Most managers settle for a satisficing rather than a maximizing solution. This is partly because they have limited information and because they have vague criteria for what constitutes a maximizing solution.

The administrative model is considered to be descriptive, meaning it describes how managers make decisions in complex situations rather than dictating how they should make decisions according to a theoretical ideal. The administrative model recognizes the human and environmental limitations that affect the degree to which managers can pursue a rational decision-making process. For example, interviews with CEOs in high-tech industries found that they strived to use some rational process in making decisions, but the way they decided things was through a complex interaction with other managers, subordinates, environmental factors, and organizational events.

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