Goals and Constraints

Abstract

In the previous chapter an allocation problem is cited in which a single objective function is to be optimised, subject to meeting certain prespecified constraints. In examples of this type the specification of the goal appears to be clear: the manager is required to maximise the utility expressed in the objective function, and if the problem is amenable to solution through the use of an appropriate algorithm, the manager is expected to follow the rules of the algorithm in order to obtain the solution to his problem. If the problem is well defined, if the objective function and the constraints are specified, and if an algorithm for a solution is given, the decision process becomes highly prescriptive and impersonal, and the outcome is then expected to be the same, whoever is put in charge of the managerial function.