Theory of Constraints and the Public and Non-profit Organizations - Essay Example

The theory of constraints is based on the practical implications of 'how to think' and deals with thinking processes and their applications. The theory of Constraints was originally developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt who introduced the concept in his book, The Goal. The concept suggests that the world around us could be changed with a better understanding of the cause effect relationships between certain processes. The theory of constraints thinking processes or TPs are problem solving tools that show ongoing improvements raising questions on what to change and how to cause the change within any organisation (Goldratt 1984, Friedman, 2005).

Some of the essential management skills that are essential to any system and recognized by TOC thinking processes would be communication, team building and empowerment. The theory of constraints thinking processes could be applied to production units, to distribution, marketing, sales, project management and laying out the direction of a company. In the Goal, Goldratt suggests that within any complex organisational system, there will be weaknesses and as within a chain the weakest link must be identified and corrected, so also within any organisation, the weaknesses will have to be identified as weaknesses coul.

thin any organisation, the weaknesses will have to be identified as weaknesses could limit the ability of any system or company from achieving its goal. The TOC thinking processes or TPS provides an integrated problem solving methodology that help in construction of solutions, communications, collaboration and successful implementation of all solutions to problems identified within any organisation (Goldratt, 1984). The TOC Thinking Processes provides solutions to production, project management, distribution, supplier relations, sales and marketing and also provides generic solutions to specific organisational environments.

The Theory of Constraints or TOC is based on the fact that there is at least one limiting factor that constraints the revenue generating process of a company (Friedman 2005). By increasing production rate of a company and initial implementation obstacles, TOC approaches could be used to identify constraints or bottlenecks, exploit these constraints to increase efficiency of the company, elevate and downplay these constraints and repeat all the measures taken to overcome bottleneck. Some of the essential features of the theory of constraints include gaining agreement that a problem or limitation exists for a company, a direction is sought out to provide a solution to the problem, and negative ramifications and obstacles to implementation are overcome.

Goldratt's theory of constraints not only helps identify constraints and helps improving organisational success, but also facilitates improvement for organisations and teams using solutions from the Theory of Constraints (Friedman, 2005). The Theory of Constraints is based on cause and effect logic as the cause of any production problems in a company is identified and sorted out and all local