"The Goal"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Eliyahu Goldratt's novel, "The Goal" and explains that it is about how the the goal of a manufacturing plant, such as the one presented in the book, is to make money. The paper specifically discusses two characters in the novel, Alex Rogo and Jonah, and what measurement they use to determine if the manufacturing plant is meeting its goal of making money.

From the Paper:

"Jonah defines these three terms very specifically, and in a way that is different from the traditional methods of cost accounting. "Throughput...is the rate at which the system generates money through sales" (60). Mr. Rogo objects: shouldn't it be production, not sales? Jonah points out that measuring production assumes that we will sell everything we produce. This is not the case and so can skew our estimate of how much money we will make. Jonah continues, "Inventory is all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell," and "Operational expense is all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput" (60). These two measures are unconventional because they don't consider the value added into an account through direct labor or some other process. By ignoring value added, these measurements "eliminate the confusion over whether a dollar spent is an investment or an expense" (61). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Goldratt, Eliyahu Mo, and Jeff Cox. The Goal: A process of Ongoing Improvement. Great Barrington, Massachusetts: North River Press, Inc. 1992.

More papers on "The Goal":

• Book Review # 88304 : "Analysis of 'The Goal'"
• Analytical Essay # 83609 : "Eliyahu M. Goldratt's "The Goal"
• Book Review # 2923 : "Goldbratt's "The Goal"
• Book Review # 101173 : "Eliyahu M. Goldratt's "The Goal"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: