Transportation Model: A Qualitative Solution Tool for Achieving Institutional and Managerial Goals in the 21st Century (Published)
Managerial activities have become complex and it is necessary to make right decision in avoidance of heavy losses. Whether a manufacturing unit or service organization, the resources have to be utilized maximally in an efficient manner otherwise, the erratic future is clouded with uncertainty thus decision making – a crucial activity – cannot be made on a trial and error basis or by using a thumb rule approach. Today several scientific management techniques are available to solve managerial problems and use of these techniques helps managers become explicit about their objectives, providing additional information to select an optimal decision in the 21st century. The quantitative technique is a scientific approach to managerial decision making. The successful use of quantitative technique for management could help organizations in solving complex problems on time, with greater accuracy and in the most economical way. This work examined transportation model of quantitative techniques for management. The definition of the term management and transportation was reviewed, the role of quantitative analysis and method for solving problems in management identified, the model development and management science techniques itemized, basic feasible solutions for non-degeneracy model and transshipment model where the study saw Organization goals as an action that facilitate planning, motivate and inspire employees’ management as a process of getting things done through the efforts of other people and transportation model as the determinant for resource allocation in existing business structures. The work argued that, managers must be aware of the quantity of available supplies, the quantities demanded and location to find the cost of transporting one unit of commodity from place to another. Conclusions were drawn and recommendation made that the optimal solution to a transportation problems must consist of integer values for the decision variables as long as all supply and demand values are integers.
Keywords: 21st Century., Managerial Goals, Quantitative Analysis, Transportation Model