Refer to the information presented in Exercise 19-22. The head of the registration advisers at SU has decided that the advisers must finish their advising in two weeks and therefore must advise 400 students a day.
However, the average waiting time given a 12-minute advising period will result in student complaints, as will reducing the average advising time to 10 minutes. SU is considering two alternatives:
a. Hire two more advisers for the two-week (10-working-day) advising period. This will increase the available number of advisers to 12 and therefore lower the average waiting time.
b. Increase the number of days that the advisers will work during the two-week registration period to 6 days a week. If SU increases the number of days worked to six per week, then the 10 advisers need only see 350 students a day to advise all the students in two weeks.
REQUIRED
1. What would the average wait time be under each alternative described above?
2. If advisers earn $100 per day, which alternative would be cheaper for SU (assume that if advisers work 6 days in a given work week, they will be paid time and a half for the sixth day)?
3. From a student satisfaction point of view, which of the two alternatives would be preferred? Why?