Constraints management: What is the theory?

A number of attempts have been made to develop theories in operations management (OM) (e.g. trade-off theory by Skinner, customer-contact model by Chase and Tansik, product-process matrix by Hayes and Wheelwright). Researchers in OM acknowledge that there is no widely-accepted theory in which OM rests or which serves as a unified OM theory to integrate existing theory-like principles or informal theories. Constraints management (CM) has been developed over the past 20 years by consultants and practitioners but has received little attention from OM researchers. The authors believe that constraints management may serve as a broad theory within operations that will allow integration of a great deal of existing OM research. The main objectives of this paper are to propose a construct, throughput orientation, discuss its core dimensions, and develop a theoretical model of CM. The paper also suggests several hypotheses that might be empirically tested to establish CM as a recognized theory in the field of operations management. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.