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Zhu Manufacturing is considering the introduction of a family of new products. L

ID: 378823 • Letter: Z

Question

Zhu Manufacturing is considering the introduction of a family of new products. Long-term demand for the product group

is somewhat predictable, so the manufacturer must be concerned with the risk of choosing a process that is inappropriate. Faye Zhu is VP of operations. She can choose among batch manufacturing or custommanufacturing, or she can invest in group technology. Zhu won't be able to forecast demand accurately until after she makes the process choice. Demand will be classified into four compartments: poor, fair, good, and excellent. The table below indicates the payoffs (profits) associated with each process/demand combination, as well as the probabilities of each long-term demand level:

  

Demand

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

Probability

0.15

0.40

0.25

0.20

BatchBatch

$300,000

$1,200,000

$1,100,000

$1,200,000

CustomCustom

$200,000

$250,000

$700,000

$700,000

Group technologyGroup technology

$1,250,000

$600,000

$500,000

$2,000,000

a) The alternative that provides Zhu the greatest expected monetary value (EMV) is

Group technology

Custom

Batch

.

The EMV for this decision is $?(enter your answer as a whole number).

b) The amount that Faye Zhu would be willing to pay for a forecast that would accurately determine the level of demand in the future = $?(enter your answer as a whole number).

Demand

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

Probability

0.15

0.40

0.25

0.20

BatchBatch

$300,000

$1,200,000

$1,100,000

$1,200,000

CustomCustom

$200,000

$250,000

$700,000

$700,000

Group technologyGroup technology

$1,250,000

$600,000

$500,000

$2,000,000

Explanation / Answer

a)

Expected Monetary Value (EMV) of Batch = -300000*.15 + 1200000*.4 + 1100000*.25 + 1200000*.2 = 950,000

Expected Monetary Value (EMV) of Custom = 200000*.15 + 250000*.4 + 700000*.25 + 700000*.2 = 455,000

Expected Monetary Value (EMV) of Group Tech = -1250000*.15 - 600000*.4 + 500000*.25 + 2000000*.2 = 97,500

The alternative that provides Zhu the greatest expected monetary value (EMV) is

Batch

EMV for this decision is $ 950,000

b) Expected Value with Perfect Information (EVwPI) = Maximum payoff for poor demand * probability of poor demand + Maximum payoff for fair demand * probability of fair demand + Maximum payoff for good demand * probability of good demand + Maximum payoff for excellent demand * probability of excellent demand

= 200000*.15 + 1200000*.4 + 1100000*.25+2000000*.2 = 1,185,000

Expected Value of Perfect Information (EVPI) = EVwPI - EMVmax = 1185000 - 950000 = $ 235,000

The amount that Faye Zhu would be willing to pay for a forecast that would accurately determine the level of demand in the future = $  235,000