This project should be done in groups of size 2 to 4. All students must be in the same section.

1) Select a local grocery store to study. If your group prefers, study the number of tellers at a bank instead, or cashiers at the student center. Prepare a list describing all of the data you would want to obtain, in order to be able to perform such a study. For example, you might want information about costs, customer arrivals, etc.

2) It seems obvious that there is a direct proportional relationship between the number of cashiers and the costs incurred (salaries, benefits). (In fact the relationship may not be quite so simple, but that is another story.) However, here is a question with no obvious answer: what is the relationship between the number of cashiers and the time spent by customers, waiting in line? This is a fundamental technical problem which underlies the business question. Decide what data you need to collect to be able to solve this problem. Collect it. Note: you are NOT being asked to solve the technical problem.

Suggestion: at different times of the day, the cashier/waiting time relationship changes. Pick one time of day and focus on that, to keep the project scope manageable. The method would be the same for other times of day.

3) Prepare a presentation (to be given in lab) explaining what you decided and displaying the data you collected. Use minitab or excel or other software to produce quantitative descriptors (e.g. means, s.d.s, correlations) and to create good figures or diagrams.