Discussion board

DB1

Post must be threeshort paragraphs

• Think of the assignment in terms of a concise writing exercise. Relate the post to the course materials.

• Try to keep your posts to 150-200 words. Texts longer than 150-200 words are harder to follow on screen.

• Better-formulated, grammatically correct, clear posts attract more attention (from both instructor and colleagues).

• Before you post, think about the assignment first and jot down notes as you read.

• Develop your initial post in a word processing program where you can edit; then post. This gives you the added advantage of leaving you with a record of your observations. The saved word processing format is always available to you to refer back to after the course is completed.

• Cite and/or provide links to help readers associate and/or find the source you are paraphrasing or quoting.

• Title your post with a descriptive and/or interesting topic to flag attention and to solicit response from others.

• After you have posted, check back to see if anybody has responded to you and keep the dialog going.

DB2

Select one of the following for the discussion post. Be sure to respond to at least three other posts:

• Srikanth (2010) argued that the first step in improving manufacturing operations is to take a flow centric view rather than a resource centric view. Other than the traditional cost accounting management methods, what other traditional management methods prevent the adoption of a flow centric view? Why?

• Identify the constraint at your workplace. Justify your selection based on the attributes described in the text and the VATI classifications.

• Discuss one of the fallacies or the natural tendency for push behavior as described by Schragenheim (2010). Take a position in support or against his assertions and provide scholarly examples or supporting data.

• The bullwhip effect creates alternating cycles of shortages or surpluses. How would increased supply chain coordination reduce the bullwhip effect and recurring business cycles of boom and bust? What affect might TOC distribution and replenishment have on the national economy?

DB3

Select one of the following for the discussion post. Be sure to respond to at least three other posts:

• Share a real example of a traditional accounting measure that failed to produce the intended result or produced behavior(s) that were in direct conflict with the organizational goals. Back up your experience with an additional scholarly source.

• Share an example of a performance measurement dilemma at your workplace. What conditions created this dilemma? How do you propose to solve the problem? You may want to use the conflict cloud to show the assumptions and a potential solution.

• Address the global metric as defined by Smith and Herman (2010) as it is it defined at your workplace or in a company with which you are familiar. What metric is used and how effective is it?

• Choose one of the local metrics suggested by Smith and Herman (2010). Develop a specific metric for use in your department. (If unemployed, develop one for education). Why did you choose this metric? How does it relate to the global metric?

• According to Smith and Herman, the more measures, the more potential for conflict. Discuss this assertion and provide justification. Share personal examples, if appropriate.

• Discuss the statement by Smith and Herman (2010) regarding the assumption of targets, standards, and metrics as being fixed rather than dynamic. Relate this to the article by Trei (2007).

DB4

Select one of the following for the discussion post. Be sure to respond to at least three other posts:

• In Chapter 25, Scheinkopf (2010) asserted that "we accept the premise of inherent simplicity, we accept the premise that every element of a system is connected to the system via cause-and-effect relationships with the other elements of the system" (p. 730). Discuss the concept of inherent simplicity with regard to her statement. Do you agree or disagree and why?

• Scheinkopf (2010) stated that well-intentioned actions often lead to undesirable consequences. Pick an issue or problem that has been created by a well-intentioned action and how negative branch reservation (NBR) could be used to resolve it.

• Describe the difference between necessary condition and logical sufficiency. Relate these to the cause-and-effect structure of the thinking tools.

• Discuss the rationale for using need, appropriate condition, and working assumptions when constructing the transition tree (TRT).

• Discuss and analyze the use of injections in the EC, CRT, or NBR. Relate this to the S&T Tree and the development of a DCE or Viable Vision.

DB5

Select one of the following for the discussion post. Be sure to respond to at least three other posts:

• TOC is a logic-based approach that provides and tests assumptions. How do the necessary, parallel, and sufficient assumptions differ and support the S&T tree structure?

• Select one of the S&T trees from the Goldratt Research website to review and analyze. Discuss your findings. Download the Harmony Viewer. View and open existing S&T files in the program library.

• Choose one or more of the six desirable effects (DE) indicated as stepping stones by Kendall (2010) to discuss and critique. Are any of these DEs counterintuitive? If so, why?

• Discuss and comment on the statement made by Meyer in Chapter 26 (Suerken, 2010) that "The TOC tools are simple enough to be used by kindergartners and profound enough to be used by CEOs" (p. 808).

• Analyze and provide a perspective on the use of TOC as an intervention for the needs of special populations

• Compare the use of the cloud, logic branch and ambitious target tree to their corresponding TOC thinking tool. In your opinion, are they more or less effective? Does it make any difference?

• Appraise the position taken by Suerken (2010) regarding the core conflict in education and "what to change." Do you agree? If so or if not, why?

DB6

For this week, you will make two posts. One post on Chapter 29 and one for Chapters 30, 31, or 32.

Select one of the following for the Chapter 29 discussion post. Respond to at least three other posts.

• Pick one of the obstacles or barriers to TOC adoption identified by Ricketts (2010) that your believe is particularly relevant for PSTS and discuss in more detail.

• Discuss the assertion by Ricketts (2010) regarding the incompatibility of high utilization with high productivity with regard to enterprise oscillation. Do you agree or disagree with the author's proposed solution? Why or why not?

• Compare and contrast the getting started approaches advocated by Ricketts (2010) from the practitioner, researchers, and student perspectives.

Select one of the following for Chapters 30, 31, or 32 discussion post. Respond to at least three other posts.

• What is the warranty trap as framed by Klapholz and Klarman? (2010). Provide a perspective.

• Evaluate the position of Klapholz and Klarman (2010) on unlimited support service and their proposed solution.

• Select one or two of the proposed policies and measurements suggested by Klapholz and Klarman (2010) and critique.

• Assume one of the perspectives described by Wadhwa (2010) and provide additional support or objection rationale for the undesirable effects.

• Critique the 5FS example provided by Wadhwa (2010) for patient flow through health systems. Do you agree or disagree with the approach? Why?

• Review the S&T Diagram in Appendix A for Chapter 31. Give an assessment of its viability and accuracy. Argue for against the following statement: "The global goal of healthcare is to treat more patients, better, sooner, now and in the future" (Wright, 2010, p. 958).

• Provide a perspective on Wright's assertion that healthcare facilities possess a strong silo management culture. How does this compare with business and industry culture?

• Evaluate Wright's (2010) proposed solution of initiatives geared toward the "process unit" level together with standardized critical thinking processes, communication skills, and working practices. Address the issue of socialized medicine as a potential solution to national healthcare and compare to Wright's (2010) presentation of the core conflict. Are these compatible or incompatible? Why?

• Assess and evaluate the adverse event analysis commonly practiced by healthcare facilities and compare it to POOGI and the basic assumptions of TOC.

DB7

For this week, Selectone of the following and respond to at least three other posts.

• In your own words, discuss how you would describe the difference between TOC, lean, and six sigma to someone who had never heard of them.

• Compare and contrast the SDAIS model with the DMAIC model used by six sigma proponents. How would you explain the similarities and differences?

• Discuss the five principle of lean compared to the five focusing steps of TOC. How does each identify value?

• What is a complex system? How does Covington (2010) define it? How would you define it?

• Discuss the similarities between the three case studies presented in Chapter 3 other than the TOC approach.

• Critique the following statement: "Some complex systems take years and perhaps decades to begin to shift their thinking and behavior...The best we can do for the complex system is to be persistent and ready" (Covington, 2010, p. 1090).