...and It’s Not Luck, Goldratt wrote his book Critical Chain with the same simplicity of storytelling that has made him a master at his craft. He passes groundbreaking business concepts and principles to his audience in a simple, palatable manner. In Critical Chain, Goldratt introduces us to his protagonist, a young professor of business Mr. Rick Silver, a man struggling to make it in the academic world. Mr. Silver is a good teacher seeking tenure in a business school and who would like to have his work published. His area of expertise is project management and he hopes to see the ideas propagated in his articles make a difference in the world of project management (Goldratt, 1997). He soon realizes that the ideas and the theories that are currently in use in project management are outdated and incomprehensive and as a result, projects often delay and not completed in time (Goldratt, 1997). In his attempts to pass his ideas and concepts on better methods of project management, he encounters the fact that the content given in business schools is outdated. The therefore is convinced that business schools should revise their curriculum to accommodate the changes that occur in the business world. If the changes do not happen soon, then what the business schools teach their learners will soon be obsolete (Goldratt, 1997). The focus of the book is the shift of project management from the critical path method to the critical chain method of project management. Likewise, the...
Words: 2015 - Pages: 9
...Case Study: Control of the Supply Chain Turns Critical BHO2259 Product and Services Innovations October 13, 2011 Executive Summary Our objective for the project was to find out about supply chains, and how companies implement them to create an environment suitable for innovation and therefore satisfy the customers’ needs. We researched books, databases and journals to get a more complete idea of what a supply chain is, who uses them, and how they are being used. Based on the Case Study of Ahmed and Shepherd’s book, along with the information we researched we reached a conclusion listed below. Our research was somehow limited by the vast amount of different companies across the world. Supply chains vary from industry to industry. We could, nonetheless, build a general idea of how a supply chain must be composed in order to offer an extended product to consumers. Our findings dictate that every company that want to offer a complete, extended product, must offer an integrated supply chain that has a high level of communication, that is coordinated in all of its parts, and that at the same time reduces the final cost of the product. Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………… 4 Why is supply chain management important for innovation? ……………………………………….. 5 In what way is the supply chain process connected to the innovation process?.................................... 7 Integrated supply chain system: advantages and disadvantages………………………………………...
Words: 2146 - Pages: 9
...Yashashree Kulkarni Operations & Supply chain Mgmt Date; June 21 Critical and Creative Thinking in Operations And Supply Chain Management The reality of the 21st century is the presence of the VUCA environment that is , volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. This highly dynamic business world, requires the business leaders to think both critically & creatively in order to be successful in their area of expertise. Leaders are expected to be operating at such rapid pace, in this high level of business environment that critical thinking coupled with an ability to be creatively inclined while implementing business decisions and problem solving is paramount to success. Even though critical thinking may seem like a “soft skill” from a distance, it is in fact, a key component for a leader to have, not a luxury but an essential quality. Criticality assesses; Creativity originates. This exemplifying interdependence between these qualities explores and requires the art of questioning critically like Socratic questioning. A leader who constantly questions the norms, to get to the bottom of things and implements the art of questioning questions in order to better reflect on problems is successful professionally.(Boghossian, P. (2006)). Operations and supply chain management is a field of business that requires this art of thinking critically and implementing creatively; these managers in operations are continuously cajoled to think “outside-the-box”; implicitly eschewing that the...
Words: 1519 - Pages: 7
...THE GOAL 1 I come through the gate this morning at 7:30 and I can see it from across the lot: the crimson Mercedes. It's parked beside the plant, next to the offices. And it's in my space. Who else would do that except Bill Peach? Never mind that the whole lot is practically empty at that hour. Never mind that there are spaces marked "Visitor." No, Bill's got to park in the space with my title on it. Bill likes to make subtle statements. So, okay, he's the division vice-president, and I'm just a mere plant manager. I guess he can park his damn Mercedes wherever he wants. I put my Buick next to it (in the space marked "Controller"). A glance at the license as I walk around it assures me it has to be Bill's car because the plate says "NUMBER 1." And, as we all know, that's absolutely correct in terms of who Bill always looks out for. He wants his shot at CEO. But so do I. Too bad that I may never get the chance now. Anyway, I'm walking up to the office doors. Already the adrenalin is pumping. I'm wondering what the hell Bill is doing here. I've lost any hope of getting any work done this morning. I usually go in early to catch up on all the stuff I'm too busy to do during the day, because I can really get a lot done before the phone rings and the meetings start, before the fires break out. But not today. "Mr. Rogo!" I hear someone calling. I stop as four people come bursting out of a door on the side of the plant. I see Dempsey, the shift supervisor; Martinez, the union steward;...
