UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2019/2020
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS IN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BUSS 206: OPERATIONS RESEARCH
FULL TIME/ PART TIME/ DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: MAY, 2020 TIME: 6 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer ALL Questions
SECTION B: 20 MARKS
QUESTION ONE
(a) How would you deal with the assignment problems where
(i) Unbalanced problem. [4 Marks]
(ii) The objective is to maximize. [4 Marks]
(b) Sigma Engineering Ltd. has three factories F1, F2 and F3 which manufacture computers.
The company markets the computers through four outlets D1, D2, D3 and D4. The
following table shows the inventories (in thousands of units) of computers in the three
factories:
Factory F1 F2 F3
Inventory 14 27 14
The company is required to supply the four outlets. The requirement of the outlets (in
thousands units) is as follows:
Outlet D1 D2 D3 D4
Demand 15 19 11 10
The following table shows the cost (in shilling) of transporting one computer from the
factories to the outlets
Required:
The minimum total transportation cost
Hint: Generate initial solution using Vogel’s Approximation Method and test for
optimality using Stepping Stone Method.
[12 Marks]
SECTION C: 20 MARKS
QUESTION TWO
a) Helen Murvis, hospital administrator for Portland General Hospital, is trying to determine
whether to build a large wing onto the existing hospital, a small wing, or no wing at all. If the
population of Portland continues to grow, a large wing could return $150,000 to the hospital each
year. If the small wing were built, it would return $60,000 to the hospital each year if the
population continues to grow. If the population of Portland remains the same, the hospital would
encounter a loss of $85,000 if the large wing were built. Furthermore, a loss of $45,000 would be
realized if the small wing were constructed and the population remains the same. Unfortunately,
Helen does not have any information about the future population of Portland.
i. What type of decision problem is this? [2 Marks]
ii. Construct a decision table. [5 Marks]
iii. Using the equally likely criterion, determine the best alternative. [3 Marks]
b) The advertising agency promoting the new Breem dishwashing detergent wants to get the best
exposure possible for the product within the $100,000 advertising budget ceiling placed upon it.
To do so, the agency needs to decide how much of the budget to spend on each of its two most
effective media: (1) television spots during the afternoon hours and (2) large ads in the city’s
Sunday newspaper. Each television spot costs $3,000; each Sunday newspaper ad costs $1,250.
The expected exposure, based on industry ratings, is 35,000 viewers for each TV commercial
and 20,000 readers for each newspaper advertisement. The agency director, Mavis Early, knows
from experience that it is important to use both media in order to reach the broadest spectrum of
potential Breem customers. She decides that at least 5 but no more than 25 television spots
should be ordered; and that at least 10 newspaper ads should be contracted. How many times
should each of the two media be used to obtain maximum exposure while staying within the
budget? Use linear programming to solve.
[5 Marks]
c) The Burlington Police Department has five detective squads available for assignment to five
open crime cases. The chief of detectives wishes to assign the squads so that the total time to
conclude the cases is minimized. The Average number of days, based on past performance, for
each squad to complete each case is as follows:
Each squad is composed of different types of specialists and, as noted, whereas one squad may
be very effective in certain types of cases, they may be almost useless in others. Solve the
problem by using the assignment method. [5 Marks]
