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18CBA08
PSG COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCE
(AUTONOMOUS)

BCom DEGREE EXAMINATION MAY 2021

(Second Semester)

Branch – BUSINESS ANALYTICS

OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES

Time: Three Hours Maximum: 75 Marks

SECTION-A (10 Marks)

Answer ALL questions
ALL questions carry EQUAL marks (10 x 1 = 10)
1 Minimization of objective function in LPP means
(i) least value chosen among the allowable decisions
(ii) greatest value chosen among the allowable decisions
(iii) both (i) and (ii) (iv) none of the above
2 Which of the following is not associated with an LPP?
(i) Proportionality (ii) Uncertainty
(iii) Additivity (iv) Divisibility
3 The solution to a transportation problem with m-sources and n-destinations is
feasible, if the number of allocations are
(i) m + n - 1 (ii) m + n+ 1
(iii) m + n (iv) m x n
4 While solving a transportation problem, the occurrence of degeneracy means
that
(i) total supply equals total demand
(ii) the solution so obtained is not feasible
(iii) the few allocations become negative
(iv) none of the above.
5 A game is said to be Fair,if
(i) upper value is more than lower value of the game
(ii) upper and lower values of the game are not equal
(iii) upper and lower values of the game are same and zero
(iv) none of the above
6 A mixed strategy game can be solved by
(i) matrix method (ii) algebraic method
(iii) graphical method (iv) all of the above
7 In critical path analysis, CPM is __________.
(i) event oriented (ii) probabilistic in nature
(iii) deterministic in nature (iv) dynamic in nature
8 The slack for an activity in network, is equal to ___________.
(i) LS - ES (ii) LF - LS
(iii) EF - ES (iv) EF - LS
9 In sequencing problems
(i) all the jobs are completely known and are ready for processing
(ii) jobs are processed sequentially
(iii) total elapsed time is determined by the point of time at which the first
of the n jobs goes to machine A until the time when the last job comes off
machine B
(iv) All of the above
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10 Sequencing problems involving processing of two jobs on ‘n’ machines

(i) can be solved graphically
(ii) cannot be solved graphically
(iii) have a condition that the processing of two jobs must be in the same
order.
(iv) none of the above

SECTION - B (25 Marks)

Answer ALL questions
ALL questions carry EQUAL Marks (5 x 5 = 25)

11 a A company has three operational departments (Weaving, processing and

packing) with capacity to produce three different types of clothes namely
suitings, shirtings and woolens yielding a profit of Rs. 2 Rs. 4 and Rs. 3 per
metre respectively. One metre of suiting requires 3 minutes in weaving, 2
minutes is processing and 1 minute in packing. Similarly one metre of
shirting requires 4 minutes in weaving 1 minute in processing and 1 minute
in packing. Similarly one metre of shirting requires 4 minutes in weaving, 1
minute in processing and 3 minute in packing. One metre woolen requires 3
minutes in each department. In a week, total run time of each department is
60, 40 and 80 hours for weaving processing and packing respectively.
Formulate the LPP to find the product mix to maximize the profit.
OR
b Rewrite in standard form the following LPP.
Minimize z = 2x1 + x2 + 4x3 subject to the constraints
-2x1 + 4x2  4
x1 +2x2 + x3  5
2x1 + 3 x3  2
x1, x2  0 and x3 unrestricted in sign.

12 a Obtain an initial basic feasible solution to the following transportation

problem using the north-west corner rule.
D E F G Available
A 11 13 17 14 250
B 16 18 14 10 300
C 21 24 13 10 400
Requirement 200 225 275 250

OR
b A department head has four tasks to be performed and three subordinates, the
subordinates differ in efficiency. the estimate of the time, each subordinate
would take to perform is given below in the matrix. How should he allocate
the tasks one to each man, so as to minimize the total man- hours?
Task Men
1 2 3
I 9 26 15
II 13 27 6
III 35 20 15
IV 18 30 20

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13 a Determine whether the following two person zero-sum games are strictly
determinable and fair. Give optimum strategies for each player in the case of
strictly determinable games.
Player B
Player A  5 0 
 
 0 2 
OR
b For the game with the following payoff matrix, determine the optimum
strategies and the value of the game.
P2
P1 5 1 
3 4
 
14 a Write the rules for network construction.
OR
b Draw a network diagram for the following data.
Activity: A B C D E F G H I J
Preceding None A A B A B, E C D, F G H, I
Activities:

