Recommended Reading

This is the original book where Eliyahu M. Goldratt put forward his Theory of Constraints. Goldratt is a physicist by training, which gave him a different perspective on production systems.

The Theory of Constraints focus on viewing a factory as a system of production rather than a series of cost centers. This perspective allows the manager to focus on the constraint of the system, which ultimately leads to improved profitability.

This book is written as a novel, which makes it very easy to read. If you are going to read one book to try to improve production, this is the one.

This business novel picks up where “The Goal” left off. It visits the same characters a couple of years into the future where they have new challenges to solve.

This book introduces formalized thinking processes designed to find the root cause of problems and to develop solutions.

This book is one of the most important books that Goldratt has written as it serves as the foundation that supports all of the applications of the Theory of Constraints in other areas of business.

This book applies the Theory of Constraints to project management. It shows how using this new method, project times can be greatly shortened, saving time and money.

The method gives managers and employees clear cut rules to follow, which provides more certainty and less conflict among competing interests.

This book is written in Goldratt’s familiar business novel style, making it an easy read.

What are the problems with management accounting? It is too confusing for the average person and it often leads to decisions that damage businesses. In this book, Corbett dissects the conventional wisdom around activity based costing. Even better, he provides a simpler way to track your business results. This goes hand in glove with the Theory of Constraints.

This is a quick read at 160 pages but Gary Vanynerchuk manages to pack in a lot of wisdom. Gary is an entrepreneur who took his family’s liquor store business from $4 million to $50 million in sales in 8 years. He talks in detail about how he was able to accomplish this and how he uses the internet to build brand and reputation.

Gary’s story is an inspirational one and unlike many of the “gurus” out there, he’s actually built something. You can’t help but trust a guy who says you have to “work until your eyes bleed” to be successful.

If you talk to many entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, they will say that the most important asset a business has is its people. Jeffrey Pfeffer agrees with this whole-heartedly.

Pfeffer talks about the importance of having a people centered strategy to build sustainable competitive advantage. He talks about treating employees properly and how this will add to the bottom line. This is particularly relevant in today’s economic climate where mass layoffs have occurred in an effort to cut costs.

Pfeffer uses numbers to back up his statements, adding credibility to his thesis. He can get a bit long winding at times, but this is a book worth reading.