At 420 students seen a day, 

                        =    

                        = 

3. If the average time to advise a student is reduced to 10 minutes, then the average wait
time would be

=   

= 

19-26 Waiting time, cost considerations, customer satisfaction. Refer to the information
presented in Exercise 19-25. The head of the registration advisors at BU has decided that the
advisors must finish their advising in 2 weeks (10 working days) and, therefore, must advise 420
students a day. However, the average waiting time (given a 12-minute advising period) will
result in student complaints, as will reducing the average advising time to 10 minutes. BU is
considering two alternatives: 

a. Hire two more advisors for the 2-week (10-working day) advising period. This will increase the
available number of advisors to 12 and therefore lower the average waiting time.
b. Increase the number of days that the advisors work for during the 2-week registration period
from 5 to 6 days a week. If BU increases the number of days worked to 6 days per week, then the
10 advisors need only see 350 students a day in order to advise all of the students in 2 weeks.

Required:
1. What would the average wait time be under alternative A and under alternative B?
2. If advisors earn $100 per day, which alternative would be cheaper for BU (assume that if the
advisors work for 6 days in a given workweek, they will be paid time and a half for the sixth
day)?
3. From a student satisfaction point of view, which of the two alternatives would be preferred?
Why?
SOLUTION
(25 min.)  Waiting time, cost considerations, and customer satisfaction 
(continued from 19-25).

1. a) If BU hires two more advisors, then the average wait time will be

=   

=  
b) If BU has its current employees work six days a week and has them advise 350 students a
day. Therefore, the average wait time will be

=   

=  
 
2. A) Cost if BU hires two extra advisors for the registration period:
Advisor salary cost = 12 advisors × 10 days × $100 = $12,000
B) Cost if BU has its 10 advisors work six days a week for the registration period:
Advisor salary cost = 10 advisors × 10 days × $100 + 10 advisors × 2 days ×
$150 = $13,000
Alternative B is more costly for BU.