In small business settings, banks, factories or even in the farm, some variables should be managed adequately and effectively to achieve set objectives using the available resources. Managers always play the role of analyzing the prevailing conditions and situations. They later come up with strategies and options for evaluating, coordinating, and implementing critical decisions. Research methods evolve just as the business world does. The technological changes, especially in communication and information, have led to essential research in structural and institutional management. Globalization has led to strategic changes in corporate and economic sense of undertaking business and making management changes. The following study identifies the essential quantitative techniques for making strategic management decisions in the world of business. Quantitative research involves the study and analysis of data in the form of numbers in their original plans that can be interpreted and analyzed (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015).
Quantitative techniques are essential in making business and management decisions today. Any modern business setting whether private or government need to have a management system that allows the application of quantitative techniques to make strategic decisions reliably and confidently. For example, in accounting management, the accountants use financial information to make decisions. An organization’s economic status allows economic make quantitative decisions while the marketing departments make decisions using customer feedback on product designs and preferences (Hair, 2015). The human resource management makes strategic decisions based on employee information in the company.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The entire business management system involves the use of quantitative information decisively and appropriately. The managers thus are needed to have the required techniques and analyzing methods to undertake quantitative research. Today as organizational problems become complex and varied, managers deal with organization problems ranging from strategic to basic issues. Quantitative techniques are helpful in areas with serious strategic problems. For instance, businesses are always the first to be affected when the government makes policy changes. Secondly, increase in competition means that business must make strategic decisions after undertaking quantitative research on their weak areas (Swift & Piff, 2014). For instance, Amazon undertakes constant surveys to understand the needs and demands of customers. The success of Wal-Mart in opening branches worldwide because of its receptive strategic decisions made after years of quantitative research in business opportunities and customers care.
In quantitative research, the data is processed statistically into understandable information for decision-making. Useful statistics thus makes it easy for large sets of data to be identified and measured. Quantitative techniques are critical in fulfilling some research goals such as product testing, development of new products, understanding customer satisfaction and needs as well as market sizing through structured surveys (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). The useful tools of collecting data include:
Surveys
Quantitative surveys make use of closed-ended questions that respondents are required to answer such as ranking and product ratings. Sometimes, the surveys provide answers for respondents to select. Respondents thus are asked to make choices thus enabling the researcher to generalize the data outcomes. The use of survey is effective when carrying out research that covers a huge number of respondents.
Interviews
They are important tools for collective quantitative data in a structured setting. The researchers thus prepare a set of questions that respondents are given or asked. In quantitative data collection, interviews can be carried out through telephone interviews, online interviews, face-to-face interviews, and computer-generated interviews. Using quantitative techniques is advantageous because the methods are precise and the scale of reliability is high. The data collected is easily controlled through research designing and effective sampling. Further quantitative gathering of data allows for causality statements, which are essential in understanding products and phenomena (McNeil, Frey & Embrechts, 2015). Other attributes of quantitative techniques include the use of measurable data, use of alternative methods to reach research goals, data reliability, statistical and econometric configuration and use of appropriate sampling designs.
The future of quantitative techniques in strategic decision-making is highly dependent on the evolving world of technology. Today, more organizations are relying highly on technological platforms such as social media to carry out business and seek more customers. Use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram to market business and products means that researchers face the challenge of meeting new demands that come with technological innovations (Swift & Piff, 2014). Further, computer generated support systems are aiding managers in making critical decisions. Use of such programs enables the use of wide varieties of data to form new ideas and decisions.
Entrepreneurs and business managers thus are required to be innovative in the application of knowledge and skills when making essential decisions. Applying quantitative techniques on critical decisions requires the management to have up to date and reliable statistical information into published and unpublished statistical data. In making critical management decisions, published data such as bank statements, stock reports and employee’s data cannot be ignored. Economic surveys, stock exchange rates, small-scale businesses surveys, population census, product prices and average incomes enable organizations to make strategic decisions (Swift & Piff, 2014). In conclusion, quantitative techniques foster the analysis of business conditions and situations to come up with strategies and options for evaluating, coordinating and implementing critical decisions.
References
Hair, J. F. (2015). Essentials of Business Research Methods . ME Sharpe.
McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., & Embrechts, P. (2015). Quantitative Risk Management: Concepts, Techniques and Tools . Princeton University Press.
Swift, L., & Piff, S. (2014). Quantitative methods: for business, management and finance . Palgrave Macmillan.
