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Re: Shiraki: Overtime work is a bad response to situations where orders fr
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01 Feb 2023, 21:53
Problem: Orders exceeding normal capacity
Solution 1: Overtime work. But leads to expensive and lower quality work
Solution 2: Increase capacity. Will also lead to expensive and lower quality work because inexperienced staff must be hired and experienced production staff must be reassigned to train new workers
But note that the issues in solution 2 will lead to expensive and lower quality work temporarily. Once capacity is increased (more staff is hired and trained), the experienced staff will be available for work and inexperienced staff would have been trained.
The solution 1 issues will not sort out over time because overtime will always be expensive and a strain on overworked workers.
So how do we evaluate the two solutions? Which one to choose?
If the problem (orders more than capacity) is temporary, overtime work is ok. Increasing capacity will waste resources.
But if it is chronic, increasing capacity will help. The same disadvantages may persist initially but eventually they will be resolved in solution 2.
Answer: A