 Books
A series of books that were a part of my formative years that I loved to read were titled Choose Your Own Adventure. These books challenged the reader to make a decision at different points in time and depending on the choices made, the story would have a different ending.
While attending both undergraduate and graduate school, there was more than enough reading for me. However, after I received my M.S. Degree from Pace, I felt a learning void and began to enjoy reading business books. And, while at Columbia, there were more books to read. Over the last 13 years, I've enjoyed some of those books. Therefore, I am dedicating this section to my book recommendations.
Sincerely,
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Current Recommendation
 The Goal
by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
Average Customer Review: 
I read The Goal as a part of the required reading for my Operations Management class at Columbia Business School. I actually bought the audio version of the book so I can "read" it while commuting to work. I have to say, that I really enjoyed this book; it is not your typical business book, but rather a novel with business concepts.
You follow the story of Alex Rogo, a plant manager facing operation challenges. Alex's plant is neither productive nor profitable and has three months to show an improvement or the plant will be shut down. As you follow Alex through both professional and personal challenges, lessons in operations are sprinkled in between. The examples where very simple yet so clear, e.g., the match stick game he plays at a camping event with his son. And what would an operations book be without discussing bottlenecks. After you read this book, whenever you encounter a bottleneck (or someone really slow on a line), you will call it Herbie. The only negative I have about this book it that it tends to drag toward the end. Overall, "The Goal" is a very enjoyable read with very good operational concepts; it changes the way I look at things.
For a quick review of the concepts in this book, click here
For a chapter by chapter summary, click here.
Click this sentence to see some of my notes from the earlier chapters in the book.
Goal: To Make Money
Measurements: Net Profit, ROI, Cash Flow
Throughput is the rate at which the system generates money through sales (not production). Throughput is the money coming in.
Inventory is all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things which it intends to sell. Inventory is the money currently inside the system. Inventory is money.
Operational Expense is all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput. Operational Expense is the money we have to pay out to make throughput happen.
To achieve the goal we need to "increase throughput while simultaneously reducing both inventory and operating expense".
Increased efficiency ' increased inventory ' increased cost ' cost per parts down? No, more inventory is adding to operational expense ' Sales Volume matters
All employee time, whether it's direct or indirect, idle time or operating time, or whatever-is operational expense.
If something helps turn inventory into throughput, then it is operational expense. If you intend to sell something, then it is inventory.
The goal is not to reduce operational expense by itself. The goal is not to improve one measurement in isolation. The goal is to reduce operational expense and reduce inventory while simultaneously increase throughput
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Other Recommendations
Related Links
The Goal @ MAAW.info
The Goal in 885 Words
Related Quotes
"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse,"
- Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
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