Applying the theory of constraints' process management technique to an administrative function at stanley furniture

This article describes the successful application of the five‐step focusing process productivity improvement technique to an administrative function. A component of the theory of constraints, this productivity improvement method has usually been applied in manufacturing settings. The process allows management to identify the critical operations that determine the overall output from both the physical system and the administrative support system. Once identified, bottlenecks are systematically removed, thereby improving the performance of the entire system.