Reference no: EM131437123

Amy Accounting is trying to adjust the size of its staff of professional accountants to meet the expected needs of its clients over the next six months. The following numbers of accounting hours will be needed in the coming months: 12,000 hours in month 1; 14,000 hours in month 2; 17,000 hours in month 3; 13,000 hours in month 4; 12,000 hours in month 5; and 15,000 hours in month 6. At the beginning of month 1, Amy employs 75 experienced accountants. Assume that each of Amy’s experienced accountants can work up to 200 hours each month. Experienced accountants are paid $7,000 per month. To meet demands for services in future quarters, new accountants must be hired and trained from time to time. It takes two months to completely train a new accounting professional. During the training period, a trainee must be supervised for 60 hours by an experienced accountant during the first month and for 30 hours by an experienced accountant during the second month. Given their limited knowledge and skills, trainees are only paid $3,500 per month. Historical data suggest that approximately 3% of the company’s experienced accountants quit by the end of each month. Finally, assume that no trainees were hired prior to this six-month planning horizon. Amy would like to determine a plan that minimizes the total cost of meeting its demands for accounting services over the upcoming six months. One of Amy’s decision analysts has formulated and solved a linear programming model in the file GS II.xlsx to develop a workforce plan that supposedly minimizes total cost over the planning horizon. Is this formulation correct? If not, correct the given formulation and find the actual optimal solution. Highlight all cells where formulas have been changed and use a text box to explain your work.