GMS401 CHAPTER 6: LEARNING CURVES EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
Learning Curves
The premise that people and organizations get better at their tasks as the tasks are
repeated; sometimes called experience curves
- learning usually follows a negative exponential curve
- first applied to the industry by T.P. Wright of Curtis-Wright Corp. in 1936
- LC have been applied not only to labour but also to a wide variety of other costs
- LC play a major role in many strategic decisions related to employment levels, costs,
capacity and pricing
- LC based on a doubling of production - when production doubles, the decrease in time
per unit affects the rate of the learning curve
T x L^n = Time required for the nth unit
where
T = unit cost or time of the first unit
L = learning curve rate
n = number of times T is doubled
Learning Curves in Services and Manufacturing
AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
Learning Curves
The premise that people and organizations get better at their tasks as the tasks are
repeated; sometimes called experience curves
- learning usually follows a negative exponential curve
- first applied to the industry by T.P. Wright of Curtis-Wright Corp. in 1936
- LC have been applied not only to labour but also to a wide variety of other costs
- LC play a major role in many strategic decisions related to employment levels, costs,
capacity and pricing
- LC based on a doubling of production - when production doubles, the decrease in time
per unit affects the rate of the learning curve
T x L^n = Time required for the nth unit
where
T = unit cost or time of the first unit
L = learning curve rate
n = number of times T is doubled
Learning Curves in Services and Manufacturing
