Question

3. Medco plans to open a new medical center and is looking for a suitable location. They have narrowed their choice down to three locations, on Oak, Elm, and Ash Streets. They have defined four factors and have assigned weights to these factors as follows: proximity to hospitals (40), customer parking (30), appearance (20), and ease of expansion (10). They then rated the three locations for the four factors, using a scale of one to five. Their ratings are as follows: Location Factor Oak Elm Ash Proximity to hospitals Customer parking Appearance Ease of expansion 2 4 (a) Calculate the scores for each location (b) According to the model which location should they choose?

Answer 1

Solution:

(a) The scores for each of the given location is calculated as,

Total weighted score = Sum of [(Weight of the factor) x (Respective score of the location)]

1) Oak:

Total weighted score = (40 x 2) + (30 x 5) + (20 x 4) + (10 x 3)

Total weighted score = 340

2) Elm:

Total weighted score = (40 x 5) + (30 x 1) + (20 x 2) + (10 x 4)

Total weighted score = 310

3) Ash:

Total weighted score = (40 x 3) + (30 x 3) + (20 x 5) + (10 x 1)

Total weighted score = 320

(b) On the basis of the total weighted score, location Oak should be selected. This is because Oak has the highest total weighted score of 340.