5 important Limitation of Operations Research

5 important Limitation of Operations Research:

There are a number of limitations of operations research which may be stated as follows:

1. In the quantitative analysis of operations research, certain assumptions and estimates are made for assigning quantitative values to factors involved. If such estimates are wrong, the result would be- equally misleading.

2. Many management problems do not lend themselves to quantitative measurement and analysis. Intangible factors of any problem concerning human behaviour cannot be quantified accurately and all the patterns of relationships among the factors may not be covered. Accordingly, the outward appearance of scientific accuracy through the use of numbers and equations becomes unrealistic.

3. The quantitative methods of operations research are many cases costly, elaborate and sophisticated in nature. Although complex problems are fit for analysis by tools of operations research, relatively simple problems have no economic justification for this type of quantitative analysis.

4. A knowledge of some concepts of mathematics and statistics is prerequisite for adoption of quantitative analysis by the managers. According to the present training and experience of most managers, the actual use of these tools may be confined to a few cases.

5. Operations research is not a substitute for the entire process of decision making and it does not relieve the managers of their task of decision making. In one phase of decision making viz., selection of best solution through the evaluation of alternatives, operations research comes into the picture.

Managers have to prepare the ground-work for the introduction of operations research through several steps in decision making viz., diagnosis of problem, analysis of problem and development of alternatives; and even after the selection of best solution by operations research, managers have to put the decision into- effect and to institute a system of follow-up.