Words: 120884 - Pages: 484
...A critical analysis of Supply Chain Collaboration Techniques By Arun Table of Contents Introduction 3 Supply chain Management and Drivers of supply chain performance 3 Retail Industry supply chain overview 4 Bullwhip Effect 5 Reducing the “Bullwhip Effect” 6 Mitigating Bullwhip Effect by Improving Information Accuracy 7 Collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR) 8 Drawbacks of CPFR 9 Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) 9 Drawbacks of VMI 10 Mitigating Bullwhip Effect by Improving Operational Performance 10 Vendor consolidation 11 Risk in using 3PL for vendor consolidation 13 Reducing Replenishment Lead time using Cross docking 14 Supplier selection for cross-docking 15 Benefits of Cross-docking 16 Disadvantages of Cross-docking 17 Conclusion 18 Appendix 19 Appendix A 19 Products suitable for cross-docking 19 Types of cross-docking 19 References 21 Introduction A Supply chain consists of all the participants and processes which are involved in satisfying the customer demand. The large amount of participants, variety of processes, dynamics and uncertainty in materials and information flow prove that the supply chain as a complex system in which coordination is considered as a key element for success. The lack of supply chain coordination between the participants results in a “Bullwhip Effect”. This report analyzes different techniques followed by Wal-Mart to improve coordination for reducing the bullwhip effect...
Words: 4579 - Pages: 19
...ABSTRACT Critical Chain Project Management: An Overview Christopher Aitken Director: Elisabeth Umble, Ph.D. The purpose of this thesis is to introduce to the reader Critical Chain Project Management, which is the application of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) process to project management. Eli Goldratt describes the process in the book Critical Chain. Applying Critical Chain protocol will improve the projects due date performance and the quality of deliverables, whatever the project or circumstance. To prove these claims this document explores specific case studies of recent implementations of Critical Chain. It then goes back to look at the history of project management and some of the innovations that led to Critical Chain, including an in depth look at Theory of Constraints. It concludes by exploring the TOC approach to causing change in thinking processes and how this would be done for Critical Chain. This document is written to be accessible to any reader regardless of the level of prior exposure to the Theory of Constraints. APPROVED BY DIRECTOR OF HONORS THESIS: ______________________________________________________ Dr. Elisabeth Umble, Department of Management APPROVED BY THE HONORS PROGRAM: __________________________________________________ DATE: _______________________ CRITICAL CHAIN PROJECT MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Baylor University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Program By Christopher...
Words: 8356 - Pages: 34
...Bottlenecks in My Moring OPS/571 Professor September 26, 2011 The purpose of this paper is to describe how to identify, describe and discuss the bottlenecks in my morning routine. In order to do this I had to use the Goldratt’s theory of constraints to help me identify and overcome the process bottlenecks. In order for me to overcome and improve my daily routine, I had to identify the slowest process of my morning routine. After applying the Goldratt’s theory of constraints to my morning routine I was able to identify two major constraints the slowed down the process of my morning routine. The first constraint that I was able to identify depended on the route I chose to take each morning which determined rather or not I would arrive to work or not. The second constraint in my morning routine was the amount of time I would spend sitting in traffic once I would exit the turnpike. The first constraint could be identified by the route that I would take in the morning which determined weither or not I made it to work on time. After evaluating the two routes I was able to identify that Route 1 offered the slowest process in my morning routine which caused me to be late for work both morning that I took this route. Route 2 was identified as the route that was most effective in my morning route. Route 2 allowed me the opportunity to speed up the process of my morning routine. The bottle neck that was identified as the amount of traffic that I would have to drive...
