Focused Operations Management

BOAZ RONEN is a Professor of Technology Management and Value Creation at Tel Aviv University. He has consulted to numerous corporations, organizations, and government agencies worldwide. He has been a visiting professor at several high-profile business schools, including Columbia University, New York University, and SDA-Bocconi Graduate School of Business Administration in Italy. He is also the coauthor of Focused Operations Management for Health Services Organizations, from Jossey-Bass. SHIMEON PASS is a noted expert on applying the philosophy and tools of the Focused Management methodology and the Theory of Constraints (TOC) in high-technology, industrial, service, retail, and nonprofit organizations. As an executive at IBM, he specialized in the implementation of advanced managerial methods to enterprise information systems. He specializes in applying Focused Management and TOC practices in the management of research and development organizations and project management. His papers on value creation and performance improvement have been published in leading practice and academic journals.

• Preface viiAcknowledgments xiAbout the Authors xiiiPart I: The Dynamic Management EnvironmentChapter 1. The Modern Business Environment 3Chapter 2. Principles of Management in the Dynamic Environment 11Chapter 3. The Pareto Rule, the Focusing Table, and the Focusing Matrix 27Part II: New Approaches in ManagementChapter 4. Managing the System by Its Constraints 43Chapter 5. Management by Constraints in a Bottleneck Environment 71Chapter 6. Managing by Constraints When the Market Is the Constraint 95Chapter 7. Focused Current Reality Tree 115Chapter 8. Resolving Managerial Conflicts 127Chapter 9. The Efficiencies Syndrome 137Chapter 10. Evils of Long Response Times 143Chapter 11. Reducing Response Times 157Chapter 12. The Complete Kit Concept 187Chapter 13. Performance Measures and Managerial Control 201Chapter 14. The Effects of Fluctuations, Variability, and Uncertainty on the System 215Chapter 15. Evils of Traditional Cost Accounting 233Chapter 16. Marketing, Costing, and Pricing Considerations in Decision-Making Processes 241Chapter 17. Quality Management and Process Control 261Part III: Strategy and Value CreationChapter 18. Strategy, Positioning, and Focusing 281Chapter 19. Value Creation 307Part IV: Applying the Focused Management ApproachChapter 20. Value-Focused Project Management 345Chapter 21. Managing Research and Development 369Chapter 22. The Focused Management Approach in Logistics 395Part V: Perspective and ImplementationChapter 23. Our Managerial Credo 421References 435Recommended Readings 439Index 441