Consider the Union Airways problem presented in Sec.

3.4, including the data given in Table 3.19.

Management is about to begin negotiations on a new contract with the union that represents the company’s customer service agents. This might result in some small changes in the daily costs per agent given in Table 3.19 for the various shifts. Several possible changes listed below are being considered separately. In each case, management would like to know whether the change might result in the original optimal solution (given in Sec. 3.4) no longer being optimal. Answer this question in parts

(a) to

(e) by using a software package based on the simplex method to generate sensitivity analysis information. If the optimal solution might change, use the software package to re-solve for the optimal solution.

(a) The daily cost per agent for Shift 2 changes from $160 to $165.

(b) The daily cost per agent for Shift 4 changes from $180 to $170.

(c) The changes in parts

(a) and

(b) both occur.

(d) The daily cost per agent increases by $4 for shifts 2, 4, and 5, but decreases by $4 for shifts 1 and 3.

(e) The daily cost per agent increases by 2 percent for each shift.