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In order to assess the extent to which managers use a range of statistical techniques, an identical survey was undertaken among over 1200 MBA graduates in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and New Zealand. The managers in all three countries held similar perceptions about both the benefits and hindrances of applying the particular quantitative techniques mentioned, and these are detailed in the paper. Although the overall awareness of basic techniques was disappointingly low, the research indicates that most managers saw a positive role for quantitative techniques in their work. Clear implications for the design and teaching of the quantitative component in MBA courses can be drawn from the study.

Results of two surveys are presented and indicate the statistical knowledge of past students from Master of Business Adminstration programmes, their usage of statistics together with their opinions about the statistical content of Master of Business Administration degree courses. These views are contrasted with the results of a second survey of academic staff who teach statistics on such programmes. We find that past students recommend a greater statistical content than is currently taught but, paradoxically, most of the academic staff associated with teaching the subject believe that the statistical content of their programme will decrease in future years.

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This paper proposes a quantitative methodology to support executive decision making in the allocation of scarce resources to competing demands in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The Analytical Hierarchy Process is used to translate subjective value judgements such as preferences and perceptions into quantitative measures. These utility values are then used to isolate the factors which determine the choice among the competing CSR programmes. The approach is illustrated with two case studies of South African organizations.