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The purpose of this paper is to propose and describe a method that uses recurrent problems to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the diagnosis of new product development (NPD) processes and supports the identification of improvement opportunities. The proposed method, called Diagile, is based on recurrent current reality trees (CRTs) and is a new way of building CRTs that includes best project management practices, and the identification and prioritization of improvement opportunities. To support the execution of the method, recurrent problems were identified and a computational tool to aid the diagnosis, a database of improvement opportunities and an automated spreadsheet to prioritize improvement projects were developed.

The proposed method was evaluated through a controlled experiment at a multinational manufacturer of office supplies.

The results achieved confirm that the use of the Diagile method increases the diagnostic efficiency and effectiveness when compared to diagnoses performed by the traditional CRT method.

The validity of the method must be tested on a larger scale, since this work involved only one controlled experiment for this purpose. The experiment involved the participation of postgraduate research assistants, who cannot be considered specialists in the diagnosis of NPD. One could question whether the method will be as helpful for proficient users as well. The authors did not have proficient users available to run the experiment. However, the authors believe that such a specialist would save time in carrying out a diagnosis with Diagile, and also be more effective in validating the diagnosis. However, this assumption could not be tested here and can therefore be considered a limiting factor of the experiment. Nevertheless, the positive results of the evaluations of the companies and users of the two case studies corroborate the statement that the objective of this work was attained.

The greater efficiency and effectiveness provided by the proposed Diagile method was also evident in the identification and prioritization of improvement opportunities. The experimental group drew up a more relevant and coherent list of improvement projects than the control group, and provided documentation for these projects in the form of project charts. The authors believe these results can be of a great impact if implemented by practitioners.

This paper proposes a new way to perform diagnostic of NPD process. In particular, this process is well known to be highly strategic, nevertheless, normally excluded out of improvement initiatives because of its complexity. The diagnostic method proposed is a powerful tool to assist practitioners finding systemic improvement opportunities, expanding the assessment to all dimensions of a business process, e.g. people, technology and process activities.

The paper aims to present a case of integration between process engineering and the thinking process of the theory of constraints (TP‐TOC) through the analysis of an organization's processes, pointing out the complementary aspects between the two theories and their benefits for the organization.

The paper has used an Institution of Higher Education as its case study. The research has started by identifying the processes of the institution and choosing one to model according to the process engineering approach. The process was then analyzed through the elaboration of the current reality tree technique. After the analysis, the evaporating clouds technique was applied in order to breach the assumptions that were avoiding the problems to be solved. Finally, the process has been redesigned based on the results of the previous steps.

The analysis of this case contributes towards understanding and identifying the causes of the current problems in the studied processes, providing a systemic and systematic view through the proposed approach.

The paper proposes an approach that enables a systematic and systemic analysis of organizations' processes through the use of process engineering and the TP‐TOC.

Re‐examines traditional views on change management, in particular the resistance to change, and to suggest alternative views and a practical approach for better managing change. The literature on change management contains numerous prerequisites for successful change, with a predominantly negative view on the issue of resistance to change. Some authors have argued for the positive utility of resistance, but have lamented a lack of management theories which support this view. Describes a management methodology called the theory of constraints (TOC) which views resistance as a necessary and positive force, and we demonstrate how it was applied in a case study involving a bank merger. Reviews how TOC handles the various types of resistance identified in the change management literature, and posit that the TOC framework helps lead and manage change by providing practical guidance on, inter alia, situational assessment, assumption surfacing, conflict resolution, planning and implementation of successful change.

An increasingly utilized framework for implementing the continuous improvement management philosophy is the Theory of Constraints (TOC). Although this systemic managerial approach was initially developed and applied in the manufacturing sector, its underlying philosophy has been expanded to address three basic questions: What to change?; What to change to?; and How to cause the change? Demonstrates how a manager could apply the TOC thinking process (TP) logic tools to answer the first two questions for a small service organization. In regard to the first query, uses a relatively new procedure called the “three‐cloud approach” to determine the core problem or root cause responsible for the majority of the problems currently faced by management. By using this approach, a manager creates a current reality tree (CRT) that uses sufficiency logic to document the cause‐effect relationships responsible for a system’s current state. In regard to the second query, develops another TOC logic tool, a future reality tree (FRT), to help construct and evaluate planned interventions for resolving the core conflict and improving effectiveness. Draws conclusions relative to the feasibility and utility of using TOC TP logic tools to help managers of service organizations improve their overall system performance.

This study aims to investigate the problem of trained employee retention in a highly competitive labor market for a manufacturing facility in the oilfields of West Texas.

