Almost all companies utilize some type of year-end performance review for their employees. Human Resources (HR) at the University of Texas Health Science Center provides guidelines for supervisors rating their subordinates. For example, raters are advised to examine their ratings for a tendency to be either too lenient or too harsh. According to HR, "if you have this tendency, consider using a normal distribution-10% of employees (rated) exemplary, 20% distinguished, 40% competent, 20% marginal, and 10% unacceptable." Suppose you are rating an employee's performance on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 100 (highest). Also, assume the ratings follow a normal distribution with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 15.
a. What is the lowest rating you should give to an "exemplary" employee if you follow the University of Texas HR guidelines?
b. What is the lowest rating you should give to a "competent" employee if you follow the University of Texas HR guidelines?