Mktg 372
Alidee
Nov 28, 11
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldatt is a novel, regarding the management and accounting processes at a manufacturing plant. The book focuses around a perhaps older 30- early 40s something industrial engineer, Alex Rogo. With the description Goldatt gives of Rogo, he personifies the profile of a large number of people involved in business administration (Lui 1997). Alex is married, with two children and his lively-hood is in jeopardy, unless he can figure out exactly how to save his production plant, by understanding “the goal” of his company. In order for Rogo and the readers to even begin understanding that “goal”, Eli begins to unravel the novel by introducing the readers to Alex Rogo and apparent problems with his production plant. In the opening of the first chapter these problems meet Mr. Rogo at work, as a confrontation takes place between him and his immediate boss, Division Vice President of their company UniWare, Bill Peach. The dispute takes places over an overdue order number 41427, which happens to be …show more content…
He attempts to identify “the problem” at his plant, the process he will have to go through to change it, how resistant his plant would be to that change, and how he intends to overcome their resistance. Alex does all of this just in time for Mr. Peach to call a plant managers meeting at the headquarters. On his way to the meeting, Alex learns the problems with efficiency and effectiveness are not only plaguing his plant, but it’s the entire industry. It’s been losing money since Japan entered the manufacturing market and stolen market share from companies in the United States, like their UniWare Division of UniCo. During the meeting with Mr. Peach and the other plant managers, Alex mistakenly comes across a cigar he received from and old friend; a physicist named Jonah, and has an