
similar functions facilitates statisticians and decision makers to analyze performance in terms of the number of standard
deviations that are contained in between the specification limits. Hence a Six Sigma process is one that behaves in such a
way, that 12 standard deviations of the process output fall within the upper and lower specification limits.
3.3 Practicality of Six Sigma
For a “Six Sigma process”, the shape of the normal distribution curve allows only 0.00034% of outputs to fall outside
the specification limits. This, in practical terms converts to just about 3.4 defects for million opportunities (DPMO)‡, and
this is the most popular measure that Six Sigma professionals use. To achieve such high levels of defect-free production,
a variety of tools and techniques need to be used.
This has led to Six Sigma becoming a philosophy that focuses on achieving quality using various tools – statistical
and non-statistical. The immense data-orientation and objectivity has made the Six Sigma philosophy applicable to
almost any type of problem; the problems can be as diverse as reduction in cycle times, improving the quality of
business leads, reducing the cost of operations, etc. In subsequent sections, the author would showcase how Six Sigma
was used to manage a bottleneck in the project execution phase.
3.4 Methodologies of Six Sigma
While Six Sigma was originally meant to be used for process improvements, it also started to be used as a product /
process design methodology. These methodologies have a common fundamental in being data and analysis oriented. At
least two Six Sigma methodologies, DMAIC and DMADV are now popularly being used across various organizations
and industries.
†
Central limit theorem states that, “As sample size increases, the sampling distribution of sample means approaches that of a normal
distribution with a mean the same as the population and a standard deviation equal to the standard deviation of the population divided
by the square root of n (the sample size)”
‡
Though Six Sigma is often equated to 3.4 DPMO, in reality 3.4 DPMO corresponds to only 4.5-sigma. It has been empirically
derived that a process performing at 6-sigma levels in the short run is likely to slip to 4.5-sigma levels in the long run and hence this
correction. In fact 6-sigma corresponds to 2 defects per billion opportunities (DPBO); but 3.4 DPMO has come to be generally
accepted as Six Sigma

5. 4. THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS
Theory of constraints (TOC) is a concept based on a deep rooted philosophy that is in turn based on a set of principles,
processes and application of logic. Unlike Six Sigma that is purely data-driven, TOC also takes into account certain soft
and subjective factors like respect for people and policies. Like Six Sigma TOC was originally applied to manufacturing
and logistics. But there are references to the fact that it has grown enough to be applied to other fields. In subsequent
sections the author would explain how TOC was used to resolve a typical sales-type problem in the project he is working
on.
4.1 Genesis of TOC
This is a theory popularized by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt through his series of books titled “The Goal” since 1984. TOC has
become quite popular because of the amazing business results that resulted from its application.
4.2 TOC Fundamentals
Unlike Six Sigma, TOC relies on systematic dealing of problems using focus, cause-and-effect and continuous
improvement. It is based on a set of principles as follows:
Convergence
Consistency
Respect
These principles are based on experience rather than on any statistics and are treated as axioms. The convergence
axiom states that the more complex a system is to describe, the simpler it is to manage. Consistency would mean that if
two parts of a system are in conflict with each other relative to a common goal, it means that the reasoning that led to the
conflict must contain at least one flawed assumption. The third axiom – respect, brings in the human component by
stating that there is an inherent logic to whatever people do, however flawed the activities appear to be.
Using these principles TOC sets 5 focusing steps to manage a goal. The improvement target for the management is
the constraint that limits the “throughput” of a system. This, in other words can be called “de-bottlenecking”. It has an
underlying philosophy echoed by great personalities in the history and that is, “a chain is as strong as its weakest link”.
By reading through the TOC philosophy one would make out how it differentiates itself from Six Sigma on many
accounts. Nevertheless as we go by, we would understand the complementary effect each philosophy has on the other.
4.3 Practicality of TOC
Seemingly the TOC is quite a subjective approach with the very basis for the axioms not being based on data. But the
philosophical strength overcomes these limitations. When complemented with data-driven approaches like Six Sigma the
concept of TOC becomes a very useful technique to solve problems relative to the organizational goal. In fact many
organizations are forming Centers-of-Excellence or internal practices pertaining to TOC. There are many consultancies
that are offering TOC as a service offering to organizations.
5. SIX-SIGMA AND TOC IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Having discussed about Six Sigma and TOC from an organizational application point of view, it becomes quite pertinent
to explore their linkage with project management. The PMBOK® Guide defines a project as “a temporary endeavor to
undertaken to create a unique product or a service” and project management as “the application of knowledge, skills,
tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements”. This definition of project management is quite

