Problems 1-3 Page 65

1. A catering company prepared and served 300 meals at an anniversary celebration last week
using
eight workers. The week before, six workers prepared and served 240 meals at a wedding
reception.
a. For which event was the labor productivity higher? Explain.
300/8= 37.5 240/6= 40
The productivity for the first week was higher because they made more meals with less people.
b. What are some possible reasons for the productivity differences?
The workers could have been trained better or worked faster.

2. The manager of a crew that installs carpeting has tracked the crew’s output over the past
several
weeks, obtaining these figures:

Week Crew Size Yards Installed Productivity

1 4 96 24
2 3 72 24
3 4 92 23
4 2 50 25
5 3 69 23
6 2 52 26
Compute the labor productivity for each of the weeks. On the basis of your calculations, what
can
you conclude about crew size and productivity?
There’s better productivity with less people.

3. Compute the multifactor productivity measure for each of the weeks shown for production of
choc-
olate bars. What do the productivity figures suggest? Assume 40-hour weeks and an hourly wage
of
$12. Overhead is 1.5 times weekly labor cost. Material cost is $6 per pound.
Week Output (units) Workers Material (lbs)
1 30,000 6 450
2 33,600 7 470
3 32,200 7 460
4 35,400 8 480

W Output Total Cost of hours Total cost for Productivity

k worked by workers for that materials for that
week week
1 30000 2880 2250 30000/(2880+2250)= 5.848
2 33600 3360 2350 33600/(3360+2350)= 5.884
3 32200 3360 2300 32200/(3360+2300)= 5.689
4 35400 2400 35400/(3840+2400)= 5.673
3840
 Problems 1-3 Page 65

Productivity figures suggest that a medium amount of workers (7) with a medium amount of
materials (470lbs) will give you the best productivity.