Why should we be surprised to learn that a solution found for Problem A does not perform well in the context of Problem B, and vice versa?
In short, the thesis that maximizing robustness is superior is a shibboleth that may seem sensible at first sight especially when it is accompanied with high-flown rhetoric. But it does not withstand the slightest scrutiny. I discuss this issue in connection with the Optimizing vs Satisficing debate. I fully sympathize with Odhnoff’s (1965) frustration: It seems meaningless to draw more general conclusions from this study than those presented in section 2.2. Hence, that section maybe the conclusion of this paper. In my opinion there is room for both ‘optimizing’ and ‘satisficing’ models in business economics. Unfortunately, the difference between ‘optimizing’ and ‘satisficing’ is often referred to as a difference in the quality of a certain choice. It is a triviality that an optimal result in an optimization can be an unsatisfactory result in a satisficing model. The best things would therefore be to avoid a general use of these two words. Jan Odhnoff On the Techniques of Optimizing an