6. profound. Since PMBOK®’s project management methodology hinges on this definition, it becomes quite clear that
project management is a very versatile philosophy that encompasses many other philosophies. It also emphasizes the fact
that the project management methodology is very flexible and open to be complemented by other philosophies.
5.1 Six Sigma and Project Management
Six Sigma has been predominantly used as a philosophy to improve quality. According to the American Society for
Quality (ASQ), quality is the “degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements”. This has been
adopted by PMBOK® Guide 3rd edition (Chapter 8, Project Quality Management).
The PMBOK prescribes that quality management approach for projects should comply with that of Six Sigma
alongside other approaches, especially with a focus on continuous improvement.
The 44 project management processes that PMBOK® Guide mentions have linkages to each other within and outside
their respective Process Groups and Knowledge Areas.
We now explore in detail how Six Sigma can apply to the other Knowledge Areas and Process Groups. Since it is a
vast subject and also thoroughly researched, we take the approach of using representative examples rather than
developing fresh theories. In fact it is paradoxically delighting that the principles of project management are also
applicable to “Six Sigma projects”. Six Sigma enables managers and the management to be on the same plane of
understanding and interpretation because of its aggressively statistical nature.
Every project has some defined phases. Each phase has its set of Process Groups – Initiating, Planning, Executing,
Monitoring & Controlling and Closing. These Process Groups repeat in various phases of the project in varying degrees.
The project management processes, mentioned in the Project Quality Management Knowledge Area apply to a large
extent to the Planning, Executing and Monitoring & Control Process Groups.
Here we look at a few representative examples of how concepts of Six Sigma are helpful across various Process
Groups. For example, the DMADV methodology can be used to develop a project management methodology that suits
the organizational requirements and also specific project requirements. A variety of techniques including simulation can
be used to achieve this goal. The project management methodology in turn becomes a key technique in developing the
project management plan and its subsidiary plans. The risk management plan, for example should be robust enough to
identify and manage a variety of risks that a project can be faced with. A careful measurement of the past history of
various similar or dissimilar projects can help the project manager to “design and validate” a good risk management
methodology.
Similarly at every phase in a project, a combination of DMADV and DMAIC methodologies can be used to develop
a foolproof execution mechanism and to continuously improve the project performance. Finally the DMAIC
methodology can be used to create a common language of understanding between various stakeholders during the
monitoring of the project across its various phases. This is especially true with objectives like cost reduction, efficiency
improvement, processing time improvement, etc.
Of course, project managers should bear in mind that the application of Six Sigma across various Process Groups
demands the understanding of the complex interactions that project management processes have on each other. For
example, as depicted in table 1.1, any improvement using Six Sigma in one Process Group can go as a learning input
into the other Process Groups. A careful study of the PMBOK® Guide explains these complex interactions in the most
scientific way.

7. Table 1. Six Sigma relevance to Project Management Knowledge Areas
Process Group Planning Executing Monitoring & Control
Project management
processes
Quality Planning Use Six Sigma
DMADV methodology
to develop components
of project management
plan (of which quality
management plan is
also a component) and
a suitable project
management
methodology
Perform Quality Use Six Sigma
Assurance DMADV methodology
to develop an
execution mechanism
Interactions for quality assurance
Use Six Sigma
DMAIC methodology
for continuous
improvement during
execution of the
project
Perform Quality Control Use Six Sigma
DMAIC methodology
to monitor and control
project results across
Interactions various phases,
Process Groups and
Knowledge Areas
Major areas of impact:
Project Time
Management, Project
Cost Management,
Project Risk
Management
5.2 Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Project Management
Projects, however small or big, simple or complex are faced with constraints at various stages in their lifecycle. In its
initial chapters the PMBOK® Guide mentions the triple constraints of project scope, time and cost. Every phase of a

