Q3.

[9 Marks] Upon graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, one of your seniors has been struggling in
his career as a freelance consultant. One fine day, he wins a consultancy project worth Rs. 1 million.
The project can be broken into 5 different, completely independent, smaller assignments.
However, the payment is to be made only on successful completion of the entire project.
Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project, he has approached you to help him. Your senior
(let’s now call him your boss) has decided to prepare the basic guideline for each of the 5
assignments, following which you can work on the details. Both of you have together come up
with the following estimate of the time required to complete the different assignments. Since the
payment is to be made only on the successful completion of the entire project, the longer you take
to deliver, the more interest you have to forgo on Rs. 1 million that you can earn by investing it in
the bank. To minimize the loss of interest income:

i. [3 Marks] What is the order in which your boss should work on the 5 assignments?
ii. [3 Marks] What is the order in which you should work on the 5 assignments?
iii. [3 Marks] When would you be able to complete the project if you were to minimize the
total interest income that you would have to forgo?

Time (in weeks) for

Time (in weeks) for
Assignment No. Guideline preparation by
detailed work by you
your boss
1 1 5
2 8 2
3 1.5 7
4 3 6
5 4.5 2.5