Management Dilemmas - Part One

I'm about half way through the book I'm reading now, Management Dilemmas: The Theory of Constraints Approach to Problem Identification and Solutions. It was difficult to get into it at first, perhaps because the author made an appropriate introductory section going into the conceptual aspects of the TOC thinking processes, the Throughput world versus the Cost world, etc. which I've already read extensively about. Overall, good content in the beginning but a little slow and university textbook-like reading.

Then it gets good.

The author continues with several case studies to highlight various management problems in different industries, and very different causes and circumstances. In the first section a case study is used too, but plays a minor role in the content. These later chapters dive into the scenarios presented and I'm finding myself quite engaged with them. It's as if you are playing the part of a consultant, and need to correctly diagnose the core problems that are causing the evident symptoms. It's like detective work and I'm working through my own TOC diagrams to practice after I read the case, and see if I come up with the answer the author does. My diagnoses have been similar thus far.

The case studies so far have included problems in a hotel, office supply company, a high-end desk lamp manufacturer, the Army's Central Communications Laboratory, and a hospital. It's been great for showing examples of using TOC to solve problems in this eclectic mix of situations, and giving me practice at the TOC concepts. I hope as I internalize more about TOC, CCPM, and EVM I will be better suited to figure out the CCEVM solution.

I will do another post on this book when I've completed it. Cheers!

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