EM 526 Constraints Management

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Email: jholt@wsu.edu
Home Office Phone: 503-669-6676
WSU Engineering & Technology Management Program

Link to EM 530 Applications in Constraints Management
Link to EM 534 Contemporary Topics in Constraints Management
Link to Constraints Management Certificate from WSU
Link to WEBCT
Link to Current Class Homework Status
Link to Fast CRTs
Link to Fast FRTs
Link to Fast PRTs

 Take EM 526 Constraints Management over the Internet!

Live Sessions in Spring 2010 will be taught by Videostreaming over the Internet (and on two-way video in WSU classrooms in Washington State) Tuesday evenings from 4:15-6:30 PM Pacific Time (January 12 through April 27)

(Need instructions and help with Admissions to WSU and Registration of Courses)

Class Syllabus

Students completing this course in the TOC Thinking Process can receive a Jonah Certificate from TOCICO (the Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization).
EM 526 is the TOC Thinking Process plus much discussion about other TOC topics. This class (with practice afterwards) is sufficient to prepare for the TOCICO Thinking Process Certification Exam.

(See a free Video Stream Introduction to The Theory of Constraints: Constraints Management Overviews)

 

The next offering is Spring 2010 Starting the first week of January.
The live, interactive video streaming portions of the course are broadcast in the evenings weekly using Elluminate academic video services and Angel academic media services.
Students also have significant self-study portion and peer interaction through email.

 

We have had students in the Philippines, Cyprus, Korea, Estonia, India, Mexico, Colombia and Germany as well as most areas of the USA. If you have a high speed connection to the Internet, you can receive this class anywhere.
The live lectures are archived so you can see them at a time that is convenient for you. 

Video Streaming is a good way to learn if you can't be in a live class.
A short video clip The Intuition Trainer  ( a RealPlayer file. Get RealPlayer for free.)

To give you some idea of the content, here is a video file of one of the classes on:
Video: Negative Branch Reservations (a small Centra file downloads to view the file. Login with any valid email address)

All students are challenged to write an evaporating cloud every day. Andres Hurtado commented upon the impact of TOC on his live in his class presentation in our EM 534 class.
Video:  Andres Hurtado's Cloud-a-Day  ( a RealPlayer file. Get RealPlayer for free.)

Spring 2010 will be the 18th offering of EM 526 using Distance Education with over 500 students completing full Thinking Process analyses to learn and apply the logic tools. This course is a combination of class lecture and self-discovery. There is group interaction to heighten the learning process for distance learners. We will use WebCT as the student-class interface. Study materials and abundant resources are available to provide a broad understanding of the Theory of Constraints as its is applied in many different situations. Weekly lectures are available live on-line (or delayed by archived) by streaming video and also through the Interactive Television WHETS (Washington Higher Education Telecommunications System). Text materials, exercises and PowerPoint slides provide extra resources. The text It's Not Luck provides the basis for common, group projects. By teaching a little each week, students have time to develop their understanding and apply or test their new knowledge as they learn.
 

Graduate classes taught over a distance are not as easy as being in a classroom. Communication is often limited to the students ability to talk in the Chat Room during lecture, participation in the class email list or to email/call the instructor and other students. To view the streaming video lectures live, you need a fast Internet connection. The lectures are archived and can be viewed or reviewed later with slower connection speeds. We have had students from all over the world successfully participate in class. You should check your video streaming capability at the links above to see if this type of distance education is suitable for your location.

Course Content: EM 526 Constraints Management focuses on Eli Goldratt's Thinking Processes. Students learn the Thinking Processes by applying them to a complex problem of their own choosing. They analysis the system by logical cause and effect to find the core conflict of the system. They discover breakthrough solutions as new directions for their future. Students validate their solution with a Future Reality Tree (could consider this as the company strategy plan) trimming the negative effects. They also create a step-by-step action plan to overcome all the obstacles in their plan and cause the future to exist in reality.

This course is for students looking for new solutions to unresolved problems or to find ways to implement proven solutions in a complex system. (Students wanting to learn the proven solutions of Drum-Buffer-Rope, Critical Chain Project Management, Replenishment and Supply Chain should take EM 530 Applications in Constraints Management).

Students who have completed both EM 526 and EM 530 can enroll in EM 534 Contemporary Topics in Constraints Management multiple times to keep up-to-date with the most current TOC materials. A Certificate in Constraints Management is also available. See details at: http://www.engrmgt.wsu.edu/Overview/empCert.html
 

EM 526 Constraints Management is a course intended for graduate engineers pursuing a masters degree in Engineering Management. Others in different degree granting programs may apply. The minimum requirements for admission to the EM 526 Constraints Management course are:

• An undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university.
• A 3.0 or equivalent undergraduate GPA (or approval from the instructor Dr. Holt)
• A serious interest in learning the Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes to solve complex, systemic problems.

Note: Qualified undergraduates can enroll in EM 426 Constraints Management at the undergraduate level.

There will be a class size limit for combined EM 526 and EM 426. Those enrolling in EM 526 receive preference.

Course Documents
Class Syllabus

Real Player Video Conflict Resolution Presentation 
(a RealPlayer video stream of a presentation to an Industrial Engineering Conference in Monterrey Mexico Fall 2003)
Worksheet for Conflict Resolution Presentation
Slides to Accompany Conflict Resolution Presentation

Real Player Video Presentatation Avoiding Erroneous Conclusions
PowerPoint Slides Avoiding Erroneous Conclusions

Connecting to the DrHoltList for Class Email Discussion

A long list of other Sources of TOC Information
Formal Organizations or groups:
TOC International Certification Organization TOC Professional Registration
TOC World a unbiased TOC source by Antonio Diaz
Goldratt Marketing Source of Supplies and Info
TOC for Education TOC for Elementary to High School Education and Administration
TOC for InterCultural Dialogue Using TOC to Communicate across Boundaries
Goldratt Schools Place for commercial eduction in TOC
TOC Thinkers is a thought provoking TOC blog
Rational Systems being really Socratic
Iowa State's TOC Program
Consultants in no particular order:
Viable Vision Video
autoSocratic News Letter
Guide to Implementing TOC
The Goal Institute
Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute Home Page
TOC Goldratt Institute UK/Scotland/Wales
TOC Goldratt Mexico
TOC-Lean Institute-UK
The TOC Center Home Page
Vector Strategies Implementing DBR/CCPM/Replenishment all together
Chesapeake Consulting
Afinitus Group Consulting
TOC Solutions
TOC Utah
Constraints Management Group Home page
Crazy About Constraints Page
Bill Dettmer's Goal Systems Page
Larry Leach's Advanced Projects Inc.
Frank Patrick's Page Focused Performance
Deming and Goldratt (System of Profound Knowledge)
Tony Rizzo Product Development Institute
The Science of Business
WWW.TOCWorkshop.Com is a provider of TOC material on-line for a fee
TOC Software Links:
Spherical Angle - CCPulse (Critical Chain Software)
ProChain (TOC based software)
Realization Software (Multi Project Critical Chain based software)
Synchrono DBR/Simplified DBR software provider
Manugistics Distributors of OPT (TOC based software)
Transformation Logic Tree Software (TLT) Free Logic Tree Drawing Software
Flying Logic Software that resizes and relocates entities; includes confidence factors.
Gliffy-on-Line Software to create and share your logic trees on line for cheap.
Mindjet Software to create TOC trees (some templates available)
Inspiration Software to create TOC Trees.

If you want success, remember to because

PS. Thanks to

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