Application of the theory of constraints to an elective course registration system

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Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration, Turkey

Approval Date: 2010

Thesis Language: English

Student: Pınar Üstün

Supervisor: LAMİA ZEYNEP ONAY

Abstract:

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a holistic management philosophy put forward by Eliyahu Goldratt in 1984. The thinking process and improvement tools discussed in this theory are mainly geared to manufacturing environments, however their applicability to service environments has also been shown for private professional service organizations. This study demonstrates that the steps and principles of the TOC can also be applied to non-profit services, such as the elective course registration process described in this thesis. In the case of non-profit organizations, the challenge is to define the performance measures of the TOC, which are Throughput, Inventory, and Operating Expense. This study offers a novel definition for these measurements, and using the principles of the TOC, it identifies the bottleneck and constraints of the elective course registration process. Using this analysis, the study then redesigns the system in order to improve the performance measures of the system.