Reference no: EM132308170

The theory of constraints (TOC) suggests that any operational system is limited in its attempt to achieve its goals by a small number of constraints. TOC can be seen as the groundwork for most of the ‘process oriented’ thinking today. A number of principles emerged from the TOC namely:

1. An hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour lost for the entire system.

2. An hour lost at a non-bottleneck stage is a mirage.

3. A production system in which everyone is working all the time is very inefficient.

4. Activating a non-bottleneck resource to its maximum is an act of maximum stupidity.

5. Most factors critical to running your system successfully cannot be determined ahead of time

Choose one TOC principle from the list above (or another principle from the TOC that you found through additional research):

Explain in detail what the principle really means, i.e., what are the lessons associated with that principle.

Provide one example of application of that principle in a healthcare setting, indicating common misconceptions and/or ways in which the principle is implemented.