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Eliyahu M. Goldratt Biography

Eliyahu M. Goldratt is an Israel-born physicist turned business consultant, the originator of the theory of constraints (ToC). He claims that he applied the scientific method to resolving some permanent problems of organizations.

He is the author of several business novels. The Goal introduces TOC's accounting and process improvement aspects; it is considered by some to be an important work on the topic of focused performance improvement. It was followed by:

• It's Not Luck, which applies TOC to the problem of adapting an organization to changes in its market,
• Critical Chain, on the use of TOC in project management, and
• Necessary But Not Sufficient, which makes ToC's utility in problems outside manufacturing and other operations fields clear.

Books

• The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox, 1994. This book on the new global principles of manufacturing is actually a riveting novel in disguise. In the process the characters deduce some basic principles which they use to save their plant and make it successful.
  
• It's Not Luck by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, 1994.
• Critical Chain by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, 1997.
• Deming and Goldratt by Domenico Lepore and Oded Cohen, 1999.

Articles

find more artilces using the Curious Cat Management Improvement Library
• How To Compare Six Sigma, Lean and the Theory of Constraints   by Dave Nave,   Mar 2002  
  "When you are working through the apparent conflicting claims of performance improvement programs, my advice is to concentrate on the primary and secondary effects of their philosophies. Once the values of a specific improvement program are identified, the comparison of those values with the values of the organization can make the method of selection easier, if not obvious."
• Theory of Constraints   by Sid Sytsma,  
  "Most individuals will readily see the use for the Theory of Constraints in the improvement of production scheduling or in improving manufacturing. This is simply incorrect."
• Critical Chain Scheduling and Buffer Management   by Frank Patrick,  
  "The approach to project management known as "Critical Chain Scheduling and Buffer Management" provides mechanisms to allow a "whole system" view of projects."

External links

• Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute Focused on the ideas of Avraham Y. Goldratt (author of The Goal, Critical Chain and more), Theory of Constraints and process improvement. Online articles and book excerpts.
• Crazy about Constraints Dedicated to providing resources and information about the Theory of Constraints, the Thinking Processes, Synchronous Manufacturing, and other techniques developed by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt (co-author of The Goal). Includes online articles and directory to related sites.
• Tu Nguyen's Theory of Constraints Homepage

This biography is an edited version of the bio from the Wikipedia site - edited by John Hunter Jan 2005.