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Heuristic Models: Mapping the Maze for Management
Hinkle, Charles L., and Alfred A. Kuehn
10/1  (Fall 1967): 59-68

This article focuses on the usefulness of heuristic models. Certain aspects of the application of mathematical models to business problems are presented here, with particular emphasis on the merits of heuristic approaches as aids to decision making. The discussion is directed toward those executives and researchers who have more than just a casual or academic interest in using models and computers in problem solving and embodies considerations of reality, efficiency, and costs. The opportunities created by combining models and machines are legion and will constitute the focus of this article. Danger inheres in choosing the computer hardware, in developing appropriate models to help interpret the problem, and last, but certainly not least, in hiring the people who will develop the models and determine the quality of the output. Closely related to the hazards posed by unqualified personnel and inadequate problem definition is the production of reams of output which covers in minute detail every aspect of the problem, print-outs of so many numbers that meaningful analysis is either impossible or extremely difficult.

 

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