MARGINAL ANALYSIS

It is difficult to develop the conditional profit table when there are a large number of scenarios and possible actions. The marginal analysis approach sidesteps an unmanageable conditional profit table. We will illustrate the procedure and its advantages through the following example.

Example 

The fresh from the fields, vegetable and fruit wholesalers buys, produce and then sells to retailers. Currently, green peas are available. The wholesaler pays Rs.200 per box of peas. A box sold on the same day fetches Rs.300, otherwise it has a salvage value of Rs.50. Historical data has established the following demand for green peas.

The wholesaler has decided to stock the optimal number of boxes based on the expected profit criterion.

Let us solve the problem using the conditional profit table. Note that the profit generated by the sale of one box is Rs.100 and the loss incurred on an unsold box is Rs.150.00.

Conditional Profit Table

From the table, we see that the optimal stocking level is 25 (which generates the maximum expected profit of Rs.2,292.50).

As it can be seen, this approach is tedious and the conditional profit table is bound to become unmanageable.