Deck 6: Learning Curves

Question 1

A learning curve shows the increase in time required for each successive unit completed.

Answer 1

False
Explanation: There are two ways to think about the improved performance that comes with learning curves: time per unit (as in Exhibit 6.1A) or units of output per time period (as in 6.1B).Time per unit shows the decrease in time required for each successive unit.Cumulative average time shows the cumulative average performance times as the total number of units increases.

Question 2

An assumption of learning curves is that the time required to complete a unit will decrease at an increasing rate as the cumulative number of units completed increases.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Learning curve theory is based on three assumptions:
1.The amount of time required to complete a given task or unit of a product will be less each time the task is undertaken.2.The unit time will decrease at a decreasing rate.3.The reduction in time will follow a predictable pattern.

Question 3

A learning curve is a line displaying the way unit production time decreases as time passes.

Answer 3

False
Explanation: A learning curve is a line displaying the relationship between unit production time and the cumulative number of units produced.

Question 4

On a learning curve plot, the time per unit is usually displayed on the vertical axis.

Question 5

When plotted on a graph, the learning curve can't be expressed as logarithm.

Question 6

Economies of scale and the learning curve have opposite effects on capacity.

Question 7

The point at which the scale economy curve and the learning curve intersect is called the capacity optimum.

Question 8

A learning curve shows the decrease in time required for each successive unit completed.

Question 9

You time someone completing a single task the first time at 10 minutes, and the second time they do the task it takes 9 minutes.You should use an 80 percent learning curve to estimate the length of time this worker will take to complete this task in the future.

Question 10

An assumption of learning curves is that the time required to complete a unit will increase at an increasing rate as the cumulative number of units completed increases.

Question 11

You time someone completing a single task the first time at 120 minutes, and the second time they do the task it takes 108 minutes.You should use a 90 percent learning curve to estimate the length of time this worker will take to complete this task in the future.

Question 12

The unit improvement factor for a 60 percent learning curve at 25 units is 0.0933.The first and second timings of a person doing a job are 5 minutes and 3 minutes, respectively.The learning-adjusted time estimate for the unit number 25 is 0.0933 minute.

Question 13

You time someone completing a single task the first time at 100 minutes, and the second time they do the task it takes 90 minutes.You should use a 90 percent learning curve to estimate the length of time this worker will take to complete this task in the future.

Question 14

The unit improvement factor for a 60 percent learning curve at 25 units is 0.0933.The first and second timings of a person doing a job are 10 minutes and 6 minutes, respectively.The learning-adjusted time estimate for the unit number 25 is 0.9330 minute.

Question 15

The learning curve states that the more experience you have in a particular activity; the less surprised you will be when something goes wrong.

Question 16

The unit improvement factor is not as useful as arithmetic tabulation of learning curve statistics in adjusting time estimates for learning.

Question 17

A learning curve is a line displaying the relationship between unit production time and the cumulative number of units produced.

Question 18

You time someone completing a single task the first time at 100 minutes, and the fourth time they do the task it takes 81 minutes.You should use a 90 percent learning curve to estimate the length of time this worker will take to complete this task in the future.

Question 19

An assumption of learning curves is that the time required to complete a unit will decrease at a decreasing rate as the cumulative number of units completed increases.

Question 20

You time someone completing a single task the first time at 100 minutes, and the fourth time they do the task it takes 81 minutes.You should use an 81 percent learning curve to estimate the length of time this worker will take to complete this task in the future.

Question 21

The 50^th repetition of a job is timed at 100 minutes.If the learning curve for this job is 90 percent, what is the estimated time for the 100^th repetition of this job?

A)49.66 minutes
B)81 minutes
C)90 minutes
D)100 minutes
E)110 minutes

Question 22

You have just timed a person doing a hair cut for the first time.It took 50 minutes.What unit improvement factor learning curve would you use if the person took 35 minutes on the second hair cut?

A)35 percent
B)50 percent
C)70 percent
D)75 percent
E)80 percent

Question 23

You have just timed a person doing a job a four times.The first time it took the person 120 minutes, the second time it took 90 minutes, the third time it took 76.1 minutes, and the fourth time it took 67.5 minutes.Which learning curve unit improvement factor should you use?

A)25 percent
B)75 percent
C)80 percent
D)85 percent
E)90 percent

Question 24

You have determined that a 75 percent learning curve is appropriate for a task.If the initial timing of the person performing that job was 50 minutes, and if you need the job performed 500 times, how many minutes of work will be required?

