Necessary But Not Sufficient (Paperback)

~ Eliyahu M. Goldratt (Author), Eli Schragenheim (Author), Carol A. Ptak (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

After reading the newspapers and following the sharp oscillations of the stock market, it becomes apparent that hi-tech companies are of a different breed. Never before have the chances of making a fortune been so realistic and never before have large companies been so fragile. What is really going on inside these hi-tech companies? What types of pressures and challenges are they facing? And how do they cope?

Computer software providers, especially the ones that specialize in handling the data needs of organizations, are prime examples of these volatile companies. In the nineties we witnessed their growth from small businesses into multi-billion dollar giants. No wonder investors were attracted.

In 1998 it was easy for such companies to raise as much money as they wanted. But now, investment funds have dried up. Why? And more importantly, is there a way to reverse the trend? This book gives the answers.

About the Author

Eliyahu M Goldratt is the creator of the Theory of Constraints and the author of the bestsellers The Goal, It's Not Luck and Critical Chain. Carol A Ptak is a leading authority in the use of ERP and Supply Chain tools to drive improved bottom line performance, Ms Ptak's expertise is well grounded in over two decades of practical experience as a successful practitioner, consultant and educator in manufacturing operations. Eli Schragenheim is one of the pioneers of TOC and is recognized as an authority in ERP related simulations. He has published several papers in academic and practitioner journals and has delivered hundreds of workshops for managers. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 231 pages
• Publisher: North River Press (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884271706
• ISBN-13: 978-0884271703
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,441 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Who forgot to proof-read?, January 4, 2001

By A Customer

I bought this book after reading The Goal, and It's Not Luck. I found The Goal and It's Not Luck to be very interesting to read. This one left a lot to be desired.

Some of Goldratt's assumptions in Necessary But Not Sufficient seem to be overly simplistic. For instance, he seems to advocate stripping out of mid-market ERP systems everything but production & inventory control. I doubt that too many manufacturing companies would really be beating down the doors of any ERP company who actually did this. He also seems to think that major changes can be made to an ERP system in a couple of weeks. Anyone who has dealt with changes to any software system, no matter how simple the system or how simple the change, knows that is simply not true.

I would like to see some case studies published to back up Goldratt's stories. In all of his books that I have read I have found his implementation successes a bit hard to swallow. I like his theories, but I think that actual case studies would greatly increase his credibility, especially with this book.

But my biggest gripe about this book is this: Who proof-read this thing? I have never read a book with so many typos! I would think that with 3 authors on the cover and a publishing company behind them that at least somebody would have read the thing first! It really got to be annoying to read through all the errors.

Anyways, read The Goal and It's Not Luck and skip this one.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely necessary, January 9, 2003

By	B.Sudhakar Shenoy (India) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a journey of about a year and a quarter into the ERP market through the eyes of a hypothetical company BGSoft and its implementation partner KPI Solutions. Scott the CEO of BGSoft is a visionary who delivers business results for his clients through his ERP software. Lenny the head of Development, Gail his marketing chief and Maggie of KPI are the other key players in this novel.

Like any other technology company BGSoft faces the uphill task of growing 40 % every year if it has to keep the analysts happy and retain its stock price. It is a key player in the ERP market and its customers are primarily Fortune 1000 companies who can afford the investments and fuel the growth that BGSoft is aiming at. Suddenly Scott realizes that most of the big companies have already adopted ERP and their next best bet is to look for mid size companies. If there are no more deer left in the forest then one has to go after the rabbits. Hunting for rabbits needs the same effort and results in lesser meat per win. Can BGSoff continue to grow at the same rate?

Now there is an unusual call from Craig, CEO of Pierco one of BGSoft's largest customers. Thanks to a new Director, his Board has asked him to justify the investment that he has made in ERP. Call it by whatever name or any flavor of the latest technology jargon, the Board wants to know the impact on two important measures - top line and bottom line. The story now takes a very interesting turn, turning away from the routine issues of features, schedules, budgets, bugs, staffing and project management that are characteristic of any ERP company. The primary issue then becomes delivering true business value that customers can get from IT solutions rather than implementing software from leading vendors on fancy technologies.

Once again, it is worthwhile to mention - Top line and Bottom line - what comes in from the customers and what is retained for the shareholders. Get this right or get out of here is the message for all CEOs. BGSoft now sees a paradigm shift - they need to sell value and not just software.

ERP implementations are typically seen as automating data flow across different functions in an organization. True, it enables to break walls within but sadly the rules of the game continue to remain unchanged, defeating the purpose of better information flow. Technology is necessary, but not sufficient is the core theme of this book.

In the process of helping Craig to find justification for his investment in BGSoft' ERP, we get a deep inside view of Pierco's operations. Excess inventory, production bottlenecks and plenty of infighting between functions who are expected to work towards common goals. Performance measures continue to aim at locally optimal solutions ignoring the final impact on customer service.

Scott is quick to introduce the concepts of TOC- Drum-Buffer Rope method and Buffer management in Pierco. This releases forty percent capacity but causes an unexpected problem- plenty of inventory. TOC concept is then extended to distribution and soon across the entire operations of Pierco. Inventory is kept close to the plant and shipments to warehouses are based on replenishment of actual sales. The entire process shifts from "Push" to "Pull". The results are dramatic. Craig is celebrating!

Craig calls on Scott and Maggie with a proposal to extend the solution to all his vendors and clients. Internet technologies would help. He is keen to focus on his business and not worry about software, hardware, upgrades and the hassles of the IT function. If KPI could help him, he is willing to part with half a percent of his revenues for the services to begin with and then it would jump to one percent a year.

Focus on results for the business, and keep the software simple. Do not allow the tendency of adding feature after feature to complicate the ERP. Extend the solution across the entire supply chain to service the end customer as one logical entity. The top line and bottom line would head north, is a very clear message from this book.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not even necessary!, April 5, 2001

By	disappointed reader - See all my reviews

Anxiously awaited, and extremely disappointing work from the authors. Reasons:

A. Inferior content. Neither does the book present a sound theory of enterprise/ B2B software, nor does it do do justice to the intellect and experience of its authors.

For example, why should "Drum Buffer Rope" software be part of the larger enterprise system? Or why companies need enterprise software in the first place? Just because the technologies are there?

Potential readers looking for ground-breaking thoughts in enterprise management and enterprise software are advised to read following previous works by two of the book's authors: 1. "The Haystack Syndrome" by Dr. Eli Goldratt 2. "Management Dilemmas" by Eli Schragenheim

B. Defeats the purpose. Enterprise software users, enterprise software providers and management consultants all risk being led down the wrong path by following superficial advice contained in the book.

For example, isn't it impractical to ask outsiders (enterprise software providers) to ensure that the insiders (enterprise managers) create value for their organizations? Does it mean that management also can be outsourced?

C. Amateurish storyline and poor editing. At a minimum readers should not be denied the pleasure of good reading!

The only value rendered by this book is reminding managers that all their investments, even in software, should have measurable payoff.