A Computer Start-Up Named Pear Is Considering Entering the U

question 57

Essay

A computer start-up named Pear is considering entering the U.S.market with what they believe to be a smaller and faster computer than some of the existing products on the market.They want to get a feel for whether or not customers would be willing to switch from some of the existing bigger brands to consider their product.They want to collect a reasonable sample from across the U.S.representative of all age brackets.They have split the United States into 2 regions: East and West.They want at least 65% of their sample to cover the East and no fewer than 25% of the West.They also have divided the age groups into 3 categories: 18-35,36-69,and 70 and up.They want at least 50% of their sample to be between 18-35 and at least 40% to be between 36-69.The costs per person surveyed is given in the table below: Assume that at least 1,000 people are to be surveyed.The problem is for Pear Company to decide how many people to survey from each age bracket within each region in order to minimize costs while meeting requirements.Formulate this problem as a linear program.

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Definitions:

Dividend

A portion of a company's earnings distributed to its shareholders, typically in the form of cash or additional shares.

Investing Community

A group of individuals and entities such as analysts, brokers, and investors interested in investment and financial markets.

Call Option

A financial contract giving the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy an underlying asset at a specified price within a certain period.

Intrinsic Value

The actual, fundamental worth of an asset, investment, or company, based on underlying perception of its true value including all aspects of the business.