This is a fantastic book. I like the approach used to bring the concepts across to the reader. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a novel with the purpose of instructing the reader in the theory of constraints. The book details how one should go about analyzing operations or any system to find, fix and/or optimize the overall structure and the overall process. It is about the analysis of processes and how to structure them and manage them, in view of the constraints contained within them. Anyone interested in accounting, operations management, process management, continuous improvement, etc. should read this book. It is a fast and easy read, but it contains much substantive insight into analyzing and optimizing processes.

I was required to get this book for an operations management course in college. It was definitely an enjoyable read, especially for a business book. The narrative format made for a very easy read. The real world examples offered make the connection between theory and application. We were given this book in place of a textbook, and it was about a million times more entertaining than any textbook.

Stories are one of the best ways to teach. Eliyahu Goldratt is a master at weaving a tale to teach a crucial concept in manufacturing.

The Goal is the story of locating bottlenecks and streamlining a manufacturing line. The story is full of twists and turns, a super consultant named Jonah who speaks in riddles and a cast of believable characters. To make the story even more believable it is spiced with real life problems at home that our hero Alex must solve simultaneously while he is desperately trying to save the plant he is responsible for from closing down.

Goldratt is on a mission to take manufacturing form an art to a science and this is his way of doing just that. The book is well worth the time for anyone interested in using critical thinking and common sense to solve manufacturing problems. Highly recommended!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

I love this book, once you read it you will never see manufacturing or business in the same light. A must read for all people in business. I had all my employees read it.

This book is a very infomative and clear written book. Although it is not a breathe taking novel it is as best written as a text book could be written. Many senerios I found very helpful relating to my own real life experiences in the workplace and the challanges we meet everyday. Definitley well recommended. BUY IT...

I was pretty surprised at how good and informative this book was when I was reading it. It took me almost no effort at all to keep reading. This book gives you a glimpse of the responsibilities a manufacturing management have and the problem that they have to solve. It is an eye opener for anyone in management that is interested in the fundamentals of running a business. The narrator walks you through all the steps and processes on overcoming problems so you'd get a sense of what the logic is behind every solution. One good point that I got out of this book is that don't just follow the common practice, instead use your common sense.

In reading The Goal, I was not completely sure what to expect when I first began to read it. I was told that it was a novel, but at the same time I was being required to read it for an engineering Statistical Quality Control class, so I figured it would be quite interesting to see a novel used to explain something for engineering.

The novel, as soley a a story, was entertaining and brings up many aspects of life that pertain to working and how it relates with having a family. The interesting part about this aspect of the book, is that it utilizes the theory of the book as a whole, which pertains to engineering and manufacturing, showing the theory to be more universal.

The theory that I have spoken of is mainly that of having a goal and making sure that the goal remains the focus. This theory is the basis for all else that is presented in the book, although it is not the only theory presented. The theory of constraints is also spoken of and many other specific thoughts in the area of manufacturing.

Overall, I found this book to be very useful in bringing my view of how to approach problems, and in many ways life, to focus. It was an excellent reminder that we need to remember what we are doing and understand the implications of actions, but most of all, to focus on what we are trying to achieve.

I'll keep this short. Over the years I've read all kinds of books that try to teach you something that more often than not teach you how to sleep while reading. When someone recommended this book to me I thought, here we go again, but I was wrong. This book was fun to read and I had a hard time putting it down. Its goal was to teach you a few things and not one hundred which is how people both learn and retain. I highly recommend this book to everyone and its message goes beyond just manufacturing but can be applied to many different areas both in the work place and out.

If your organization/plant faces the classic problem of Quality, Cost & Delivery: "why can't we consistently get a quality product out the door on time at the cost that can beat the competition?" or if you have a plant manager who is "always promoting some new thing he's doing, and most of the time what he's doing isn't any different from the things everyone else is doing", then you better read this book and make others to read it as well.

