Management
Management thinkers have established a school of management thought where managers learn about good management practices. One of the schools of management thought is quantitative school. Management thinkers in the quantitative school assume that today's managers should apply quantitative tools and methodologies in making decisions. For example, managers use mathematical models such as capital budgeting models to solve organizational problems. A point to understand in solving organizational problems is that experts analyze the problem using the mathematical model until they arrive at a rational solution. An important point to note is that the management thought was established due to the changing business paradigm, hence a need for a different management approach. All business paradigms require a specific or a suitable management approach that would bring economic gain. The quantitative school of management thought has a valuable contribution to the following areas;
Operation- These areas of business activity can benefit most in that managers use situational tools and techniques to plan operations. For instance, assume a manager is planning a large construction project. The manager will use a quantitative analysis technique to achieve a detailed quantification. Note that before planning, the manager needs exhaustive knowledge to understand the complexity associated with construction projects (Thaheem et al. 2012). Since a construction project requires complex decision making, the quantitative management will help the manager make a reasonable decision using mathematical modeling and optimization.
Production- This area of business activity will also benefit from the quantitative approach. During production, managers should decide on the use of resources to make finished goods. Note that making finished products requires a complex production process where specific standards should be met (Bagshaw, 2019). A point to be is that managers face challenges in production planning. They must ensure the best quality and quantity and manage the resources effectively. Again, there are many uncertainties and managers may be unable to predict what the future holds in terms of efficient production. Despite the business environmental challenges, managers can make an effective decision using quantitative analysis (Bagshaw, 2019).Thus, this area of business activity will benefit from the quantitative school in that managers will use techniques and tools to make favorite decisions and solve complex problems. For example, linear programming is an important model that will help managers in planning. During the production process, managers can use linear programming to decide on products, technology, production duration, production capacity, distribution challenges, and more.
The quantitative school of management thought assists in addressing operational and production problems. However, other areas cannot benefit. For example, the area of human resources cannot benefit as it deals with assessing whether people have the right skills and qualifications. Note that the quantitative management is based on mathematical models. The latter is effective in making decisions and solving problems (Bagshaw, 2019). However, when it comes to its human resource, the quantitative model cannot predict the behavior. Note that it is the role of human resource managers to correct behaviors using subjective measures. However, quantitative management uses an objective approach- meaning that it focuses on measurements and analysis (Bagshaw, 2019). It is difficult for a quantitative approach to address human resources unless it is combined with qualitative techniques.
To conclude, quantitative management will benefit some business affairs such as operational and production since managers will use tools and techniques to make decisions. However, when it comes to the management of people, it is difficult for the quantitative model to address systematic problems that arise from human resource planning.
References
Bagshaw, K. B. (2019). A Review of Quantitative Analysis (QA) in Production Planning
Decisions Using the Linear Programming Model. American Journal of Operations
Research, 9(06), 255.
Thaheem, M. J., De Marco, A., & Barlish, K. (2012, June). A review of quantitative analysis
techniques for construction project risk management. In Proceedings of the Creative
Construct Conference (pp. 656-667).
