Title

Making organizational problems visible using systems tools

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1999

Abstract

A case study is described involving a large firm that adopted a change program during a slack period to improve cycle time. During the firm's next peak period, pressure mounted to meet cost and cycle time targets, and activity and effort soared, but performance dropped, morale plummeted, and the change program itself was perceived as the cause of all the problems. At that point, the use of causal loop diagrams and other systems tools helped make the underlying causes of poor performance visible. Once the real causes were known effective solutions were readily developed.

Publisher's Statement

© 1999 American Production & Inventory Control Society, Inc. Publisher's version of record: https://search.proquest.com/docview/199930828?accountid=28041

Publication Title

Production and Inventory Management Journal

Link to Full Text
COinS