In: Statistics and Probability
A machine shop owner is attempting to decide whether
to purchase a new drill press, a lathe, or a grinder. The
profit or loss from each purchase are shown in the following table
where one of two states of nature could occur (the company succeeds
in getting a military contract, or it does not get a
contract).
Contract status
Purchase
Get Contract
No contract
Drill press
40000
-8000
Lathe
25000
4000
Grinder
12000
10,000
a-for each purchase decision show the numbers you use
when using an optimistic method of choosing which one item to
purchase and indicate which item is purchased by this
method.
b-for each purchase decision show the numbers you use
when using a conservative method of choosing which one item to
purchase and indicate which item is purchased by this
method.
c-show the numbers you use in a new table using the
minimax regret method of choosing which one item to purchase and
indicate which item is purchased by this method.
d-What is the expected monetary value of each purchase
option when the probability of getting contract is .4 and which is
the best option under this probability?
e-Since .4 may be incorrect as the probability of
getting a military contract, over what range of values for the
probability of getting a contract would each purchase option be the
most favored? Show your work!
Under the maximax criteria, the best decision for the machine shop owner is to purchase a new drill press as it has the highest payoff. The payoff is $40,000
Under the maxmin criteria, the best decision for the machine shop owner is to purchase a new grinder press as it has the highest payoff. The Payoff = $6,000
According to minimax regret, we compute total regrets for each alternative and select the one with the smallest total regret. In this case, the machine shop owner chooses to buy grinder.Payoff = $26,000
Hurwicz’s criterion = α(maximum payoff for an alternative) + (1-α)(minimum payoff for an alternative)
The option that should be selected according to Hurwicz decision maker when α = 0.4 is that shop owner should purchase drill. The payoff is $13,600