A local market research firm has just won a contract
Question
A local market research firm has just won a contract for several thousand small projects
involving data gathering and statistical analysis. In the past, the fi rm has assigned each
project to a single member of its highly trained professional staff. This person would both
gather and analyze the data. Using this approach, an experienced person can n
average of 4 such projects in an eight-hour day.
The firm’graph <a href=.png” src=”https://www.coursehero.com/qa/attachment/2791825/”>s management is thinking of assigning two people to each project in order to
allow them to specialize and become more effi cient. The process would require the data
gatherer to fi ll out a matrix on the computer, check it, and transmit it to the statistical
analysis program for the analyst to complete. Data can be gathered on one project while
the analysis is being completed on another, but the analysis must be complete before the
statistical analysis program can accept the new data. After some practice, the new process
can be completed with a standard time of 50 minutes for the data gathering and 45 minutes
for the analysis.
a.What is the production (output per hour) for each alternative? What is the productivity
(output per labor hour)?
b.How long would it take to complete 1,000 projects with each alternative? What
would be the labor content (total number of labor hours) for 1,000 projects for each
alternative
