Goal

CD 17-1

CHAPTER 17 GOAL PROGRAMMING

Learning objectives After completing this chapter, you should be able to 1. Identify the kinds of managerial problems that goal programming can address. 2. Describe how a goal programming model differs from other kinds of management science models. 3. Discuss the differences between the weighted goal programming approach and the preemptive goal programming approach. 4. Determine which of these approaches seems more appropriate for a given situation. 5. Formulate and apply a weighted goal programming model from a description of the problem. 6. Formulate and apply a preemptive goal programming model from a description of the problem. In Chapters 2–8, you have seen various kinds of management science models that can address a wide variety of managerial problems. However, all these models share one common characteristic. They all have a single objective function that expresses the overall measure of performance for the problem. For example, the objective might be to maximize total profit. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to encapsulate management’s objectives into one overall measure of performance in this way. The objectives might be so disparate that there is no common basis for measuring progress toward these objectives. In this kind of situation, management might instead set numeric goals for the various objectives and then seek a solution that makes as much progress as possible toward all these goals. This is the kind of problem that goal programming addresses. The chapter begins with a case study that demonstrates how this kind of situation can arise. You will see three members of top management championing three very different goals for a project. The CEO agrees that all three goals are important and then mediates to assess their relative importance. You also will see how the head of the Management Science Department works with top management to elicit the kind of input needed to apply goal programming. Goal...