Clark and Shiffer LLP perform activities related to e-commerce consulting and information systems in Vancouver, British Columbia. The firm, which bills $174 per hour for services performed, is in a very tight local labor market and is having difficulty finding quality help for its overworked professional staff. The cost per hour for professional staff time is $84. Selected information follows Billable hours to clients for the year totaled 9,400, consisting of: information systems services, 5,640; e-commerce consulting, 3,760 Administrative cost of $432,760 was (and continues to be) allocated to both services based on billable hours. These costs consist of staff support, $229,440; in-house computing, $162,000; and miscellaneous office charges, $41,320 A recent analysis of staff support costs found a correlation with the number of clients served. In-house computing and miscellaneous office charges varied directly with the number of computer hours logged and number of client transactions, respectively. A tabulation revealed the following data Information Systems Services 280 4,090 820 E-Commerce Total 380 6,530 1,710 Consulting 100 Number of clients Number of computer hours Number of client transactions 2,440 890