Air-Express is an express shipping service that guarantees overnight delivery of packages anywhere in the continental United States. The company has various operations centers, called hubs, at airports in major cities across the country. Packages are received at hubs from other locations and then shipped to intermediate hubs or to their final destinations.
The manager of the Air-Express hub in Baltimore, Maryland, is concerned about labor costs at the hub and is interested in determining the most effective way to schedule workers. The hub operates seven days a week, and the number of packages it handles each day varies from one day to the next. Using historical data on the average number of packages received each day, the manager estimates the number of workers needed to handle packages as:
Day of Week Workers Required
Sunday 18
Monday 27
Tuesday 22
Wednesday 26
Thursday 25
Friday 21
Saturday 19
The package handlers working for Air-Express are unionized and are guaranteed a five-day work week with two consecutive days off. The base wage for handlers is $655 per week. Because most workers prefer to have Saturday or Sunday off, the union has negotiated bonuses of $25 per day for its members who work on these days. The possible shifts and salaries for package handlers are:
Shift Days Off Wage
1 Sunday and Monday $680
2 Monday and Tuesday $705
3 Tuesday and Wednesday $705
4 Wednesday and Thursday $705
5 Thursday and Friday $705
6 Friday and Saturday $680
7 Saturday and Sunday $655
Required:
a) The manager wants to keep the total wage expense for the hub as low as possible. With this in mind, how many package handlers should be assigned to each shift if the manager wants to have a sufficient number of workers available each day?
b) Would you please provide an algebraic formulation for each problem and explain how to use Excel Solver to optimize?

Required information problem 15-1a production costs computed and recorded; reports prepared lo c2, p1, p2, p3, p4 [the following information applies to the questions displayed below. marcelino co.'s march 31 inventory of raw materials is $84,000. raw materials purchases in april are $540,000, and factory payroll cost in april is $364,000. overhead costs incurred in april are: indirect materials, $59,000; indirect labor, $26,000; factory rent, $38,000; factory utilities, $19,000; and factory equipment depreciation, $58,000. the predetermined overhead rate is 50% of direct labor cost. job 306 is sold for $670,000 cash in april. costs of the three jobs worked on in april follow. job 306 job 307 job 308 balances on march 31 direct materials $30,000 $36,000 direct labor 25,000 14,000 applied overhead 12,500 7,000 costs during april direct materials 133,000 210,000 $100,000 direct labor 105,000 150,000 101,000 applied overhead ? ? ? status on april 30 finished (sold) finished in process (unsold) required: 1. determine the total of each production cost incurred for april (direct labor, direct materials, and applied overhead), and the total cost assigned to each job (including the balances from march 31). a-materials purchases (on credit). b-direct materials used in production. c-direct labor paid and assigned to work in process inventory. d-indirect labor paid and assigned to factory overhead. e-overhead costs applied to work in process inventory. f-actual overhead costs incurred, including indirect materials. (factory rent and utilities are paid in cash.) g-transfer of jobs 306 and 307 to finished goods inventory. h-cost of goods sold for job 306. i-revenue from the sale of job 306. j-assignment of any underapplied or overapplied overhead to the cost of goods sold account. (the amount is not material.) 2. prepare journal entries for the month of april to record the above transactions. 3. prepare a schedule of cost of goods manufactured. 4.1 compute gross profit for april. 4.2 show how to present the inventories on the april 30 balance sheet.

Garrett is an executive vice president at samm hardware. he researches a proposal by a larger company, maximum hardware, to combine the two companies. by analyzing past performance, conducting focus groups, and interviewing maximum employees, garrett concludes that maximum has poor profit margins, sells shoddy merchandise, and treats customers poorly. what actions should garrett and samm hardware take? a. turn down the acquisition offer and prepare to resist a hostile takeover. b. attempt a friendly merger and use managerial hubris to improve results at maximum. c. welcome the acquisition and use knowledge transfer to impart sam hardware's management practices. d. do nothing; the two companies cannot combine without samm hardware's explicit consent.

Decision alternatives should be identified before decision criteria are established. are limited to quantitative solutions are evaluated as a part of the problem definition stage. are best generated by brain-storming.