This book introduced the Theory of Constraints to the world of business and has made its way to B-Schools as a textbook. Eliyahu Goldratt has done an excellent job in explaining his theory using a novel-style writing. It is a story of a struggling plant manager to improve his plant's performance and save it from closure. The expert in this story provoked the main character to "derive his solutions by supplying the question marks instead of exclamation marks".

Recommended read for every professional in manufacturing.

The concept(s) in this book are a key part of the lean manufacturing grouping of concepts. This is one of the little hinges that swing big doors. It is a high leveragbe activity to identify your constraints and to focus improvements at this constraint.

I found THE GOAL a book written in a direct language. My personal interest toward the topic takes me to look forward to the next book that the author wrote. Perhaps it's not only a question of Economics.

This is a great book. I have limited time to read all that I need to and by listening to this audio book I was able to get through the entire thing concurrently to finishing other important projects.

Some of the passages are a bit cheesy, but overall the book is excellent -it is interesting and highly educational. The audio-book is fine although some of the characters' voices are a bit annoying.

When you have to read 'THE GOAL' for school and time is definitely an issue, this Audiobook is the best way to prepare for the class in time and properly. You will get the whole picture of this amazing book.

The "Goal" is tied to Fortune Magazine's small business editorial staff taking into consideration the epilogue is dedicated to case interviews by David Whitford, Fortune's "Small Business Editor at Large". To this extent, the book is an editorial for the commercial adventures of the author. On the other hand, unlike other business books, Goldratt manages to keep readers interest between applications by providing the drama of the day-to-day in the life of the principal player in the story, Alex Rogo (Plant Manager) who is positioned in the book to have [only] ninety days to save his plant, job, and marriage. We add to this a general disenchantment by Rogo's managers, the usual skepticism of labor unions, and we have an interesting read.

From a critical review perspective the book misses one important ingredient. There is no index of words or terms. So, the reader becomes displaced in note-taking and highlighting of sentences in the text. Not something all people enjoy when trying to synoptically reference the material; no matter how diligent they might be as scholars. In this regard, the book tries to pass itself off as a novel, when in reality it is a textbook, written in story form.

The story flow is straight forward. The book has a beginning, middle, and an end. Alex Rogo and his working associates deduce along as an academic and consultant named Jonah feeds vignettes of information throughout. Jonah gives Rogo the "Where's Waldo" approach to [a] next-move- dialog: then running to the airport or meeting leaving Rogo to search for answers in the nuanced language of the fog. Rogo then consults his fellow workers, his children, or his, about-to-be, estranged wife for clues to the answer. All while Rogo's boss has Rogo walking a widow's walk with traces of Snidely Whiplash - as Nell [that would be Rogo] remains tied to the railroad tracks. The drama leads to the reader wanting to identify with Rogo and help him prevail in [a] classic fight between good and evil - the company management in this case being uninformed, if not evil.

The book introduces situations known as "constraints" about which Rogo and company are to solve. These constraints revolve around production machines receiving too few, too many, or no production parts at all. Juxtaposed to the shop floor, the on the ground methodology begins with a simple example as Rogo Sheppard's a column of Boy Scouts on their way through the forest and the observation is made that if one of the Scouts does not walk at the same pace as the rest, the column comes apart This writer believes this may be the Goldratt version of Edwards Demining finding an oil spot on shop floor. Anyway, for the reader planning to examine the [whole] book, let me say that there will be times you do associate yourself with certain actors in the story - sometimes in a scary six degrees of separation, both business and personal.

No point in giving away the ending, however, one might imagine that all business books end rather well, and, for the record, please add an index in the next printing.

In the end of this "novel," the protagonist that just managed a massive turnaround of his manufacturing plant is on his way to managerial infamy as the head of the whole division. But first, he has to choose whom from among his through-putting dream team to promote to his former position, Plant Manager. Does he choose the wizened old Controller who is near retirement? Or the engaging, brilliant young number-cruncher? How about the member of his team who has clearly proved herself as the most intelligent, articulate, results-oriented, and focused member of the plant's management (and, incidentally, the only woman who is in a managerial position in the WHOLE BOOK?) Or, could he possibly choose the bear-like neanderthal who disrupts meetings with his foul language and inane suggestions, and whose current job primarily consists of stopping brawls on the plant floor?