15 a Find the optimal sequence that minimizes the total elapsed time required to
complete the following tasks on machine M1 and M2 in the order M1, M2.
Task : A B C D E F G H I
M1 : 2 5 4 9 6 8 7 5 4
M2 : 6 8 7 4 3 9 3 8 11
OR
b Explain sequencing problem.
SECTION -C (40 Marks)
Answer ALL questions
ALL questions carry EQUAL Marks (5 x 8 = 40)

16 a The marketing department of Everest Company has collected information on

the problem of advertising for its products. This relates to the advertising
media available, the number of families expected to be reached with each
alternative. Cost per advertisement, the maximum availability of each
medium and the expected exposure of each one.(measured as the relative
value of one advertisement in each of the media).
The information is given as under.
maximum Expected
No. of families
Advertisement media Cost/ad. availability exposure
to cover
(No. of items) (units)
TV (30 sec) 3,000 8,000 8 80
Radio ( 15 sec) 7,000 3,000 30 20
Sunday Edition (1/4 page) 5,000 4,000 4 30
Magazine ( 1 page) 2,000 3,000 2 60
Other information and requirements:
(i) The advertising budget is Rs. 70,000.
(ii) At least 40,000 families should be covered
(iii) At least 2 insertions be given in Sunday Edition of Daily but not more than 4
advertisements should be given on the TV. Formulate this as a LPP. The
Company’s objective is to maximize the expected exposure.
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OR
b Use the graphical method to solve the following LPP:
Minimize Z = -x1 + 2x2
Subject to the constraints:
-x1 + 3x2  10
x1 + x2  6
x1 – x2  2 and x1  0, x2  0.

17 a Find the starting solution in the following transportation problem by Vogel’s

Approximation method. Also obtain the optimum solution.
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
S1 3 7 6 4 5
S2 2 4 3 2 2
S3 4 3 8 5 3
Demand 3 3 2 2

OR
b A pharmaceutical Company is producing a single product and is selling it
through five agencies located it different cities. All of a sudden, there is a
demand for the product in another five cities not having any agency of the
Company. The Company is faced with the problem of deciding on how to
assign the existing agencies to dispatch the product to needy cities in such a
way that the traveling distance is minimized. The distance between the
surplus and deficit cities ( in km) is given in the following table.

Deficit cities
a b c d e
Surplus cities A 85 75 65 125 75
B 90 78 66 132 78
C 75 66 57 114 69
D 80 72 60 120 72
E 76 64 56 112 68
Determine the optimum assignment schedule.

18 a Solve the game whose payoff matrix is given below.

B1 B2 B3 B4
A1 4 -2 3 -1
A2 -1 2 0 1
A3 -2 1 -2 0

OR
b Solve the following 2 X 2 game graphically.
Player B
Player A B1 B2 B3 B4
A1 2 1 0 -2
A2 1 0 3 2

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19 a The following table indicates the details of a project the duration are in days.
‘a’ refers to optimistic time ‘m’ refers to most likely time and ‘b’ refers to
pessimistic time duration.
Activity 1-2 1-3 1-4 2-4 2-5 3-4 4-5
a 2 3 4 8 6 2 2
m 4 4 5 9 8 3 5
b 5 6 6 11 12 4 7
(i) Draw the network
(ii) Find the critical path
(iii) Determine the expected standard deviation of the completion time.
OR
b Three time estimates (in moths) of all activities of a project are given as
below:
Time in months
Activity a m b
1-2 0.8 1.0 1.2
2-3 3.7 5.6 9.9
2-4 6.2 6.6 15.4
3-4 2.1 2.7 6.1
4-5 0.8 3.4 3.6
5-6 0.9 1.0 1.1

(i) Find the expected duration and standard deviation of each activity.
(ii) Construct the project network.
(iii) Determine the critical path, expected project length and expected variance
of the project length.
(iv) What is the probability that the project will be completed.
a) two months later than expected
b) not more than 3 months earlier than expected.
20 a In a factory there are six jobs to perform each of which should go through
two machines A and B in the order A, B. The processing timings (in hours)
for the jobs are given here. You are required to determine the sequence for
performing the jobs that would minimize the total elapsed time T. what is the
value of T?
Job J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6
Machine A 1 3 8 5 6 3
machine B 5 6 3 2 2 10

OR
b Solve the following sequencing problem when passing out is not allowed:

Machine
Item A B C D
I 15 5 4 15
II 12 2 10 12
III 16 3 5 16
IV 17 3 4 17

Z-Z-Z END