--- product_id: 3573962 title: "Critical Chain" price: "£19.79" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/3573962-critical-chain store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Critical Chain **Price:** £19.79 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Critical Chain - **How much does it cost?** £19.79 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/3573962-critical-chain) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Following the worldwide success of his bestseller THE GOAL, Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt wrote CRITICAL CHAIN to introduce his groundbreaking approach to managing projects. In this compelling business novel, Professor Silver and his students explore ways to deliver projects on time, within budget, and without compromising the original scope. They learn how to plan single projects better, overcome the shortcomings of forecasts by managing buffers, and lay the foundation for improving project flow. Goldratt continued to analyze project delays in countless implementations over the next couple of decades. His revelations were genuinely eye-opening. Often, the leading causes for missing deadlines are not unexpected delays but hidden elements in how we manage our projects—elements that are essentially obstacles to project flow. His rules for successfully managing any multi-project environment were meant to be the subject of his next book; however, he didn’t have the chance to complete it. In honor of his legacy and to advance his insights, his daughter, Dr. Efrat Goldratt-Ashlag, wrote the book GOLDRATT'S RULES OF FLOW for him. Review: Several Moderate "AHA"s Make This Book Valuable - Eli Goldratt continues his application of Theory of Constraints (TOC) to various business processes by focusing on project management with this latest business novella. TOC is a method of creating ongoing improvement in operational processes, as well as a general management philosophy. Goldratt introduced this theory to world in his best-selling book THE GOAL, where he applied the principles to a manufacturing setting. In CRITICAL CHAIN, Goldratt builds upon the teachings found in THE GOAL. He quickly describes of constructs of TOC, while spending more time addressing some specific phenomenon of project management versus process management. This is where the "Aha"s come into play. Goldratt's characters debate and learn why projects often run overdue and over budget, or finish with less completed than originally specified. The characters debate critical path vs. non-critical path tasks, early vs. late start, resource conflicts, safety buffers in each task, negotiating with subcontractors and suppliers, as well as the erroneous progress accounting/measurement techniques that give everyone a false sense of progress toward completion. Each of these topics were useful in challenging the conventional wisdom of project management. Each presented some new techniques for managing projects more aggressively. In my job, I indirectly manage a large number of construction project managers, and this was useful in understanding some of the reasons we struggle to deliver on time and on budget. For those of you looking for the same enlightenment that you probably derived from THE GOAL, you will be mildly disappointed. For those of you who have not yet read THE GOAL, I highly recommend reading it, because it will provide the foundation material (TOC) in much more depth and clarity. For me, TOC completes the loop of operational concepts that I have pondered over my career, namely how to improve processes and improve overall organizational productivity, while eliminating "fire fighting" and bottlenecks in production. CRITICAL CHAIN furthers the progress of this thinking relative to a project vs. a process environment. Review: Great Book on Theory of Constraints and Critical Chain - This is the book to start with on Critical Chain (i.e. Critical Path with resource considerations). Eliyahu Goldratt was one of the founders in this field and this book is the logical starting point for learning about Critical Chain project management. This is written like a novel so you can easily finish the book within a few hours if you are a normal reader. The concepts seem to be easier to grasp since they are repeated within the pages a few times and that most ideas are backed up by examples with projects examples from people in the book Pros: Easy read since it is written like a Novel Critical Chain is an interesting project management style Well though out and well executed with good examples. Cons: Critical Chain is shown as the ultimate savior to projects, even though there are issues that this method contains Sometimes we spend a lot of time reading the story without any business insights Overall this is great books and a good starting point for Critical Chain Managment ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #56,155 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #354 in Business Management (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,224 Reviews | ## Images ![Critical Chain - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71-DotAVOFL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Several Moderate "AHA"s Make This Book Valuable *by K***R on December 15, 2001* Eli Goldratt continues his application of Theory of Constraints (TOC) to various business processes by focusing on project management with this latest business novella. TOC is a method of creating ongoing improvement in operational processes, as well as a general management philosophy. Goldratt introduced this theory to world in his best-selling book THE GOAL, where he applied the principles to a manufacturing setting. In CRITICAL CHAIN, Goldratt builds upon the teachings found in THE GOAL. He quickly describes of constructs of TOC, while spending more time addressing some specific phenomenon of project management versus process management. This is where the "Aha"s come into play. Goldratt's characters debate and learn why projects often run overdue and over budget, or finish with less completed than originally specified. The characters debate critical path vs. non-critical path tasks, early vs. late start, resource conflicts, safety buffers in each task, negotiating with subcontractors and suppliers, as well as the erroneous progress accounting/measurement techniques that give everyone a false sense of progress toward completion. Each of these topics were useful in challenging the conventional wisdom of project management. Each presented some new techniques for managing projects more aggressively. In my job, I indirectly manage a large number of construction project managers, and this was useful in understanding some of the reasons we struggle to deliver on time and on budget. For those of you looking for the same enlightenment that you probably derived from THE GOAL, you will be mildly disappointed. For those of you who have not yet read THE GOAL, I highly recommend reading it, because it will provide the foundation material (TOC) in much more depth and clarity. For me, TOC completes the loop of operational concepts that I have pondered over my career, namely how to improve processes and improve overall organizational productivity, while eliminating "fire fighting" and bottlenecks in production. CRITICAL CHAIN furthers the progress of this thinking relative to a project vs. a process environment. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great Book on Theory of Constraints and Critical Chain *by C***. on March 1, 2014* This is the book to start with on Critical Chain (i.e. Critical Path with resource considerations). Eliyahu Goldratt was one of the founders in this field and this book is the logical starting point for learning about Critical Chain project management. This is written like a novel so you can easily finish the book within a few hours if you are a normal reader. The concepts seem to be easier to grasp since they are repeated within the pages a few times and that most ideas are backed up by examples with projects examples from people in the book Pros: Easy read since it is written like a Novel Critical Chain is an interesting project management style Well though out and well executed with good examples. Cons: Critical Chain is shown as the ultimate savior to projects, even though there are issues that this method contains Sometimes we spend a lot of time reading the story without any business insights Overall this is great books and a good starting point for Critical Chain Managment ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ New ideas in project management *by K***R on December 8, 2005* This book is actually fiction, although it intended to be used as a instructional manual for implementing a new approach to project management. As a project manager I think the book is very practical and I think his approach would work very well for many projects. However, the theory that Goldratt proposes goes against all of the other commonly used project management tools (Gantt, Critical Path, PERT) that are based on timelines and milestones. The book is written from a common-sense approach (in contrast to the approach used by textbooks) and some of the problems it addresses are: 1. Projects often run over budget but rarely finish under budget 2. Multitasking is actually detrimental to projects 3. Constraints arrise when multiple projects use the same resources 4. The true cost of a project (which Goldratt says is much higher than most think) 5. Negotiations with subcontractors used on a project 6. Net Present Value and payback period are inadequate measurements for the cost of a project Don't be discouraged if you don't understand any of the typical project management jargon. Goldratt does a great job of introducing each concept and describing the basic, underlying concepts. The technical concepts are explained in question-answer form that would be similar to attending a seminar. Lastly, Goldratt uses two types of projects (product development and construction) as examples in this book. However, the concepts and his approach could be applicable to many different types of projects. In my opinion, the determining factor for applicability of Goldratt's approach is the structure of the organization and not the type of project; the less burocratic, the more applicable. ## Frequently Bought Together - Critical Chain - The Goal: 40th Anniversary Edition: A Process of Ongoing Improvement - It's Not Luck --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/3573962-critical-chain](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/3573962-critical-chain) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-06-20*