Unfortunately, we all live in a world of constraints. There aren’t many people who can make an expensive purchase without foregoing something else, or take on a new project without taking time away from an existing one. Usually, these are fixed-sum constraints; we only have so much discretionary income per month, and so many hours in a day.

Sometimes the options, or the things from which we’re choosing, are related. For example, you can’t get a new car with premium speakers unless you also order the deluxe entertainment package, or get a keyless ignition without keyless entry.

• Your assignment for this discussion is to describe a decision you made, that involved fixed-sum constraints—the more, and the more complicated, the better. If you’d known some geek who spoke Linear Programming, could you have used his or her services? Why or why not?

General Note: To earn maximum credit, you should post to the module discussion board in the first week of each module. There’s no reason not to, because the discussions are non-technical. Each topic is intended to get us thinking about the type of management problem discussed in each module. The topics don’t require any research, or any prior knowledge of management; they’re based upon our own, mundane experiences.