Final answer:
The last step in the production planning hierarchy before actual output is the Scheduling process. It is when specific jobs are given to resources on a timeline. Other options provided relate to different stages within production planning or resource management.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asks about the last step in the production planning hierarchy before actual output is produced. Among the options provided, the correct answer is A) Scheduling. This is the process where the production plan is put into time-based action, and specific jobs are assigned to resources, with precise start and end dates. Whereas, enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrates business processes across the company, capacity planning involves understanding the limits of a company's resources, aggregate planning is about balancing production and demand in a medium-term perspective, and material requirements planning (MRP) deals with the materials and components required during production.
Now let's address the student's supplemental information:
- Productive efficiency is shown by points lying on the production possibility frontier (PPF). It represents the most output that can be produced with available resources.
- Allocative efficiency is achieved when the mix of goods being produced represents the mix that society most desires. This is not directly illustrated by the PPF but is inferred based on societal preferences.
- The choice between T and R, or any two points, cannot be deemed better without knowing societal preferences. Better is subjective and dependent on value judgments.