ITPEC IP October 2024 Question 52
For software development work, a plan is created to complete it with 10 people in a period of 15 days. However, it became known that only eight (8) members of staff could be obtained for the first five (5) days. In order to complete the work in 15 days as planned, how many staff members are required from the 6-th day? Here, the productivity of each member of staff is the same.
Explanation
11 staff members — with equal productivity, the total effort in person-days stays fixed.
- •Planned work: 10 × 15 = 150 person-days
- •Done in days 1 to 5: 8 × 5 = 40 person-days
- •Remaining: 150 − 40 = 110 person-days over the 10 days from day 6 to day 15
- •Staff needed: 110 ÷ 10 = 11
Answer (b)
Why not others:
- •(a) 10 — keeps the original headcount, giving only 10 × 10 = 100 person-days and leaving the 10 person-days lost in the first five days undone
- •(c) 12 — adds back the 2 missing people for the rest of the project; the shortfall is only 2 × 5 = 10 person-days, which one extra person covers in 10 days
- •(d) 14 — gives 14 × 10 = 140 person-days, 30 more than the 110 that remain
Key rule: When productivity is equal, work is people times days: subtract the effort already done, then divide the remainder by the days left.
Project Management · AI-written, may contain errors
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