8. project is bound by these constraints. In a way, PMBOK® rationalizes the constraints at the outset and prescribes
balancing of these constraints throughout the project lifecycle.
Scope Time
TOC
Cost
Figure 2. TOC as a guide to focused management of constraints
The most prominent manifestation of TOC in project management is the “critical chain” concept. The critical chain
acts as the bottleneck and constrains the “throughput” of the project relative to the project goal. The other important
manifestation is in terms of anticipated events that can have an impact on cost and scope. The PMBOK® Guide gives a
very good approach to manage these constraints in the form of “reserve analysis”. The reserve analysis forms a part of at
least three Knowledge Areas – Project Time Management, Project Cost Management and Project Risk Management. The
reserves, used effectively by project managers can help them address the time, cost and scope constraints. For example, a
careful and legitimate manipulation of the critical chain using the reserves or buffers can address the “time constraint” of
the project while not compromising on the cost and scope objectives.
A preliminary look gives an impression that the triple constraint management prescribed by PMBOK® is not very
inclusive and is quite different from what TOC proposes. This perception arises due to fact that TOC treats constraints
from a “process” point of view whereas PMBOK® generalizes the constraints over various Process Groups. Moreover,
PMBOK® Guide only gives a general guideline. PMBOK®, which is the superset of the PMBOK® Guide, can be treated
as the domain that project managers should use to extend the prescriptions of PMBOK® Guide. TOC becomes even more
relevant when dealing with programs.
The deep-rooted philosophy on which TOC is based allows it to be applied to multiple layers of project hierarchy.
Constraints can be identified at various levels in the work breakdown structure (WBS) and even at the lowest level of
WBS i.e. work packages. The constraints managed at the lower levels in turn get aggregated to address the constraints at
higher levels in the project hierarchy. The essence of TOC is “focus” and project managers tend to gain a lot by way of
actually focusing on critical constraints and resolving them. For example, it is a common experience for many project
managers that techniques like resource leveling can alter the critical path. This is akin to a “shifting constraint” that TOC
describes as part of continuous improvement.
5.3 Combining Project Management, TOC and Six Sigma
Having discussed the relevance of TOC and Six Sigma in project management, it becomes quite easy to understand how
the three philosophies can actually be brought together to manage projects. In practical terms project management
philosophy empower project managers with a powerful and a structured guideline. TOC enables project managers to
identify and focus on the most critical problems with an eye for continuous improvement. Six Sigma gives the project
managers a statistical approach to manage constraints effectively and maintain a common platform of understanding

9. among stakeholders. This completes the discussion on the synergistic interlinking between three mega philosophies each
complementing the other in many ways and helping scores of project managers manage their projects well.
6. A CASE STUDY
In this section we discuss a brief case study to emphasize the practicality of the concepts discussed in the previous
sections. The case study pertains to a project that the author is working on for his organization. Specific details of the
case study have been deliberately masked or distorted to conform to the organization’s information security policy.
The organization had embarked on a path breaking strategic initiative that combines business and social objectives. A
project team was formed at the outset and was mandated with driving the initiative. In line with the organizational ethos,
the project team was formed as a decentralized and empowered strategic business unit. The project charter was created
with a clearly stated objective of cost reduction and improvement in business process efficiency.
The next step was to identify a logical “phasing” of the project. Since it was a unique project with no benchmarks or
known industry practices, the project team procured a buy-in from the management to conduct a few experiments in the
form a pilots. Various models were used and data recorded about the learning from the experiments. Stakeholder
identification was also a part of these experiments. The project team realized that it was a fairly complex project and it
was not going to be easy to convince key stakeholders about the usefulness of the project. Hence a substantial amount of
effort was identified as being essential to “drive” the new concept across the organization. That resulted in the formation
of the first phase of the project – “internal business development”. Business development would consist of promotional
activities where the project team would reach out and convince stakeholders to be part of this initiative. Since it was an
outsourcing project, the second logical phase was that of “process transition” and the final phase would be “delivery”.
Contiguous phases would have some overlapping with each other.
The DMADV methodology was used to design the phases in terms of the project management processes that would
comprise each phase. Data was used from the pilots to measure the effectiveness of the processes for this project. The
already robust organizational project management framework was used as the underpinning as depicted in figure 3. The
project management framework in turn borrows from PMBOK®.
Six Sigma
Theory of constraints
Internal Process Delivery
business transition phase
development phase
phase
Organizational project management framework
Figure 3. Project phases – underpinned by project management and complemented by Six Sigma and TOC

