Rowland Hayler is a highly experienced business improvement consultant with extensive experience in successfully implementing change across a diverse range of financial services organizations.
His business improvement and global operations experience were gained throughout 15 years at American Express, during which time he served as the Chief Quality Officer for the international Merchant Services division.
Subsequently, as the Vice President of Six Sigma Application, Rowland led a team of Master Black Belts to expand the relevance, application, and results of Six Sigma across the American Express organization worldwide. During this time he led the in-house development of the company's Six Sigma Design methodology and curriculum, its Six Sigma Process Management approach, and codeveloped a set of Six Sigma Management Disciplines for everyday project use.
Since joining Pivotal Resources in early 2003 as head of international operations, Rowland has consulted on Six Sigma with many leading financial services organizations, including Bank Negara Indonesia, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Marks & Spencer Money, Marlborough Stirling, Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation, Swisscard, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and UBS.
As a trained Master Black Belt, ISO9000 auditor, and Malcolm Baldrige Award internal company assessor, Rowland brings a valuable mix of practical business knowledge, strong leadership, and technical expertise in driving organizational change. He coauthored What Is Six Sigma Process Management? with Mike Nichols, published by McGraw-Hill in June 2005.
Rowland is a graduate of Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Mike Nichols is currently the principal consultant for Nichols Quality Associates, a consortium of Lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belts providing deployment consulting, training, and project coaching for business process improvement. Nichols's long-time interest in quality management has led him over the years to assume numerous leadership positions in the American Society for Quality, culminating in his service as president of the society for the 2007-2008 year.
Most recently he was the Director of Six Sigma Design and a certified Senior Master Black Belt for American Express, where he codeveloped the Six Sigma Design program (DFSS) and the Six Sigma Process Management (SSPM) curriculum. Additionally, he provided strategic deployment consultation to leadership, global training support, and managed a multimillion-dollar portfolio of Six Sigma projects.
Nichols was previously employed with Fed Ex, leading departments such as International Customer Service Engineering and Vehicle Reliability and Acquisition Planning. In addition to many other management, performance engineering, and analysis positions within Fed Ex, he was fortunate to be involved with many of their quality teams and programs, including their Quality Academy, Speakers Bureau, and the corporate ISO 9001 certification team. He was twice awarded the Chairman's 5-star award for performance.
Nichols is a Certified Quality Engineer, Certified Quality Manager, and Certified Quality Auditor by the American Society for Quality. On November 4, 2000, he was appointed as a Fellow of the Society in recognition of his contributions to quality. He has also served as a three-time examiner for the Tennessee Quality Award, and as an examiner and a two-time judge for the Greater Memphis Award for Quality. Currently he is serving on the Board of Judges for the North Carolina Award for Excellence.
Mike has both a Bachelors of Business degree in Finance and a Masters of Science in Industrial Systems Engineering from the University of Memphis. His teaching experience includes eight years as adjunct assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University–Memphis Center (teaching statistics, quantitative methods, and operations research), and as adjunct faculty at the University of Memphis, teaching production operations management. (Go Tigers!)