Question

This module covers the classical view of rationality, which holds that we always try to get the best possible solution to selfishly maximize our welfare. This is (too) often the case often in business. In this assignment, we reprise the staffing problem from the last module, which we solved graphically. This assignment will give your practice using Excel solver to find the most profitable solution to a business production problem quickly and flexibly.

1. Review your notes, readings, discussions, and mini-lectures in this module.
2. Scenario: Angelica owns two restaurants in Queens, a fast-food restaurant called Xtra Crispy and a fast-casual restaurant called Yolo Burrito. She has a total of 9 servers whom she needs to assign to each restaurant. Xtra Crispy has room for up to 7 servers; Yolo Burrito has room for up to 5 servers. Each server will generate $400 of revenues at Xtra Crispy and $700 of revenues at Yolo Burrito. How many servers should Angelica allocate to Xtra Crispy and Yolo Burrito to maximize her revenues?
1. Make sure Solver is activated in Excel.
2. Find the optimal staffing plan with Excel Solver.
3. Upload your Excel spreadsheet with the optimal solution

Answer 1

Using Excel Solver, Angelica can determine the optimal number of servers for Xtra Crispy and Yolo Burrito by setting constraints on total and individual restaurant capacities and maximizing revenue generation based on servers' productivity at both locations.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the number of servers Angelica should allocate to Xtra Crispy and Yolo Burrito restaurants to maximize her revenues, we can use Excel Solver. By setting up the problem with constraints that Xtra Crispy can have up to 7 servers and Yolo Burrito up to 5 servers, with a total of 9 servers to be allocated, Solver will assist in finding the optimal staffing solution.

Clear objectives such as maximizing revenues, which are $400 per server at Xtra Crispy and $700 per server at Yolo Burrito, will be introduced to Solver. After running Solver with these constraints and objective, it will provide the highest possible revenue by suggesting the best distribution of servers between the two restaurants.