Quantitative and qualitative information: how to overcome this dichotomy?

Panoramic Picture of the Snowy Mountains, Photo by Shashank Kumawat on pexels.com

One of the main skills for making informed and aware decisions is the careful selection of the information necessary for this purpose, both quantitative and qualitative. How to disentangle the various methodological and instrumental approaches? This module gives you an overview of the main practices for securing a knowledge function within the company, on which to base decisions.

We offer you a dual perspective, analysing:

Strategic corporate decisions: Make or Buy; Stakeholders’ and Gap Analysis;
Strategic decisions concerning a broader context (Cost-Benefit Analysis; European Awareness Scenario Workshop - EASW, Goal Oriented Project Planning - GOPP).

Knowing how to use these methods and techniques is essential in any area of life, and these analyses, although they can be approximate, are always better than nothing! We begin our overview with the associated projective potential, but also with attention to the rigorous collection and interpretation of the related data.

How can I learn more ?

The focus of this self-directed learning unit is to familiarise with some managerial evaluation techniques, in a framework that brings together objective measurements and qualitative indications.

To complete this task, we suggest the following steps. Look at the two scenarios:

Scenario 1: The company The Ideal City was selected to supply services for the urban decoration of a neighbourhood of the capital. The Ideal City boasts five years of experience in this business area, being made up of urban planners, architects and engineers, and teams of specialised workers, as well as a network of external collaborations with individual professionals and companies.

Scenario 2: The Ideal City company was invited to a public meeting promoted by the District for the co-design of the main square of the neighbourhood, where many activities exist: the play area for children, the bi-weekly market, the arena for cultural events and the track for sporting activities (running, cycling and skating).

- Identify the most appropriate techniques for the two scenarios and what quantitative and qualitative information to consider for the appropriate techniques.

For the Scenario 1, you are suggested to start analysing managerial techniques to enter the logic of planning and management control, through the gaps analysis. You can watch the video “How to Do a Gap Analysis” (duration: 11’18’’).

By opening up our analysis to our privileged internal and external stakeholders, you can watch the video “Stakeholder Analysis” (duration: 5’22’’).

Finally, with respect to internalisation or outsourcing decisions, you can watch the video “Make or Buy Decision” (duration: 5’57’’) and check the glossary Cost Accounting.

For the Scenario 2, which presupposes a decision-making process that concerns a plurality of stakeholders, or which has a wider value than the single business unit. You can read the blog “How to do a cost-benefit analysis & why it’s important” to understand the main phases of this method.

Starting from this background information, it will be possible to delve deeper into the vision of the various stakeholders through the practice of the European Awareness Scenario Workshop (EASW), you can learn more reading the Document “Toolkit Scenario Workshop”.

For the use of the Goal Oriented Project Planning (GOPP) method, you can read the “GOPP method”.

- After viewing these resources we suggest you create your own "map" of evaluation techniques best suited to your business.

- Reflect on your business vision: Is it more like playing chess or poker?

You can share your reflections and thoughts, as well as your doubts or questions, with other professionals in the Rewind Collaborative Space.

Test yourself

What have you learnt?

Identify some guiding principles in entrepreneurial action and in the resulting decision-making processes.
Familiarize with different techniques and practices for making decisions based on the knowledge function.
Identify the practices that best suit your business vision.
Name the main universally accepted accounting principles for decision making.
Identify the main purposes of corporate management techniques (make or buy, gap analysis, stakeholders analysis, etc.) with respect to intra-company decision making.
Identify the main purposes of complex project management techniques (cost-benefit analysis, EASW, GOPP etc.) with respect to taking extra-company decisions.
Contextualize the type of decision to be made and consequently the most appropriate methodologies and tools for the purpose.
Identify the sources of information relevant to each technique analysed.
Relate the relevant information for each technique.
Be critical of judgmental biases.
Be open to the multi-dimensional, systematical and complexity of the business environment in which the company is immersed.
Clarify for yourself the main values of doing business.

Conclusion

This Quest addresses some of the techniques most used by companies to make informed decisions and aware of the effects that will be generated. For both proposed scenarios, an in-depth study is recommended, in the first case, on cost analysis and accounting, while in the second on the methodologies for facilitating participatory processes.

Since these methods are universally used, you can find national authors who have dealt with these topics, or international authors translated into various languages. In the latter case we can recommend the books on management control by Robert Newton Anthony (1916-2006), economist and professor at Harvard University, translated into many languages and easy to understand even for non-experts. While about participatory methods, don't forget to consider a study that is a milestone for anyone who wants to participate or activate processes of participation in decisions, especially in the public sector. Sherry Arnstein, writing in 1969 about citizen involvement in planning processes in the United States, described “A Ladder of Citizen Participation”, in the Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 35, No. 4, July 1969, pp. 216-224.