Words: 553 - Pages: 3
...Bottlenecks in a Process A bottleneck limits the capacity of the process and the data should help indicate it as a bottleneck (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano, 2006). The daily process identified in Week One, was the Collection and Invoices of paid and unpaid invoices within a hospital billing department. Through the monitoring of the process for two weeks, a bottleneck was identified. This paper will focus on the bottleneck process and how the Goldratt’s theory of constraints may be applied to alleviate process bottlenecks. Process Bottleneck The ability to identify the bottleneck is important in the analysis to increase capacity as well as to determine the process capacity. Based on the analysis of the flowchart and metric system, the main bottleneck detected was 120 days invoices remained within the facility with no further updates. Since inpatient admissions originate through the emergency room, patients often times provide incorrect contact information or incoherent at time of admission. Once the task of contacting patients was completed, the next task is easier. Patients with accurate contact information, their cases were settled within 60 days, resulting in revenue for the hospital. Goldratt’s Theory The underlying premise of theory of constraints is that organizations can be measured and controlled by variations on three measures: throughput, operational expense, and inventory (Wikipedia). The Goldratt’s Theory uses a process to eliminate the constraints though five steps...
Words: 340 - Pages: 2
...Bottlenecks in a Process University of Phoenix Bottlenecks in a Process Making a decision on what to eat for breakfast is a constant battle for me every morning. Eating breakfast is very important to me personally because it affects my mood for the rest of the day. Deciding on what to each morning is a routine, from the time the alarm goes off to taking a shower, I have the same question is in my head: What do I eat for breakfast? Although eating breakfast is routine, I find that there is always a constraint or a bottleneck in the process. Behind every process there is always a limiting factor whether it’s trying to get to work on time or trying to complete a degree, there are always bottlenecks that set the speed of your progress. The Key to speeding up my breakfast process is to find the limiting factor and alleviate them as fast as possible. After paying a good amount of attention to my daily breakfast routine, I found that the main bottleneck in the process is my food options, what is available to eat in the house? I found that I spend majority of my time looking for what is available to eat. To alleviate this process, I used the Goldratt’s theory of constraints to overcome the process bottleneck. The First step is to: 1. Identify the system constraints: the constraint in my process is my food options and the availability of food in the house. 2. Decide how to exploit the system constraint: To develop the constraint of my breakfast process, I would...
Words: 403 - Pages: 2
...Bottlenecks in my daily commute to work The purpose of this paper is to describe how to identify, describe, and discuss the bottlenecks in my daily driving to work routine. To identify the bottlenecks or constraints (potential delays or slowing down in the process), I used the Goldratt’s theory of constraints to help me identify and overcome the process bottlenecks. After applying the Goldratt’s theory of constraints to my driving routes, I could identify that there were two major constraints that slowed down the process of my driving to work in each route. The first constraint is the time I leave home and the second constraint is the time I spend sitting in traffic in each of these three different possible routes to work. I evaluated the three possible routes that I can take to my work and monitored the time I leave home each day. I identified that Route 1 offered the slowest process in my driving to work that caused me to be late at work assuming my standard time to leave home is around 8.45 a.m. Route 2 or Route 3 almost took the same time, except that route 2 had larger uncertainty as if Route 1 slowed down, it definitely had impact on Route 2 as both routes had traffic from 101 freeway merging in. Despite, Route 3 is limited to 35 miles per hour speed and traffic lights; it seems to be more reliable and can anticipate slowdown only in one junction. Any time I left earlier than 8.45 a.m., or around the same time, it did not take much fluctuation in the time...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
... mirrors, lighting fixtures, and shelving. The products are made of rust-‐ and chip-‐resistant molded plastic and come in a variety of modern designs and colors. The plastic construction permits VP to produce high quality bathroom accessory at an affordable price. In the middle of the 1990s, John focused the company’s marketing attention on the large home center chain stores: Home Depot, Wal-‐Mart, Sears and so on. Today, more than 80 percent of VP’s sales are to these retail chains, and they account for 95 percent of its...