Two points for the neanderthal!

In a senseless and ridiculously dated move, the protagonist bypasses the only female in management and, yes, promotes the neanderthal, who seems to lack any of the intellectual capacity and analytical thought of the rest of the management team. But the choice seems to fit, considering that even apes grooming themselves would be able to recognize the idea of a "bottleneck" in the system, and without consulting a Yoda-like physics teacher sage. How "Alex Rogo" managed to get an MBA without ever learning how to manage people--and, for that manner, an Engineering degree without learning how to manage processes--is beyond me.

But I will give Mr. Goldratt one thing--for a sexist, ploddingly simple business man, he writes pretty well. Despite begrudging the underlying assumptions about women in management and nearly pulling my hair out over Alex Rogo's unending questions (we don't even find out until page 40 that the goal of a company is to--gasp!--make money!), I did stay up until past 2 a.m. reading his glittery prose. And that was two days before my assignment on the book was due.

In fact, there's one brilliant scene in particular, with Alex Rogo and said female manager coming home laughingly drunk late one night only to find his estranged wife waiting for them in the dark...it leads me to think that maybe Eliyahu Goldratt should write soap operas.

I have lost count of the number of people to whom I have recommended this book. Whatever area of management you find yourself in, and at every level from business studies student to CEO and CFO, you are bound to pick up something useful from "The Goal."

The story follows the complex life of Alex Rogo. With the help of his old friend, Jonah, he identifies and solves problem after problem on the road to saving his manufacturing plant, his own job, those of his colleagues, and his marriage. Each problem is broken down into its simplest components so that the real priorities are easily identified and dealt with.

Satisfying the senior management of his company and the accountants that he has turned around the fortunes of his plant proves difficult, but he supports his arguments with solid evidence.

Managers will recognise many of the problems that Alex encounters as, although part of this fiction, they belong to the real world rather than the theoretical text books that they may be used to reading. The story is far from dull and is easy to read and to understand.

What particularly appealed to me, as a practitioner of process modelling and simulation, was the way that these techniques were used to bring about significant business improvements. The power and value of such techniques was ably demonstrated and should encourage many more companies to put them into practice.

Eli Goldratt has succeeded where many have failed, to put these concepts into language that everyone can understand and therefore benefit.

The only negative comment that I have about this book is that I felt that the background story became a little bit tedious towards the end, but the value gained from reading the rest far out-weighed this minor moan.

Buy it. Read it. Improve!

Thare are many other good reviews on this book what else could I add? Well I've read this one just a few days and really liked it but let's face it: it's not a thriller nor is it really a novel. It's just way too linear for that. But don't get me wrong. This is an excellent book but the style fall short of what I would expect from a novel. Nevertheless, it's still a 4 star book because the objective is not so much to be the next "Dan Brown" but to use the narrative as a teaching aid and to this effect it succedes really well.

Perhaps the only thing is that in a real scenario, I suspect that Alex, the main character, would have faced far more resistance especially when you are trying to change an industry norm. This is an endevor equivalent to saying "Everyone else is blind or dumb but listen to me I know what I'm doing". Unless you actually own the business or you can convince the owner, it's probably near impossible to do. Here a "cas de force majeure" gave our hero the necessary leway.

A good and easy read.

I was quite apprehensive before I bought this book because I had heard a few people say that it was a very difficult book to understand and was very hard to read without getting bored. I must say I was pleasantly surprised to find out that once I started reading it I couldn't put it down! It reads like a very interesting fictional novel with the Theory of Constraints as its main focus. I loved the fact that the author included a plot concerning the manager of the plant and his relationship with his wife because that also created another interesting aspect and provided quite a few breaks from the more in-depth, conceptual sections. Overall I give this book 5 stars! Don't be afraid if you have to read this book for a college class or some kind of assignment... you will enjoy it!