A)25,000 minutes
B)3,184 minutes
C)1,895 minutes
D)1,379 minutes
E)636.8 minutes

Question 25

An assumption of learning curve theory is which of the following?

A)Unit time will decrease at a decreasing rate.
B)Unit time will increase at a decreasing rate.
C)Unit time will decrease at an increasing rate.
D)Unit time will increase at an increasing rate.
E)Unit time will hold constant.

Question 26

You have just timed a person doing a job a few times.The first time it took the person 25 minutes, the second time it took 20 minutes, and the third time it took 17.55 minutes.Which learning curve unit improvement factor should you use?

A)25 percent
B)75 percent
C)80 percent
D)85 percent
E)90 percent

Question 27

Learning curves can be applied to individuals and to organizations.

Question 28

If a person performing a task has been achieving a 75 percent learning curve and you know that the task will end after the 80^th unit, the last unit produced will take 17.12 percent as much time as the first unit.

Question 29

If a person performing a task has been achieving an 80 percent learning curve and it took 10 minutes to produce the first unit, the total time to produce 100 units will be 326.5 minutes.

Question 30

Which of the following computational methods are used to calculate learning curve statistics?

A)Simple compounding
B)Exponential smoothing
C)Logarithms
D)Calculus
E)Negative recursive multiplication

Question 31

If a person performing a task has been achieving an 85 percent learning curve and if it took 1 minute to produce the first unit, the total time to produce 1,000 units will be 437.5 minutes.

Question 32

The unit improvement factor for a 60 percent learning curve at 25 units is 0.0933.The first and second timings of a person doing a job are 5 minutes and 3 minutes respectively.Which of the following is the learning-adjusted time estimate for unit number 25?

A)0.4665 minute
B)0.0933 minute
C)4.665 minutes
D)9.33 minutes
E)3 minutes

Question 33

The 50^th repetition of a job is timed at 100 minutes.If the learning curve for this job is 90 percent, what is the estimated time for the 200^th repetition of this job?

A)44.69 minutes
B)81 minutes
C)90 minutes
D)100 minutes
E)110 minutes

Question 34

An assumption of learning curve theory is which of the following?

A)The reduction in unit time will follow a predictable pattern.
B)Unit time will decrease at an increasing rate.
C)The time required to do a task will vary randomly each time the task is repeated.
D)Learning will not be transferred from one worker to the next.
E)Organizational learning is not included in learning theory.

Question 35

The unit improvement factor for an 80 percent learning curve at 100 units is 0.2271.The first and second timings of a person doing a job are 20 minutes and 16 minutes, respectively.What is the learning-adjusted time estimate for unit number 100?

A)20 minutes
B)16 minutes
C)2.271 minutes
D)4.542 minutes
E)0.800 minute

Question 36

With a 70 percent unit improvement factor learning curve and an initial time of 100 minutes to do a job, at what number of repetitions does the job take less than 50 minutes?

A)2 repetitions of the job
B)3 repetitions of the job
C)4 repetitions of the job
D)5 repetitions of the job
E)6 repetitions of the job

Question 37

With an 80 percent unit improvement factor learning curve and an initial time of 100 minutes to do a job, at what number of repetitions will the job take less than 50 minutes?

A)5 repetitions of the job
B)6 repetitions of the job
C)7 repetitions of the job
D)8 repetitions of the job
E)9 repetitions of the job

Question 38

Learning curves have a wide range of business applications.

Question 39

You have determined that a 60 percent learning curve is appropriate for a task.If your initial timing of person performing that task was 35 minutes and if you need the task performed 1,000 times, how many minutes of work will be required?

A)3,500.0 minutes
B)1,062.5 minutes
C)705.25 minutes
D)450.5 minutes
E)220.3 minutes

Question 40

If a person performing a task has been achieving a 95 percent learning curve and you know that the task will end after the 100^th unit, the last unit produced will take 71.12 percent as much time as the first unit.

Question 41

The 10^th repetition of job is timed at 100 minutes.If the learning curve for this job is 80 percent, what is the estimated time for the 100^th repetition of this job?

A)47.66 minutes
B)62.50 minutes
C)80 minutes
D)92.50 minutes
E)100 minutes

Question 42

You are a consultant called in to estimate the costs after the employees learn how to do a job more efficiently by repetition of new product.You find a company can produce a product the first time at a cost of $5,000.If their 90 percent learning curve allows them to reduce their costs on each unit, what is the total cost of producing 100 units of the new product?

