Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding book
Review: I have read several books... we all have. Some books are good, Some are great and a few are outstanding and give a different prespective on things. The Goal falls into the third Category. We never would have had the dot com crash if all the entreprenuers had read the book and defined the Goal. The Goal of any business is to make MONEY!!, not market share not number of hits etc...
Rating:
Summary: For the boardroom and bedroom...
Review: First, I would commend Eliyahu M. Goldratt for getting "the Goal" right. In this age of political correctness and "good to the community," this is the only management book that states the goal of businesses is to make money. Bravo!Secondly, as a process guy, I would recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about how to make processes better. The author does this in a special way, by relating in ongoing improvement in terms of the aforementioned goal. Goldratt's relates his process "theory of constraints" and "bottlenecks" in in a holistic way to the overall running of a business. Again, this is the only place I have seen this idea as well articulated and connected to strategic business goals. Finally, I would recommend this book since it presents the information in one of the best ways, through a story. If you enjoyed Blanchard's "One Minute Manager," Johnson's "Who Moved My Cheese," or Cox's "Zapp!" this might be a good book for you. I will warn you though, this book is considerably thicker and heavier reading than the above three books. It still makes for an easy read nonetheless! There is also the side story of Alex Rogo's deteriorating relationship with his wife to keep the story going. Although not critical to the main points of the book, it does make for an interesting read while not bogging down the main idea. In summary, this is an insightful, interesting book about the real nature of business and improving processes. I definitely recommend it for all the reasons stated above. And, since there is a definite, warm "human side" to the story, it is a book that would count as much toward pleasure reading as it would a serious book about business. A must for the boardroom table as well as the bedside nightstand!
Rating: 
Summary: Great overall book!!
Review: Sure, this book is targeted to managers in production, but the insights are equally applicable to consultants, bankers, or anyone else who deals with processes in their business routine. I found this book highly entertaining. I was pulled into the problems facing the title character, and enjoyed the process of working through the answers. If you like novels which impart a great deal of wisdom, this is a perfect book. It is not dry like many of its counterparts in the business section. Regardless of how applicable you find it to your business, you will not regret the time spent in these pages. My only complaint is the ending. It seems the author was rushed by the publisher to come to a hasty conclusion. I feel like I just finished part one of a two part book. Where is the smooth ending? The book lost a star for this reason alone.
Rating:
Summary: A thriller all the Way from Page 1
Review: Man, this is a must read. Although the theory of constraints & bottlenecks are explained via the medium of an Manufacturing Industry, this book is a must read from people of all walks of life. It is really wriiten like a thriller: from page 1 you do not feel like keeping it down.
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkably Effective Novel for Learning Management
Review: This novel succeeds in being outstanding at so many levels that it could receive a multiple of five stars. It is hard to imagine a management book in novel form ever approaching this one in usefulness. Most people will learn more that they can apply from this book about management than many people learn to apply from an M.B.A. The basic story is built around the dilemmas facing Alex Rogo, a newly-appointed plant manager. The plant can't seem to ship, it's losing money, and bad things can happen to good people if all this doesn't change soon. Alex is at a loss for what to do until he pulls out a cigar that Jonah, a physicist from Israel, had recently given him. That cigar reminds him to contact Jonah for possible help. From there, the path to recovery begins. Let me describe some of the many levels on which this novel is valuable. First, the book explains how to see businesses as systems as well as any other book on this subject. It compares favorably in this area to such important works as The Fifth Discipline and the Fifth Discipline Handbook. The metaphor of how to speed up a slow-moving group of boy scouts will be visceral to anyone who has done any hiking with a group. Second, the book helps you learn how to improve the performance of a system by providing you with a replicable process that you can apply to analyzing any human or engineering system. The primary metaphor is improving a manufacturing process, but the same principles apply more broadly to other circumstances. Third, you will experience the power of the Socratic method as a way to stimulate your mind to learn, and to use Socratic questions to stimulate the minds of others to become better thinkers and doers. Fourth, the authors also use problem simulation as a practical way to help you experience the learning process they are advocating. Fifth, the book is unusually good in bringing home the consequences of letting your business process run in a vicious cycle: Your family life may also. The pacing of the book is especially good. You are given time to stew with issues and come up with your own ideas before sample answers are provided by Alex and his staff in the novel. Unlike many books that take complicated ideas and oversimplify them so the ideas lose their meaning, this book simplifies ideas in ways that enhance their meaning by making the ideas easier to see and employ. If you do not understand all of the ins and outs of typical factory accounting, you may get a little lost from time to time. But that's not a problem. That accounting just distorts common perceptions of what needs to be done. You can safely skip anything you don't understand if you don't have to deal with such issues. While I did not observe any overt errors in the book, companies that do not put an asset charge on operational assets could make the mistake from this book of seeking too little profit. You need to earn on-going returns that exceed your cost of capital, too. You will get the most from this book if you read The Fifth Discipline following it (if you have not read that book already). The discussion of the beer game simulation in The Fifth Discipline will add to your understanding of system dynamics. Following that book, I suggest that you then read The Balanced Scorecard and The Strategy-Focused Organization for ideas about how to use goals, measurements, and rewards to concentrate attention onto the highest leverage areas for your system. After you have finished employing what you have learned and helping others around you to learn more also, I suggest that you think about how to optimize the full upside potential more rapidly through the use of irresistible forces and 2,000 percent solutions to speed your progress. That should leave you with even more success and more time to enjoy it. Unblock the constraints on your progress!
Rating:
Summary: an inspiring business novel
Review: I used to think business books and novels are of two distinct & unrelated world (and shelves) and here comes "The Goal" which I spent my least time to complete the book ever. Interesting and inspiring!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible good
Review: I am spellbound about this book. If you say, that this book is for CEO - you are right. If you say, that this book is for every manager in every organization - you are right. If you say, that this book is for every worker - you are right. And even, if you say, that this book is for your grandmother - you are right too. Because, this work of Goldratt is so spellbound, that you can't say nothing bad about it.
Rating:
Summary: A turning point for my business
Review: This book seemed like the thing I had been waiting for for so long. All other business books I've read pale in comparison, they are just small patches to a big problem. Goldratt made my brothers and I rethink the way we have been running our small family business and we are now heading on a new direction under TOC. Highly, highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: If you have a problem, Eli teaches you to look for solution
Review: The book I have been waiting for and never left my side. I find this book interesting in its story telling - not fables but reality and the way we usually think. Eli, through the character, Jonah, guides you to use your deductive reasoning to solve any problem. Though this book is backgrounded in a manufacturing environment, it is applicable in any situations. Read on and you will agree with me! Welcome to a journey of enlightment.
Rating:
Summary: Not only a great busines book,...
Review: but a wonderfully written story. The Goal introduces the reader to Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC), a method of manufacturing that is contrary to the old-school of inventory and accounting. He does this via a Socratic teacher/student dialog throughout the novel. A great way to get across a very different way of looking at things that allows the reader to really understand TOC.
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