Words: 589 - Pages: 3
...progress restaurant. The key goals was making good decisions to be the best coffee house and international cuisine restaurant in Thailand. The BCC core competencies is coffee and the ideal was to try in find information from books and all around the countries to see how to make coffee. However, with the competitors in Thai premium coffee market: foreign chains, local chains and independent shops, the BBC maintains to excels in pride and profitability in the relationship between the Company and the customers, franchisees, employees, investors and suppliers. The company had a strategy going on to bring new ideas for the menu. BCC branched off with a concept of combining the tastes of East and West. Also, the new products was developed and existing products were improved. A lot of people love Thai food and the ideal was very operational to the customers and that brought the product quality to look different from all the other competitors. Additionally the company needed to consider the relative emphasis of domestic versus international expansion as well as the potential to diversify into other markets. Access to capital and supply chain in fracture were both tied to the growth targets that the firm pursed. The resource of the goals is to help develop knowledge and abilities of the team as professionals. Black Canyon is not just a coffee shop. It’s a full service restaurant serving not only coffee, but a full range of cooked international Thai food. This combination of...
Words: 358 - Pages: 2
...It’s not like a book that you can buy from Barnes and Noble or Amazon and then start studying it impromptu. Rather, this is a book that has a legacy and a tradition. One that has a chain, a link, an organic growing connection that increases as every generation goes on. A book that whoever wants to teach it has to have authorization to teach it. That’s because it is about a sacred science that involves a sacred person, and it involves the life and times of the best human being who walked this earth. In our religion, if you want to get to a level where you are transmitting and narrating what this person said, you need to tell the people where you are getting it from. Who are you to quote from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم )? Therefore let us understand the luminaries; the chains of narrators, those who preserved the hadīth and have an authenticated chain of knowledge to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم ). This is the reality of the religion. It has been preserved through chains of narrations that are verified through scholars of the highest caliber and were the legends of their times. Shaykh Safi-Rahman Mubarakpuri, a scholar of hadīth and author of “The Sealed Nectar.” had an isnād (chain of narration) to Imam Al-Shawkani (d. 1173H): one of the greatest scholars of hadīth and main nodes of chains of narrations for Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhari. In order to become a node, that scholar has to be way above the rest. Most ijazahs in the world nowadays go through Imam Al-Shawkani. He wrote a...
Words: 366 - Pages: 2
...Critical Thinking Application Paper Critical Thinking Application Paper The purpose of this paper is to explain critical thinking and decision-making by different examples, such as models, method examples and show how it is used in everyday life. The three components of every decision are made, and they are 1. Criteria- the standards by which decision makers evaluate alternatives, 2. Alternatives- specific courses of action or options, and are considered “positions” 3. Cause and effect beliefs-cause and effects belief are cognitions linking specific alternatives to specific criteria. These are often referred to as models, theories, assumptions, beliefs, or alternative attributes. Platoon Hierarchy is needed to understand how certain decisions ca affect many areas and how critical thinking is needed and used by all involved in the military. An Army leader is any one who by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility inspires and influences people both inside and outside of the Chain of Command to pursue actions, focus thinking and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization. One can solve soldier complaints, concerns and questions, in a timely manner through perfecting critical thinking. This will help the leader make responses and answers tailored to the individual soldier, and it will make soldiers feel more satisfied and cared about by their chain of command. Possessing a strong ability to think critically is viewed by the company commanders...
Words: 726 - Pages: 3
...What is Critical Thinking? Tahirah McClelland CRT/205 July 07, 2013 University of Phoenix What is Critical Thinking? When you think of what Critical thinking is, numerous definitions emerge. Critical thinking aims at making wise decisions and coming to correct conclusions, and not working, hold up by temptation, emotion, greed, irrelevant considerations, stupidity, bias, or other similar things (Parker, 2012) . Another definition “Critical Thinking is the ability to think about one’s thinking in such a way as 1. To recognize its strengths and weaknesses and as a result, 2. To recast the thinking in improved form” (Center for Critical Thinking, 1996c). When it concerns to critical thinking you are using different process to sort of trying to solve a problem. That’s what we do when we form opinions or judgments, make decisions, arrive at conclusions, and the choice you make. You are applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action (Croom.2012). It comes to critical thinking, we are trying to come to conclusions that are correct and to make decisions that are good. I have to say critical thinking varies; sometimes the outcome can be not good, you can even use it for selfish motives or just plan evil. You can even use critical thinking is sort of just thinking out-of-the-box. We need critical thinking to make sure we have the...
Words: 319 - Pages: 2