A)$500,000
B)$390,000
C)$290,700
D)$250,687
E)$250,000

Question 43

The 25^th repetition of a job is timed at 100 minutes.If the learning curve for this job is 90 percent, what is the estimated time for the 180^th repetition of this job? ________________________

Question 44

Why are learning curves useful in business?

Question 45

The general guidelines provided in the textbook on improving individual learning based on learning curves do not include which of the following?

A)Proper training
B)Work specialization
C)Early removal of workers who do not improve
D)Motivation
E)Doing one or very few jobs at a time

Question 46

You are a consultant specializing in estimating the costs after the employees learn how to do a job more efficiently by repetition.Your client can produce a product the first time at a cost of $2,500.If their 65 percent learning curve allows them to reduce their costs on each product, what is the total cost of producing 400 units of the new product?

A)$100,000
B)$78,900
C)$58,600
D)$45,765
E)$37,850

Question 47

The general guidelines provided in the textbook on improving individual learning based on learning curves include which of the following?

A)Use a cumulative improvement factor.
B)Use a unit improvement factor.
C)Do one or very few jobs at a time.
D)Explain learning logarithm analysis to workers.
E)Avoid feedback until the job is complete.

Question 48

A company's production process has an 85 percent learning curve rate.The process has produced 1,000 units to date.A process refinement is estimated to allow a future learning curve rate for the identical product of 75 percent.However, the initial unit made using the new process will take the same amount of time as the very first unit produced using the old process.At what point, using the new process, will the production rate exceed the production rate achieved by the old process?

A)By the 50^th unit
B)By the 80^th unit
C)By the 100^th unit
D)By the 120^th unit
E)By the 250^th unit

Question 49

Which of the following is a reason that there are disparities between a firm's learning curve rate and that of its industry?

A)Companies don't always report sensitive data to outside agencies accurately.
B)Learning curves don't reflect organizational learning.
C)There may be procedural differences in the manner that different firms collect and report data.
D)The starting points for different firms were different.
E)The cumulative number of units produced is different.

Question 50

Describe an example of industrial learning where learning curve analysis might be useful.

Question 51

A company's production process has a 90 percent learning rate.The process has produced 1,000 units to date.A process refinement is estimated to allow a future learning rate for the identical product of 70 percent.However, the initial unit made using the new process will take the same amount of time as the initial unit produced using the old process.At what point, using the new process, will the production rate exceed the production rate achieved by the old process?

Question 52

A company can produce a small lot of products the first time at a cost of $3,000.If their 65 percent learning curve allows them to reduce their costs on each lot, what is the cost of producing the 20^th lot?

A)$60,000
B)$18,585
C)$1,950
D)$466.20
E)$155.40

Question 53

A company can produce a small lot of products the first time at a cost of $3,000.If their 65 percent learning curve allows them to reduce their costs on each lot, what is the cost of producing the 12^th lot?

A)$14,340
B)$3,000
C)$2,896
D)$640.50
E)$213.50

Question 54

If a person performing a task has been achieving an 85 percent learning curve and if it took 1 minute to produce the first unit, what will be the total time to produce 1,000 units? ______________________

Question 55

What is a learning curve?

Question 56

A company can produce a small lot of products the first time at a cost of $10,000.If their 75 percent learning curve allows them to reduce their costs on each lot, what is the total cost of producing 10 lots?

A)$100,000
B)$93,978
C)$65,432
D)$55,890
E)$49,310

Question 57

A company can produce a small lot of products the first time at a cost of $2,000.If their 85 percent learning curve allows them to reduce their costs on each lot, what is the total cost of producing 5 lots?

A)$10,000.00
B)$9,376.50
C)$8,062.00
D)$4,031.00
E)$1,191.20

Question 58

A company's production process has an 80 percent learning curve rate.The process has produced 1,000 units to date.A process refinement is estimated to allow a future learning curve rate for the identical product of 75 percent.However, the initial unit made using the new process will take the same amount of time as the initial unit produced using the old process.At what point, using the new process, will the production rate exceed the production rate achieved by the old process?

A)Before the 50^th unit
B)Before the 80^th unit
C)Before the 100^th unit
D)Before the 120^th unit
E)Before the 250^th unit

Question 59

A company can produce a product the first time at a cost of $2,500.If its 85 percent learning curve allows the company to reduce its costs on each product, what is the total cost of producing 400 units of the new product? _________________

Question 60

What are some of the factors that stimulate learning?