quantitative vs. qualitative

I remember reading many case studies of companies and their problems when studying for a masters degree in business.  Invariably the problems fell into two basic types: qualitative and quantitative.  Qualitative issues turned on things like product selection, corporate culture, and organizational structure.  Quantitative issues pertained to things like pricing, cost management, and financing.  It seems to me, in light of recent economic crises, that we have allowed the quantitative dimensions to override some very important qualitative ones.  The drive for ever-increasing profits, for numbers that only show growth year over year and for financial gain have become our primary yardstick for measuring success.  The problem when quantitative measures trump qualitative ones is that there is no satisfaction and, invariably, corruption consumes the environment.  We forget that the numbers side of life should serve the values, or qualitative, side of life.  Honor, honesty, nobility and kindness are the dimensions within which numbers and dollars can thrive within healthy bounds.  As those who breathe the air of Heaven and rely on a living God, we know that the wellbeing of our nearest neighbor and our attitude toward those we walk among daily is the surest measure of a life well-lived.   Proverbs 18:11-12 (The Message version) The rich think their wealth protects them;  they imagine themselves safe behind it.  Pride first, then the crash, but humility is precursor to honor.   blessings, Rob Smith http://2daysthought.blogspot.com/