GMS 401 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Exponential Distribution, Estimation Theory, Gross Profit

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Global Management Studies
• Course: GMS 401
• Professor: Wally Whistance- Smith

Document Summary

Learning curves: based on the premise that people and organizations become better at their tasks as the tasks are repeated, time to produce a unit decreases as more units are produced. Background -1: (cid:862)lear(cid:374)i(cid:374)g(cid:863) effe(cid:272)t first (cid:374)oted (cid:271)y t. p. Wright i(cid:374) 1936; he (cid:272)reated a (cid:862)lear(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:272)urve(cid:863) (cid:373)ath model. Used to estimate aircraft production labour in wwii, and since then to estimate many kinds of repeated activities. First example of true parametric estimating: basic idea: As people repeat a task again and again, the time it takes to do the task gradually de(cid:272)reases due to (cid:862)lear(cid:374)i(cid:374)g(cid:863) Rate of learning is greatest at first when (cid:862)ignorance(cid:863) is greatest; rate of learning decreases as ignorance decreases. Background -2: at first, learning was attributed to increased motor skills in the workers as they repeated their tasks. Later it was realized that management also could contribute to learning with better tools and processes.