10. Each phase was identified to have a definite start point and sign off point. Various project management processes
were put together for each phase to arrive at a robust “outsourcing methodology”. This would act as the “project
management methodology” that in turn would become a key input or technique for managing the outsourcing project
over its lifecycle. As part of designing the outsourcing methodology the project team used simulations and the
experimental pilots to identify the selection of project management processes. At the same time the “throughput” across
each phase was base-lined, as the success of the project would depend on a key metric of the amount of work
outsourced. As the project progressed, the project team identified that the internal business development phase was
acting as a bottleneck as not much business was coming in. Consequently the subsequent phases of process transition
and delivery were getting affected. This was the project team’s first encounter with TOC.
The project team realized that this constraining phase was poorly designed – in the sense that not enough awareness
existed in the organization about this initiative and there were issues of change management that were difficult to
overcome. Applying the principles of TOC, the project team had only the option of “elevating” the constraint – improve
the throughput of the internal business development phase. The project team used DMAIC to improve the efficiency and
quality of business lead generation. The improvement was registered as a Six Sigma project with the key achievement of
improving the number of “good business leads”. The major improvement plans that were implemented were: 1) The
creation of a proper communication platform for the initiative 2) Getting more commitment from the top management
for the initiative
Once this constraint was addressed, the project immediately looked into the process transition phase as part of the
TOC philosophy of continuously identifying the subsequent constraints. Not surprisingly the process transition phase
indeed became the new constraint. There were enough good business leads coming in, but were not getting transitioned
within the stipulated time or were not getting transitioned at all. A close look into the transition phase revealed that the
planning Process Group of this phase was totally missing as the project team initially presumed that the existing
information systems and infrastructure would be sufficient for the process outsourcing. In fact the existing information
systems were not designed for outsourcing. The project team used the DMADV methodology to statistically prove that
the information systems needed quite a bit of reengineering. Subsequently the process transition phase was “re-built”
with a proper planning component thereby reducing the “time-to-transition” from about 6 months to a more acceptable 2
months.
The delivery phase was left to the outsourcing service provider for improvements and the service provider’s
organization had used DMAIC methodology to improve the delivery to Six Sigma levels. This in turn improved their
project management capabilities by freeing their time through reduction in rework, better appreciation and enhanced
employee morale, etc.
It is quite clear from the case study that a conscious interweaving of the project management philosophy with
contemporary philosophies can actually help project managers to achieve significant business results by way of focus,
objectivity and stakeholder commitment.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1) Mr. Surya Gadiraju for reviewing the Six Sigma project and for his tacit encouragement through testing times
2) Mr. Ravi Kumar Meduri for the excellent support, encouragement and good insights
3) Jaipal Naidu and Krishna Chaitanya Vutla for their valuable contribution in the form of discussions,
brainstorming and the excellent support they have rendered during the course of the project.
REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Ram Charan, Larry Bossidy, Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right, Oxford University,
New York, 1992.
2. http://www.isixsigma.com/library/content/c020815a.asp
3. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) Third Edition

11. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper are the author’s personal views and in no way are representative of his
organization, nor is the organization liable for any outcome that is related to this paper.