Theory of Constraints: A Bibliometric Study of Scientific Production Presented at the Brazilian Congress of Costs (1994-2008)

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to analyze the scientific approach with the theme Theory of Constraints, presented at Congresso Brasileiro de Custos (CBC) from 1994 to 2008, through a bibliometric research. The TOC was developed by Eliyahu Goldratt from the 70`s to help in solving the problems of management and cost control in manufacturing environments and continuous improvement in performance expected from any organization. Through documentary research in 47 papers on the subject presented in all editions of CBC, the results show that: almost all the papers have two authors, two-thirds of them are male, the Southeast and South of Brazil contain 92, 6% of the papers, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro(UFRJ) was the institution with most recurrent and the most prolific authors were: Samuel Cogan, Joanília Neide de Sales Cia and Anselmo Rocha Neto, the most frequently discussed approaches attempting to compare or integrate the premises of TOC with other methods of control and cost management, the research strategies adopted were more literature and case study, most of the papers were intended exclusively descriptive or theoretical, the average number of citations per article was 15.7 and the reference category most cited were books. The concentration of references in books, the limited consultations in journals, theses and dissertations and conference proceedings show a conservative and conventional positioning of the authors and an incipient stage of research, addressing the theme Theory of Constraints.