Decision Making Tools: Using the right analysis tool will compensate for inexperienced managers. Agree?

Subject: Operations Decision Making

At the monthly meeting, one of your coworkers stated that "Using the right analysis tool will compensate for inexperienced managers." How would you reply to your coworker?

Address the following:

Do the tools help only in certain situations such as routine, daily, or rather mundane decisions, like cost controls, quality controls, or staffing questions (in terms of number of people needed)?

Do tools help the finance or accounting arms of a company more so than operations managers?

What happens if the data entered are wrong? Analytical tools suffer from the GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) weaknesses, and thus an analysis based on these numbers can be flawed.

Can the software and tools replace experienced and seasoned managers? Do computers really think? Do they learn from their mistakes? Can they manipulate or change their environment?