The Goal  (English, Paperback, Goldratt Eliyahu M.)

The Goal is a business management book that has been written in the form of a novel, with Alex Rogo as the protagonist. This book is informative, educational, and easy to read.

Summary Of The Book

The Goal, published in 2010, focuses on the Theory of Constraints, and unlike most management books, it is not a how-to guide. Written like a piece of fiction, this novel revolves around Alex Rogo, a manager for a production plant which is failing. Alex is given an ultimatum of three months to turn this unprofitable plant into a functioning and profitable one.

Alex calls up Jonah, a physicist. Through telephonic conversations and brief meetings, the two of them set about to change the fortunes of this factory. In The Goal, Jonah teaches Alex to first focus on Throughout, which determines the rate at which the system is used to generating money through sales. Next comes Inventory, which means all the money that has been invested in purchasing items that can be sold. The third is Operational Expenses, which is all the money that has been used to turn inventory into throughput. The Goal then moves towards the constraints in the manufacturing processes. Alex realizes that the bottleneck’s speed during production determines the speed of the entire process. He thus tries to identify the bottlenecks in his own factory. A side story that plays out in this novel is the strained relationship between Alex and his wife Julie. Using the Socratic method, the authors show how Alex is able to fix his marital life.

This management novel is used as a part of management courses in B-schools, as well as in the business world. Employees and employers will both benefit from reading The Goal which will bring around a change in management thinking.

About The Authors

Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt, born in 1947, was an Israeli scientist, author, and a business management guru.

He penned down a couple of business novels, some of which are Goal 2 Its Not Luck, The Choice, Isn't It Obvious, The Race, and Late Night Discussions on the Theory of Constraints.

He completed his BSc from Tel Aviv University, and Masters and Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University. Goldratt had formed many management theories like the Theory of Constraints, Drum-Buffer-Rope, Optimized Production Technique, the Thinking Processes, and Critical Chain Project Management. The author passed away in Israel on 11 June 2011.

Jeff Cox is a self-employed as an independent writer from 1981.

Cox has written eight books, some of which are Zapp! the Lightning of Empowerment, Velocity: Combining Lean, Six Sigma, and the Theory of Constraints to Achieve Breakthrough Performance, Heroz: Empower Yourself, Your Coworkers, Your Company, and The Cure: Enterprise Medicine for Business.

He began his career with companies like Grove Public Relations, MacLeod, and Ketchum. He moved up from being an assistant account executive to vice-president.