The Quantitative management perspective, its contributions and limitations.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 765.

Quantitative Management (also known as Operations Research) offers a systematic and scientific approach to problem solving and decision making in complex environments and situations of uncertainty and conflict. The discipline is characterized by a search for an optimal (best) answer for a problem by using quantitative (numerical) models. The use of mathematical models enables a decision maker to better understand the problems facing him/her and provides a tool for making informed and reasoned judgments.

The quantitative approach has contributed directly to management decision making in the areas of planning and control. For instance, when managers make budgeting, scheduling, quality control, and similar decisions, they typically rely on quantitative techniques. The availability of sophisticated computer software programs to aid in developing models, equations, and formulas has made the use of quantitative techniques somewhat less intimidating for managers, although they must still be able to interpret the results.

The main limitation of the quantitative approach is that many management problems especially those that involves human behavior cannot be solved mathematically and can not be modeled