A survey of US and Canadian industrial companies explored the use of management science models in human resource planning. The survey also examined opinions of the usefulness of such models in that application. Results indicated very little such use of the models and that the most common reasons for not using them concerned their perceived complexity and lack of cost-effectiveness. Policy capturing models, which build explicitly on management's own judgements, are proposed as potentially effective in overcoming the cost and complexity barriers to the greater use of management science in this field. © 1988.