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The Goal-Study Questions

1) The document contains study questions about the book "The Goal" which discuss key events and concepts around operations management. 2) The questions analyze traditional performance metrics used at a plant versus new measures proposed, and how each set of measures does or does not guide the plant towards optimal performance. 3) Specific questions analyze throughput, inventory, and lead time on a boy scout hike, and how rearranging the "production line" impacts those factors for better performance.

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138 views1 page

The Goal-Study Questions

1) The document contains study questions about the book "The Goal" which discuss key events and concepts around operations management. 2) The questions analyze traditional performance metrics used at a plant versus new measures proposed, and how each set of measures does or does not guide the plant towards optimal performance. 3) Specific questions analyze throughput, inventory, and lead time on a boy scout hike, and how rearranging the "production line" impacts those factors for better performance.

Uploaded by

festisio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EP208 Operations Management for Executives Professor Rick So

Study Questions for The Goal


These questions are intended to spur you to think more carefully about the key events and
fundamental concepts addressed in the book. We will discuss some of these questions in
class.

Chapters 1 - 11
1) What are the primary performance metrics used by Alex Rogo at the beginning of the
book? What effect do these metrics have on the behavior of the people at the plant?
How do Alex use these metrics to guide operational decisions at the plant? Do they
lead the plant towards 'The Goal'?

2) What are the measures proposed by Jonah? Do they lead the plant towards The Goal?
How are they related to the traditional financial measures?

Chapters 12 - 20
3) During the hike with the boy-scout troop, what 'product' is being produced? On the
hike, how would you measure throughput? Inventory? Manufacturing lead time?

4) Describe the performance of the troop, in terms of throughput, inventory, and lead
time, before Alex rearranges the line. Why is the troop performing in this way?

5) Describe its performance of the troop, in terms of throughput, inventory, and lead
time, after Alex rearranges the line. What did Alex do, and why was it effective?

6) On the hike and in the plant, how can you identify the bottlenecks? How would you
calculate the cost of an hour lost on a bottleneck machine?

7) In the match game, the average capacity of each boy is 3.5 matches per turn. What is
the average capacity of the overall system? Why is it different from 3.5/turn?

Chapters 21 - 31

8) Throughout these chapters, the characters in The Goal propose many ways for
increasing the capacity of the bottlenecks. Make a list of them. Which one(s)
impresses or surprises you the most?

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