The Backwater Computer Equipment Company sells computer accessories for companie
ID: 3303671 • Letter: T
Question
The Backwater Computer Equipment Company sells computer accessories for companies buying computer systems. It is the only company in the nation that does this on a door-to-door (company-to-company) basis, seeking to bypass the retail computer sales store and sell directly to the small business customer. Its salespeople have sales kits that include both sample products and a full-line catalog they can use to show and discuss with customers. The sales function is composed of full-time and part-time salespeople (Level 1), assistant sales managers (level 2), and regional sales managers (level 3).
The company has decided to study the internal movement patterns of FTE’s in the
sales function, as well as to forecast their likely availabilities in future time periods.
Results will be used to help identify staffing gaps (surpluses and shortages) and to
develop staffing strategy and plans for future growth. To do this, the HR department first collected data for 2015 and 2016 to construct a transition probability matrix, as well as the number of employees for 2017 in each job category. It then wanted to use the matrix of forecast availabilities for 2018. The following data were gathered:
Transition Probabilities (2015-16) Current 2017
Job Category Level SF SP ASM RSM Exit # Employees
Sales, Full-Time (SF)
1
.50
.10
.05
.00
.35
500
Sales, Part-Time(SP)
1
.05
.60
.10
.00
.25
150
Ass’t Sales Mgr (ASM)
2
.05
.00
.80
.10
.05
50
Region, Sales Mgr. (RSM)
3
.00
.00
.00
.70
.30
30
Forecast the numbers available in each job category for the next year 2017? (Based on data from table above) and fill in appropriate answers, round off to one decimal place if necessary. (Remember although there can be no decimal people there can be decimal FTEs).
Job 2017 2018 Forecasts
Category Employees SF SP ASM RSM Total Exit
SF
SP
ASM
RSM
In the above example indicate the potential limitations to your forecasts? (Three possible: Please identify and explain them).
Sales, Full-Time (SF)
1
.50
.10
.05
.00
.35
500
Sales, Part-Time(SP)
1
.05
.60
.10
.00
.25
150
Ass’t Sales Mgr (ASM)
2
.05
.00
.80
.10
.05
50
Region, Sales Mgr. (RSM)
3
.00
.00
.00
.70
.30
30
Explanation / Answer
Job 2017 2018 Forecasts Category Employees SF SP ASM RSM Total Exit Exit Total 1 0.5 0.1 0.05 0 0.35 500 SF 1 0.05 0.6 0.1 0 0.25 150 SP 2 0.05 0 0.8 0.1 0.05 30 ASM 3 0 0 0 0.7 0.3 30 RSM
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