With over 30 years’ experience as a management teacher and consultant, Mike Pidd provides the tools for thinking that will help us to think through the consequences of decisions before we act.
The third edition of Tools for Thinking builds on the successes of the previous two editions. It creates a bridge between the soft and hard (Operations Research) OR schools of thought and provides an empirically based framework in which to place them. Focusing on modelling as an activity, rather than on models and techniques, Mike Pidd shows how models can be employed to explore possible future scenarios and to make sense of managerial vision.
This third edition has been fully revised and updated without changing its focus.  It features a new chapter on Decision Analysis and includes up-to-date examples using popular softwares, such as Precision Tree, @Risk and Micro Saint Sharp, to illustrate how these help in developing and using management science models as tools for thinking.
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
PART I MODELLING IN MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 1
1 Models as convenient worlds 3
2 Management Science – making sense of strategic vision 21
3 Problems, problems . . . 43
4 Some principles of modelling 63
PART II INTERPRETIVE MODELLING – SOFT MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 83
5 Soft systems methodology 89
6 Cognitive mapping, SODA and journey-making 109
7 System dynamics 135
8 Decision analysis 157
PART III MATHEMATICAL AND LOGICAL MODELLING 185
9 Optimization modelling – linear programming 187
10 Computelsh
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