This article examines how one manufacturing facility should be able to retain their trained employees by using the logic of Eliyahu M. Goldratt's thinking process.

The thinking process underscores the importance of a systematic process of problem‐solving by pinpointing the problem, determining a workable solution, and implementing the solution. By using this process, an organization would begin by looking for the underlying cause of the problem which produces undesirable effects (UDE) and develop a current reality tree highlighting these UDEs. Then the organization would develop a future reality tree which produces the desired effects.

The list of publications was not exhaustive and were all US publications, which might have limited its usefulness outside the USA.

This paper is a useful source of ideas for training and retention of employees in a competitive labor market.

This study describes in detail an application of the Theory of Constraints (TOC)-based systems thinking approach towards clear and effective communication in a change management exercise. The same is achieved through the example of a large defence organization that is struggling with a multitude of problems in its stores and purchase departments.

It is demonstrated through the case study how five systems thinking tools – Current Reality Tree (CRT), Evaporating Cloud (EC), Future Reality Tree (FRT), Negative Branch Reservation (NBR) and Prerequisite Tree (PRT) – can be applied in overcoming different layers of resistance and for getting the necessary agreement from the stakeholders for a successful change initiative.

The five logical thinking tools helped answer the three questions – “what to change”, “what to change to” and “how to cause the change” (Goldratt, 1990) – satisfactorily and overcome various layers of resistance to get the desired buy-in from the stakeholders for a successful change management exercise.

The cause-and-effect based method presented in this work is generic enough and can be adopted for getting a buy-in in a variety of change management contexts.

This study seeks to investigate the nature and extent of employee retention and turnover for metropolitan police and fire departments.

In order to maximize the system production, the weakest link must be improved and all other links in the processes regulated to the speed of the weakest link. The weakest link is the constraint. In the case of public safety employee retention, there are several reasons given why employment is terminated. In order to increase the number of public safety personnel that are retained, all steps must be examined together to determine the constraint; the core problem for termination. Since the constraint is not always obvious, Goldratt developed the thinking process. This is a series of steps used to locate the constraint, determine the solution, and how to implement the solution. These steps are actually referred to as the thinking process.

Findings suggest that a proper cause and effect process will produce a desired path to change. It was determined how one type of organization could contain employee turnover by using the logic of Goldratt's thinking process.

This procedure is practical and can be applied to any problem anywhere at any time. This allows further research into other settings.

This process underscores the importance for a systematic process of problem‐solving by pin‐pointing the problem, determining a workable solution, and implementing the solution. The key is to begin by looking for the underlying causes of the problem which produces an undesirable effect. Using this structured cause and effect process, a future reality tree is then developed with the desired effect. This research reveals how the Goldratt thinking process can be applied to business problems with multiple variables.

This research is based on an actual situation in which employee retention was a problem for five years. By improving employee retention, additional human resource expenses are significantly reduced.

The aim of the discipline of Operations Management is to gain competitive advantage. One more recent and lesser‐known Operations Management technique that is finding greater acceptance is the Theory of Constraints (TOC). This paper illustrates the use of a specific TOC technique termed “The Thinking Processes” to solve an airline industry case toward improved competitive outcomes.

This paper focuses on organizational change through the business process management approach. While “business process modeling” permits understanding process activities and their activities with other participants, “current reality tree (CRT)” technique promotes the identification of process constraints. The purpose of this study is to compare the results from applying both diagnostic techniques, process modeling, using the business process modeling notation, and root cause analysis, using the CRT.

The comparison is made using a pre-experiment in which two teams conducted diagnoses concomitantly in the information technology management (ITM) process of one unit of the biggest and prestigious higher education institution (HEI) in Brazil.

The modeling technique and the CRT should be considered complementary techniques, since applying one does not diminish or exclude the importance of using the other. Results were compared analyzing which dimensions of the process each technique highlighted: strategy, organization, activity/information and resources.

A possible limitation of this research is that the experiment was conducted in a single process and the result cannot be generalized to other processes.

It may be noted that the main contribution of this study is the presentation of the steps of two techniques for process diagnosis. It is expected that with the reports on diagnoses outcomes, team's assessment and the perception of the managers presented here other improvement teams may use the results of this research as an inspiration to perform process diagnosis, and as basis for decision making to define which technique to use according to the specific needs of process improvement.

The paper stands out the comparison of the technique application's outcomes. This study offers valuable insights to the organizations that are interested in restructuring their processes. It delineates many important benefits of such a diagnosis techniques. It also identifies possible pitfalls and recommends guidelines for the successful conduction of process diagnoses initiatives.