ABSTRACT
Mathematical model is the name given to a family of tools designed to help solve managerial, planning, and design problems in which the decision maker must allocate scarce (or limited) resources among various activities to optimize a measurable goal. The basic characteristics of a problem that can be solved through mathematical modelling and the assumptions required to develop a mathematical model have already been discussed in Chapter 1. A number of different categories of mathematical models have been established in the literature based on the classification tree presented in Chapter 1, for example, linear programming, integer programming, goal programming, and nonlinear programming. The details of these techniques will be discussed later.
