ABSTRACT
Operational research is concerned with profitability. It determines which operations are profitable and which are not and how operations can be combined to make the maximum use of common resources. A manager’s mind performs four main functions. One is identifying and analysing problems. The second is marshalling the relevant facts, the third is drawing conclusions from them and the fourth is taking decisions in the light of those conclusions. The degree to which future management will be superseded by the computer is therefore going to be determined by the degree to which men are prepared to obey machines, and the degree to which they find it more convenient and beneficial to do so. Statistics is another science which may appear to some to be an unfathomable mystery. Statistical sampling theory is also widely used in quality control. Statistics consist of numbers of units: units of a product, units of money, units of weight or any other unit of convenience.
