It is eye opening the number of things you take for granted in your undergraduate learning pursuits. Thinking about it, this is probably because really what you are doing is trying to survive and ensure that the money paid on your behalf, or you hustled to pay yourself (at least as a Nigerian Child) does not go to waste. Almost everything I have learnt over the last few weeks in Business school, I had heard again and again in the course of my studies or from other sources but for some reason because the practical applications did not seem obvious to me, and I couldn’t be bothered to find out (like I said, survival mode), I did not really think they had real life applications. I am going to look at Linear programming today and maybe we will take some other thing at another time.
Linear programming is a mathematical technique used to optimize a linear objective function subject to a set of constraints. It’s application cuts across numerous disciplines such as:
Wealth Management– One of the major uses of linear programming in wealth management is in portfolio optimization where it is used to determine the best mix of assets to maximise returns on the portfolios given limited portfolio resources. This helps investors make informed decisions while minimizing risk.
Agriculture: Where it is used to maximize yields on crop production, optimise crop selection and use of land and other resources as well as minimize cost
Manufacturing: It is used to increase the efficiency in manufacturing processes to minimize cost and improve production output
Marketing: Linear programming can be used in determining allocation of marketing budget to ensure optimization of marketing campaigns and how to allocate resources available across the different marketing channels.
These are only a few of the sectors which linear programming is applied. More interesting to note are some of its uses in our daily living. You may find you have used linear programming consciously or unconsciously, whether you drew up a written plan or mentally arrived at a decision using dependent or independent variables taking into consideration your constraints.
- Travel planning: It is used to determine the most efficient travel routes for a road trip and to determine the optimal mix of modes of transportation to cut cost on a trip.
- Time Management: Everyday as individuals we use linear programming (consciously or unconsciously) to optimize the use our time and determine the most efficient use when we have multiple tasks within a limited time frame.
- Allocation of Resources: We constantly use linear programming to determine optimal use of our resources such as money, time, labour etc. to achieve our daily objectives or life goals. We determine how best to maximise available resources and minimise costs.
- Planning a healthy diet: Linear programming is used to plan a healthy diet by helping to choose the optimal selection of foods that meet nutritional requirements.
Linear programming is a tool that helps make allocation of resources and decision making more efficient.
