THE GOAL

2037 Words5 Pages

Introduction: The Goal, written by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox, is a management-oriented novel that illustrates the process of ongoing improvement. The novel revolves around several significant characters, including the main character, Alex Rogo, who is a manager in a manufacturing plant. Another prime character is Mr. Bill Peach, the vice president of the manufacturing plant. Lastly, the key character in the novel is the physicist, Jonah, who was a former professor of Mr. Alex Rogo. There were some other characters too, but these were the most fundamental ones.
Chapter One introduces us to the main character of the novel, Mr. Alex Rogo. Alex Rogo has been experiencing issues with his plant. Despite the plant not producing any profit, the Vice President of the company, Mr. Peach, asked Alex to ship an overdue order within a short timeframe. He also asked Alex to show improvement in the plant within three months, otherwise, he would shut down the plant.
Chapter Two delves into the scenario of Alex Rogo's family life. His family feels uncomfortable adjusting to a small town while they were used to leading a city life. For Alex, it's not a big deal, though he brought some memories with him while moving back to his hometown. Alex has been feeling pressured since he was given a deadline to meet the production improvement. Meanwhile, he successfully accomplished the shipment criteria (# 41427) set by Mr. Peach.
Chapter Three involves all the plant managers and their subordinate staff being called by Mr. Peach to the headquarters for a meeting. They discussed the current condition of the company and came up with some future goals.
The novel teaches us the process of ongoing improvement, which closely relates to the course. It illustrates how to think before solving a problem and how to apply the approach to solve a problem. The author also taught us that bottlenecks will keep arising, and the main idea is that the inertia cannot cause a constraint inside the system. This policy is known as the theory of constraints.
Reference: Goldratt, E. M. (1984) The Goal, A Process of Ongoing Improvement.

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