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1. With each doubling of the number of units produced, a learning rate of 80% im

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Question

1. With each doubling of the number of units produced, a learning rate of 80% implies an improvement rate of 20%. Using the concept of doubling effect in learning curves,

a. What would a learning rate of 119% imply?

b. What would a learning rate of 55% imply?

2. Jill Craig, the operations manager at UniSol Inc., wants to estimate the learning rate for a new task her company will undertake. Jill has obtained completion time estimates for the first eight repetitions of this type of task as shown below.

UNIT and COMPLETION TIME (in hours)

Unit: 1 Completion time: 18.75

Unit: 2 Completion time: 13.52

Unit: 3 Completion time: 11.14

Unit: 4 Completion time: 9.73

Unit: 5 Completion time: 8.74

Unit: 6 Completion time: 8

Unit: 7 Completion time: 7.46

Unit: 8 Completion time: 7

Approximate the learning rate that is appropriate for this new task. Show your complete calculations

3. Tim Watts, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) auditor, took 55 minutes to process his first tax return. The IRS uses an 88% learning rate. How long will it take Tim to process the:

a. 64th tax return?

b. 50th tax return?

c. 30th tax return?

4. Logix Inc. has hired Amber Mills to code computer programs. Amber completes her first job in 5 weeks. Logix has established a learning rate of 85% for this job. How long will it take Amber to complete:

a. the 10th job?

b. the 15th job?

c. the 35th job?

d. the first 10 jobs?

e. the first 15 jobs?

f. the first 35 jobs?

g. the jobs 11th through 15th?

h. the jobs 16th through 35th?

5. What is a work breakdown structure (WBS), and how is it useful for project planning?

Explanation / Answer

1.a) A learning rate of 119% would imply that with each doubling of output, the rate of learning slows down or decreases by 19%

.b)A learning rate of 55% would imply the scope of improvement to be 45%

2.Learning Rates.

Unit

Time

Cumulative Time

t1

18.75

18.75

t2

13.52

32.27

t3

11.14

43.41

t4

9.73

53.14

t5

8.74

61.88

t6

8

69.88

t7

7.46

77.34

t8

7

84.34

Cumulative time for the first eight repetitions = 84.34 hours

t8= t1 * n^b = 18.75 * (8)^(b) = 84.34 hrs

(8)^(b) = 84.34/18.75 = 4.498

b log 8 = log 4.498

b *0.903 = 0.653

b= 0.653 / 0.903 = 0.7231

b= log learning rate / log 2

log learning rate = 0.7231 * log 2 = 0.2176

learning rate = 1.65 = 165%

3. Learning rate = 88%

b= log learning rate / log 2 = log 0.88 / log 2 = -0.184

t1= 55 mins

4. Learning rate = 85%

b= log learning rate / log 2 = log 0.85 / log 2 = -0.234

t1= 5 weeks

5. Work Breakdown Structure or WBS is the hierarchical decomposition of the project scope or the work to be done by the teams to achieve the project objectives. WBS helps in keeping the project on track. The project-planning phase must develop the work breakdown structure of the project. This helps in keeping a tab on the tasks at hand and allocating it among the available resources.

Unit

Time

Cumulative Time

t1

18.75

18.75

t2

13.52

32.27

t3

11.14

43.41

t4

9.73

53.14

t5

8.74

61.88

t6

8

69.88

t7

7.46

77.34

t8

7

84.34