Problem 1. A contractor estimates that the size of the workforce needed over the next 6 weeks is 4, 7, 9, 5, 6, and 7 workers, respectively.
Excess labor kept on the force will cost $400 per worker per week, and new hiring (including week 1) in any week will incur a fixed cost of $200 plus $300 per worker. The cost of firing is $100 per worker.
Find the optimal hiring schedule (check lecture note 34 for a sample format of a hiring schedule) using Backward Recursion DP. You need to include all steps.
Problem 2. The ABC Mall conducts special events to attract potential patrons. Among the events that seem to attract teenagers, the young/middle aged group, the senior citizens, the two most popular are band concerts and art shows. Their costs per presentation are $ 2000 and $4500, respectively. The total (strict) annual budget allocated to the two events is $20,000. The mall manager estimates the attendance as follows:
Number attending per presentation: Event Teenagers Band concert 150
Art Show 60
Young/middle age seniors 90 10 350 250
The manager has set minimum goals of 900, 1500 and 800 for the attendance of teenagers, the young/middle-aged group, and seniors, respectively. Formulate the problem as a goal programming (GP) model (use the Weights method to develop the objective function of the GP, feel free to make any reasonable assumption).