XYZ plc has a Visitor Centre based in Perth. The Centre houses exhibitions and educational resources to be used by schools, colleges and visitors. It is a popular facility due to its innovative interactive displays and the care XYZ plc has taken to link the centre's resources to the school and college curriculum.
The Centre also hosts short courses in four main areas:
- History of the textile industry in Scotland
- Sociology and the textile industry
- Economic and Financial Management within the textile industry
- Traditional and modern spinning methods
Each of these courses runs over a number of sessions which take a different amount of time and incur different expenses. The session prices reflect these differences.
The Visitor Centre currently has eight staff who work different hours and are qualified to deliver different courses. The following table shows the hours each member of staff works and the courses they are qualified to provide.
|
Employee
|
Hours per week
|
History
|
Sociology
|
Management
|
Spinning
|
|
1
|
40
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
2
|
40
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
3
|
40
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
4
|
20
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
5
|
20
|
√
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
6
|
20
|
√
|
√
|
|
|
|
7
|
10
|
√
|
|
|
|
|
8
|
10
|
√
|
|
|
|
You have also been provided with the following information for the last quarter (12 weeks):
|
|
History
|
Sociology
|
Management
|
Spinning
|
|
Estimated session demand
|
400
|
300
|
800
|
300
|
|
Time per session
|
1 hour
|
1.5 hours
|
2 hours
|
3.5 hours
|
|
Price per session (£)
|
10
|
15
|
30
|
52.50
|
|
Variable cost per hour (£):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Materials
|
1.00
|
1.50
|
2.50
|
3.00
|
|
Expenses
|
1.00
|
1.50
|
1.00
|
1.50
|
|
Wages
|
5.00
|
5.00
|
6.50
|
6.50
|
Fixed overheads for the last quarter (12 weeks) totalled £3,000.
Required
a) Given the current staff restrictions, calculate the optimum course mix and optimum profit for the quarter.
b) Assuming that all eight staff was qualified to provide all four courses, calculate the optimum course mix and profit for the quarter.
c) Describe the importance of qualitative factors in the decision making process.