Management Dilemmas - Part Two

I've made a very little amount of headway on the book I'm reading now, Management Dilemmas: The Theory of Constraints Approach to Problem Identification and Solutions. Time has been tight with work, school, and family but I'm trudging through slowly.


The case studies continued in the chapters I've read since the first post about this book. One concerns a situation with a purchasing manager who is trying to deal with a complete product change that has an uncertain implementation date. There are constraints around how much can/should be ordered, and the premiums required for smaller batches. The problem here is to not fall short of materials for production of the old product, and at the same time not have a huge amount of waste after the change, because all the existing materials will be obsolete when the change occurs. Upper management is incenting conflicting actions, and traditionally the purchasing manager has to try and 'balance' them. I like the TOC approach.

Another chapter goes into a scenario where a company founder split his company into profit centers in order to incent his managers to perform. The case study analyzes the situation and some of the resulting problems that have come to light over a period of two years. The plants have fixed transfer costs built into their outputs when they are provided to the other plants, and again this is a question of whether or not the right things are being incented, in the right way. The TOC solution presented resolves the conflict and acheives the founder's original vision.

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

Please leave comments about this post!

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!

Please leave comments about this post!

PMI Member Forum Response- Critical Chain

I responded to a question on the PMI member forums that I wanted to share:

Subject: Critical Chain Project Management

Does anyone have experience with this PM approach/toolset. I have run across some people proclaiming it as the savior of project management (unfortunately, the biggest proponent I met seemed to think that a Project Plan is all there is to Project Management and expressed enough negativity regarding PMI and the PMP designation that I found it hard to give credence to the validity of his information).

I am interested in any validation of its effectiveness beyond anecdotal evidence.

RE: Critical Chain Project Management
Posted by Joshua Nankivel on 01/18/2007

I personally have not had the opportunity to implement critical chain on anything except very small projects. I can give you some good resources however, citing individuals and organizations that have had success with critical chain project management.

1. The PM Podcast Episode #57. - I don't recall specific examples Alan cited on the show, but I might be wrong. You may be able to contact Alan Elder at the email address listed on Cornelius' site directly for some direction.
2. The Critical Chain Yahoo Group - has a lot of active contributors who utilize critical chain on a daily basis
3. This whitepaper from Boeing can be downloaded upon request, I requested and read it and it's a really great overview of how critical chain was used in a real project. Very well written.
4. More case studies
5. Yet another case study

I would add that I have run into some people/articles that seem to be overly confident in critical chain. I think it has great potential, but it's only a piece of the puzzle. I look forward to using it myself on larger projects in the future.

Also, one of the things I post fairly frequently about on my blog is critical chain project management. If you're interested in critical chain even the broader scope of project management in general, I'd (of course) suggest it!

Cheers!

Josh Nankivel

Please leave comments about this post!