The Goal Analysis

Each time Alex Rogo speaks with Jonah he is able to learning something new about operations management and how to run his plant facility. Although Alex is fairly well-educated, he seems to have immense trouble running a profitable plant. Luckily, Alex runs into his old physics professor by chance at the O’Hare International Airport, and is able to extract some much-needed wisdom so that he can prevent his plant from shutting down due to its unprofitable nature.

Alex and Jonah first meet completely by chance at an airport lounge. Alex explains to Jonah what exactly he does with his business, but Jonah is not impressed. The key point during this first meeting is that Jonah forces Alex to stop being complacent and accepting things just because people say that they are true. For example, Jonah believes that Alex is too stuck in accepting ideas and definitions for what they are, rather than for what they mean. Additionally, Alex keeps throwing out the idea of robots “increasing productivity.” However, when Jonah asks Alex what “productivity” actually means, Alex stumbles and throws out a vague number for which he does not grasp the significance. This number, as Jonah demonstrates is ultimately insignificant because it does not affect the company’s overall bottom line or goals. Fittingly, the meeting ends when Jonah questions Alex on the overall concept of productivity as it relates to the goals of Alex’s company. Unfortunately, Alex does not even know what the overall goals of his company are which completely limits his ability to effectively manage his plant.

When Alex finds his old address book and contacts Jonah for the second time, Alex finally believes that he has an understanding of the goal of a company: to make money. At this point in time, however, Alex does not understand how different measurements tell different aspects of the story and that certain measurements are irrelevant for certain processes. Essentially,