The Theory of Constraints is the name given to a series of decision making techniques first created by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt beginning around 1980 and later applied and augmented by a number of others. The Theory of Constraints has been applied to production planning, production control, project management, supply chain management, accounting and performance measurement, and other areas of business as well as such not-for-profit facilities as hospitals and military depots. It has also been applied to decision making in educational settings. Dr. Goldratt holds a Ph. D. in physics; he has often stated that in developing the Theory of Constraints he is applying the techniques of the hard sciences, such as cause-and-effect analysis, to soft sciences such as business management. The Theory of Constraints states that constraints determine the performance of a system. A constraint is anything that prevents a system from achieving a higher performance relative to its goal. A system is any collection of interconnected parts sharing a common goal. The Theory of Constraints was first applied to business systems. Dr. Goldratt defines the goal of a for-profit business as to make more money now and in the future. This definition is in keeping with the traditional definition of the goal of a business which is to maximize the owners’ or stockholders’ wealth. Constraints may be resource constraints such as a person or department that cannot keep up with market demand. If this department could produce more, more would be sold and the firm would make more money. If all departments can keep up with market demand then a market constraint exists. If more could be sold, the capacity exists to produce it and the firm would make more money. There are also policy constraints and dummy constraints. A policy constraint is a management decision or business culture that limits the system. For