content area Part 1 Rick DeNeefe, manager of the Golden Valley Bank credit authorization department, recently noticed that a major competitor was advertising that applications for equity loans could be approved within two working days. Because fast credit approval was a competitive priority, DeNeefe wanted to see how well his department was doing relative to the competitor's. Golden Valley stamps each application with the date and time it is received and again when a decision is made. A total of 104 applications were received in March. The time required for each decision, rounded to the nearest hour, is shown in the accompanying table. Golden Valley's employees work 8 hours per day.Decision Process Time (hours) Frequency 7-9 7 10-12 17 13-15 25 16-18 12 19-21 26 22-24 5 25-27 12 Total 104