A very well written book for anyone involved in the management area of manufacturing. It is uncanny how close the details in this book compare to my day to day experiences. Very entertaining, educational and I highly recommend this reading.

I bought this book because it is necessary for my Operation class. But I do not like to read the old story took place over 20 years ago.

Reading a text book has never been so much fun. I read this during my MBA classes. Why won't every author write their book and drive the point home with such fun stories that don't just drive the point home, but also keep it there forever?

This book is good. I don't mean only the content or the way it was written, but the whole process when reading it. At the time of reading this book, seven years ago, I didn't had any clue what could be learned from books. Books were used to pass exams, not to learn anything from it. How wrong could I be.

After starting reading this book I didn't stop. Not only it was fun, but for the first time I had the feeling this book taught me something new. Real business cases were being drawn up in some kind of novel theme. It felt like a comic book, although pictures were missing. What was wrong with me?

In hindsight, nothing was wrong. This book has been inspirational for so many people to this date. And there's more, a whole serie of books from Goldratt related to this first book on theory of constraints (TOC). I visited the dutch manufacturer of this book some time ago and, believe it or not, they totally run on TOC. And it works.

If you want to improve your business, buy this book. If you're in college or studying, buy this book. If you like reading novels, buy this book. If you don't read at all, buy this book. Is this getting clear now? Just go out and buy this book!

"The Goal" is a hilarious novel but with a serious business message particularly with respect to production/operations management. The author expertly wove an intricate story about a plant manager (Alex Rogo) whose factory and marriage are failing into a compelling and convincing explanation about how to deal with constraints and bottlenecks effectively, not only in business but also in everyday life. This is a good captivating read particularly for those who find reading business and management books to be dry and having a soporific effect.

Alex Rogo's life is made very difficult by bottlenecks, constraints, excess inventories and pressure from management that demands efficiency in the factory operations. However, through mastering the theory of constraints (TOC), the appreciation of a business as a system, the effective use of industrial engineering techniques as well as common sense, Alex and his team overcome the problems.

This is an enlightening book that is easy to read and understand for people particularly those who a new to managing an organization. You will learn about the goal of an organization, waste (and how to avoid it), cost structures, team utilization, supply chain bottlenecks, identify improvements, work prioritization and enhance efficiencies.

You will get the most from this book if you also read the Toyota Production System which can fix many of the problems highlighted in this book. Among the highlights of the Toyota Production System are the Just-in-Time inventory system, production leveling, multi-skilling, the pull method of production planning which provides a more comprehensive approach to manufacturing operations. Another useful investment is to get a copy of the classic book "The Fifth Discipline" by Peter Senge (if you have not yet read it). Senge proposes the "systems thinking" method to help companies to become "learning organizations" that integrates all personnel levels and functions (such as production, human resources, finance etc) to increase the ability of the organisation to be more productive and effective.

In summary, this is an outstanding book packed with insightful wisdom that I recommend to employees at all levels in an organization as well as students studying business.

The plot of this book is set in a manufacturing environment.
The author does an excelent job at explainig the theory of constraints. And although I work in software engineering, I could directly see the applicability of everything I read to my job.
And the best part is that the book is written 'for the rest of us'. Even a kid could understand it!

I purchased this book for a college class that I am taking in MGMT. However, after listening to this book, I could see where the Theory of Constraints applied to my job, now I don't work in a manufactuing environment, more of a repair facility. But I could not believe how I could relate the two. This book is good for the worker bees as well as Mgmt. As I work in one environment and am achieving to be in Mgmt, I could really see the principles being used in this book. Goldratt is a genius!!

I received this product in good time and condition. Brand New. Saved quite a bit of money over the campus book store price.

The Goal is a well-written book, broadly applicable to anyone in business and to an extent life in general. It is a no-nonsense novel, utilizing and exploring real-life situations and personalities. What I liked most about the book is the integration of "scientific" approach to business, how assumptions are constantly questioned, explored, and reformulated, and how the human element is, albeit slightly, interwoven.

