Quantification, Rationality, And Management Decisions

Abstract

Quantitative approaches have long dominated the management literature and influenced practice.  But why??  The emphasis on quantification constitutes part of intended rationality.  Yet it is not mathematical elegance or logical rigor that ultimately shapes the course of decision and final outcomes, but rather the experience of quantification and the use of the numbers. Building on classical sources from Aristotle to Herbert Simon, and Diesing’s five rationality types, this essay positions quantification as one determinant of performance, within an overall model framework employing rationality as an intervening variable.