book review of the goal by eliyahu goldratt

1. BOOK REVIEW
THE GOAL: BY ELIYAHU
M.GOLDRATT
VIGNESH BOOPATHY:22SMG1R11
SANU PAUL:22SMG1R17
TANUPRIYA SINGH:22SMG1R19

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
◈ The Book: THE GOAL
◈ Author: Eliyahu M. Goldratt
◈ A Process of Ongoing Improvement
published in the year 1984 and took 13
months to write.
◈ Born: 31st March 1947
◈ Location: Mandatory palestine.
◈ He obtained BSc degree from Tel Aviv
University, and MSc and PhD degrees
from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel.

3. ◈ He was an Israeli business
management guru He was the
originator of the Optimized Production
Technique, the Theory of
Constraints (TOC), the Thinking
Processes, Drum-Buffer-Rope, Critical
Chain Project Management (CCPM) and
other TOC derived tools.

4. The Books Written by Goldratt
Business novels
◈ It's Not Luck. (1994) applies TOC
to marketing, distribution and business strategy.
◈ Critical Chain. (1997) applies TOC to project management and
illustrates the Critical Chain method for managing projects.
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Eli Schragenheim, Carol A. Ptak. Necessary
But Not Sufficient. (2000) applies TOC to enterprise resource
planning (ERP) and operations software
◈ Late Night Discussions on the Theory of Constraints. (1998)
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Ilan Eshkoli, Joe Brownleer. Isn't It
Obvious? (2009) The story is about a husband (manager) and
wife (purchaser) working in her family's retail chain. An
unexpected crisis helps them to find new ways of doing things,
ending in success.

5. Nonfiction books
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Robert E. Fox. The Race. (1986)
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Essays on the Theory of Constraints.
(1987)
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt. What is this Thing Called Theory of
Constraints. (1990)
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt. The Haystack Syndrome: Sifting
Information Out of the Data Ocean.
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt. Production the TOC Way (2003).
◈ Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag. The
Choice (2008)
◈ He Died in the month of June 11 2011

6. ABOUT THE STORY
Cast of Characters:
◈ Alex Rogo: manufacturing plant manager (the main character)
◈ Jonah: Alex's college professor, who offers critical advice & clues
◈ Julie Rogo: Alex Rogo's wife
◈ Bill Peach: division vice-president
◈ Fran: Alex's secretary
◈ Lou: the head accountant
◈ Stacey: the plant inventory manager
◈ Bob Donovan: the production manager
◈ Ralph Nakamura: Data Processing Manager
◈ Herbie: a boy scout who comes to metaphorically symbolize the
bottleneck in the plant
◈ Dave: Alex's son
◈ Sharon: Alex's daughter

7. Storyline
◈ Alex, an educated and competent manager at UniCo, is excited to
get transferred back to his hometown Bearington with his family.
But his moment of bliss quickly evaporates once he realizes that
his factory is facing difficulties and might even get closed down!
◈ Shipments are always late and their production backlog is
growing, yet somehow inventories also keep soaring. The team
wonders why they can't seem to ship on time with good quality at
a reasonable cost. Alex resolves to do whatever it takes to save
the manufacturing plant.
◈ Meanwhile his wife, Julie, struggles to adjust to the monotonous
life in the small town. Alex’s long hours at office put additional
strain on their relationship, as things go from bad to worse.

8. ◈ Given three months to turn the plant around, Alex chances to bump into his
old Physics professor, Jonah, who challenges his thinking and gives a
series of clues about how to save the division.
◈ Jonah takes on complex subjects like "productivity" and defines them in
simple terms. For example: "Every action that brings a company closer to its
goal is productive. Every action that does not bring a company closer to its
goal is not productive." But what is the goal?
◈ Following Jonah's clues, Alex mobilizes his team at the plant to find ways to
improve the flow of production and somehow ship the huge backlog of
orders on time. Along the way they discover the importance of constraints
and learn how to manage them to achieve growth and profitability.
◈ Alex eventually realizes that the goal is not cost-effective purchasing,
employing the right team members, the latest technology, producing quality
products, capturing market share, customer satisfaction, etc. but
rather making more and more money.

9. ◈ Once the plant’s operations stabilize, Alex finds himself
spending more time with his family. He wins back his wife’s
affection and his plant suddenly becomes the most
productive one in the company. Alex is promoted to
President at UniCo and entrusted with the task of
implementing Jonah’s advice throughout the entire
division.
◈ Towards the end, he begins to realize that 'bottlenecks' or
constraints can change over time, and hence he must
adapt his way of managing the business. But Jonah has
given him the key questions to find solutions to these
challenges as they arise… the secrets to the Process of
On-Going Improvement (POOGI).

10. LEARNINGS
◈ Measurements Drive Behavior: any misalignment in
measurements causes a wide range of destructive
tendencies. It is your responsibility to identify The Goal of
your organization. Be sure that your metrics align
completely to this Goal.
◈ Seek Answers: Be active in your quest for knowledge.
The answers are out there, you just have to discover them.
Sometimes the answers can be found in unlikely places,
such as Jonah, an old physics professor.
◈ Teamwork: Teams are very important to driving change
and improvement. The more heads on the job the better.
People have different opinions and outlooks; someone
else may think differently than you ever would have.​​

11. ◈ Never Give Up: There is always a chance to recover
as long as your organization in still running. Don’t be
afraid to challenge the status quo. The battle is not
lost until the moment you give up and stop trying.
◈ Work Smarter, Not Harder: Oftentimes our greatest
efforts are ineffective and sometimes even counter-
productive. But by focusing on the right areas we can
achieve breakthrough results
◈ Improve the Overall System, Not Just the
Individual Parts: Effective coordination between
Operations and Marketing/Sales is critical to
achieving the Goal, not just optimizing a single link in
the value chain.

12. Final Thoughts
◈ The Goal continues to transform a variety of different
fields including:
◈ Operations Planning,Accounting & MIS Reporting
Process Improvement​,Sales & Marketing,Achieving
Work-life Balance​ ETC.
◈ But Dr. Goldratt did not intend his book to be only for
managers. It should be taught as part of every MBA,
accounting course and leadership development
program because of it's thought provoking
explanation of business fundamentals.

13. So, how can I apply this to my MBA?
◈ Perhaps the most remarkable lesson in the book "The Goal" is
identifying bottlenecks as a focus for the effective solution of
problems. It is a great exercise for everyday issues.
◈ Think, answer, and act: What is the bottleneck/constraint that
keeps you from achieving your goals?
◈ Some other important lessons from the authors Eliyahu M.
Goldratt are:
◈ Know well the goals you want to achieve;
◈ Count with the guidance of a mentor;
◈ Establish a method for solving problems.