While the most benefit clearly is in manufacturing context, I find the book to be useful and I work in professional services. I akin the Theory of Constraints ("bottleneck management") to Stephen Covey's example of "moving big rocks", hence the applicability to life in general. Said another way, I believe one must focus on the things that are most constraining (the boundaries), and this method of thought is explored in The Goal. The book also interweaves personal experiences into the "core" business theme, which allows for some examination of life outside of work and of course personalizes the story.

Overall, great book and a suggested read for sure.

If you told me that a story about cost accounting in a factory would be interesting I would say you are nutts. However this story is extremely will written & entertaining thru the first 80%. The finish concerning philosophy could be left off.
I would listen to the book until I reached the end of a chapter because it was interesting even when I had arrived at my driving distination.
I do have an accounting background so that may affect my opinion.

The Goal is a fascinating book about the Theory of Constraints which was introduced to the world by Eliyahu Goldratt. I must admit the title didn't appeal much to me, but bought it anyway because it was recommended highly. After reading it, I realized that the title was perfect since it plays well into the questioning that needs to take place in order to identify the constraint or bottleneck in an organization. The book is written as a novel, which makes the book a lot easier to read and also a lot more entertaining
Alex Rogo is a plant manager and at the beginning of the novel is greeted at his plant by the VP who informs him that his production numbers need to improve or they will be shutting down the plant. Of course, during all this mess Rogo is also going through a rocky marriage and throughout the book the reader is taken through the struggle of both issues.
Alex seeks advice from an old Physicist from Israel named Jonah. Jonah takes Alex through the Socratic method of analysis which is the way Alex then communicates with his management team to solve the issues causing the low throughput in the factory. The conversations that take place between Jonah, Alex and the entire management team are extremely interesting and informative. I wonder how often this level of discussion actually takes place, but it sure makes for interesting reading.
A lot of the applications of the theory of constraints, although they take place in the factory, could be easily implemented in all industries.
Mr. Goldratt has written a business book that will remain relevant for many years to come. I highly recommend this incredible business book. Anyone who does business consulting and does not read and use the information on this book is doing his/her clients a great disservice.

This book is not only entertaining and educational, but in actuality represents some of the manufacturing organizations today. It teaches many lessons and fundamentals that one can apply to improve his company. It touches on topics that are highly practiced on the field of industrial and manufacturing companies such as bottleneck operation, process scheduling, theory of constraints, and batch processing. The book transitions from a division plant being in trouble of closing down to its complete turnaround to become not only the most productive division plant, but the plant that saved the company. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Goldratt systematically went through the process of improvement and methods that the plant manager utilized to turn around his division plant. Having studied these topics that the book touched upon prior to reading made it easy for me to see the relevance of what was going on through out the novel. I strongly feel that the insight this novel gave me in regards to the process of ongoing improvement is something that I will be able make good use off in my career.

I expected the Goal to be a typical business book, however was surprised that it was an easy read, most likely because it was in novel form. I was also surprised at the relatable characters and how the plot was developed to include both his professional and personal life. Goldratt did a good job at making the concepts of the story easily understandable, well described, and generally applicable to many different situations. Because of Goldratt's introduction and explanation of the different problem solving methods, the book can be understood by anyone who has a basic knowledge of industry. Overall I thought the book was well written to keep the readers attention and universally relevant and beneficial to anyone in the industry (managers, engineers, operators, etc.). I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in new ideas that can help increase efficiency, understand how to improve systems, and problem solving.

This book help illustrate a better way to manage and to use statistical control to understand a companys system. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in how statistical control got started and how to use it.

This book is a story about a plant manager which has to turn his plant around before they shut it down. However this book shows and explains many different options available on improving a plant. Like determining the bottleneck in a plant and increasing throughput and decreasing inventory. This book also talks about the theory of constraints (TOC)which is a vital problem in the plant. Also this books shows how stressful it is being in his position and having to deal with his family. Overall this book was really useful and is a really good book. It shows how many plants are across the country. I would recomend this book to all engineering students and anyone else how is in upper management.