Solution of the Quota Problem by a Successive-Reduction Method

Abstract

This paper gives a description and illustrations of a general method of solution of the so-called “quota problem” in personnel assignment. The introduction gives a formulation of the problem and an outline of the method of solution. In the following section, general solutions and illustrations are given for the cases of two and three job categories. An illustration for the case of five job categories is given in the concluding section. The quota problem is treated in reference 3, pp 28-35, and reference 4, pp 15-17. The results in this paper are extensions of results in those references. The problem is similar to a special case of the personnel classification problem, reference 5, and similar to a special case of the transportation problem, reference 1, pp 281-298, and reference 2.