Sanjay Case

"The Goal" is a book, which describes how to go about attaining goals in real life and business. The author utilizes the 10 strategic operational management decisions to bring a turnaround to his plant: 1) Product Design, 2) Quality, 3) Location Selection, 4) Process, 5) Layout Design, 6) Human Resource and Job Design 7) Supply-Chain Management, 8) Inventory, 9) Scheduling, and10) Maintenance.

The wisdom of Jonah

Jonah gives Alex three exact measurements with specific definitions. They are throughput, operational expenses, and inventory. Jonah tells Alex to figure out what these measurements are equivalent to in his plant. Alex ponders with others in the plant and then returns yet again with answers to his questions.

Jonah next gives Alex three quick rules, which are the opposite of what anyone else in the business has taught him. He continues to tell him about dependent events and statistical fluctuations. Alex goes on hiking trip with his son and relates these to the line that the boys are in for a better understanding. When he returns from his hiking trip he finds his wife has left him only to worsen the situation.

After Alex has a clear understanding of statistical fluctuations and dependent event he returns to finding Jonah again. Jonah then tells him about bottlenecks and non- bottlenecks in the plant then as usual tells Alex to return once again when he has a better understanding. They experiment with different ways to supply parts to the bottlenecks and do notice an increase in productivity, until they run into another problem at the plant.

Jonah decides this time he needs to come to the plant and see what is going on for himself. Jonah walks through the plant and shows them a few things and asks them questions to figure out for themselves. They eventually get the plant running better than any other plant in the division, maybe even the industry. The plant does not get shut down and Alex and all of the other members of the group that saved the plant get promotions.

Alex is promoted to the division leader and now wants to figure out a way to represent what they have done on paper. The old system they use shows the company not doing so hot when they are actually doing great. They ponder about this and end up figuring out they can expand to other countries for a low cost and be competitive.

Evaluation of essential operational decisions / strategies / principles:

The ideas in this book are appropriate for managers when they need to define:

1. The Goal: Identify the goal of your company. With this you then decide what is productive and what is not. Anything that is working towards the goal is considered productive.

2. Measurements: Measurements are important for keeping record of how your business is doing. Make sure these measurements are accurately defined in terms of the goal