The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

This is a great book which causes the reader to examine all process as how it relates to constraints. The lesson is to ease the constraint and certainly don't be a constraint. The lesson is done in a story form and the danger it that it's too subtle or else would be missed without a discussion with someone else who is knowledgeable in the book.
There are also discussions about utilizing excess capacity and only calculating the variable costs without consideration for fixed and it is a compelling case.
The side story about his wife is superfluous, a distraction and waste of time, but otherwise a great book.

An old boss of mine at Amazon.com gave me a signed copy of this book to read about lean processing. Obviously, this book is a classic. What people fail to mention in their journey with the main character on lean manufacturing in desperate times, is the love story that unfolds in between the pressure of capitalism in a small town. While not a book to actually get specific action items, it does lay out a rather nice overview on concepts to look into for improvements at one's workplace. The story is nicely laid out in a narrative format in which our main character is "learned" through a zen like mentor, who dribbles out nuggets of information for him to sort through and implement at his factory. While this spreads the information out, with no real concentration of ideas for quick reference, it does build for suspenseful reading. If that is enough, you will also find out soon enough if the main character can save his factory, while keeping his marriage intact? The stress can be overwhelming at points, but a good enough read.

Book in excellent condition. I ordered for a used book and it was as good as a new book delivered to us.

Though geared to an industrial environment, this book teaches how to think when in need to improve processes. Makes great introductory reading for business process management professionals.

Goldratt's examination of throughput and cultural belief issues in a manufacturing environment are highly informative for anyone involved with a product slated for manufacturing. He illustrates his concepts with adeptly conceived metaphors and parables which makes grasping them much easier. In fact I would even go so far as to recommend this book to those involved in service industries, where his concepts of throughput and bottlenecks may be applied with great utility.
Additionally, on the financial side Goldratt presents models for cost of inventory which I found illuminating, although I am more concerned with the throughput side of the operation.
An excellent easy read I recommend to almost anyone in business.