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.

The fifth edition of this book reflects its continued popularity and standing in the field. It provides a clear guide to the role of modelling and the computer simulation methods used in management science. Readers will find an in-depth coverage of the modelling, computing and statistical aspects of discrete simulation and systems dynamics.

Overall the book shows how practical simulation models are built and used, and provides the theory needed to do this. Revisions to this edition include a new chapter on Monte Carlo simulation using spreadsheets, a new look inside discrete simulation software and simulation models in Visual Basic, SIMUL8 and Micro Saint.

Further information can be found at:

http: //www.lancs.ac.uk/staff/smamp/mpsim.html

Systems Modelling: Theory and Practice brings together some of the leading minds in the fields of Systems Modelling and Operational Research, to produce a book which addresses issues that are of both practical importance and theoretical significance. This union of the theory and practice of Systems Modelling incorporates both 'hard' and 'soft' aspects of Operational Research, creating a complementary approach that requires more than common sense and results in significant organizational benefits. The contributors are from organizations and academic departments that are major users of systems modelling, meaning their experience will be vital to readers who are seeking to expand their level of understanding in the development of these models. This book will appeal to students of computing, management science and operational research, and to practitioners who understand the many possibilities and applications that this complementary approach could have in industry.