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Assignment Method: Examples of How Resources Are Allocated

What Is the Assignment Method?

The assignment method is a way of allocating organizational resources in which each resource is assigned to a particular task. The resource could be monetary, personnel , or technological.

Understanding the Assignment Method

The assignment method is used to determine what resources are assigned to which department, machine, or center of operation in the production process. The goal is to assign resources in such a way to enhance production efficiency, control costs, and maximize profits.

The assignment method has various applications in maximizing resources, including:

Companies can make budgeting decisions using the assignment method since it can help determine the amount of capital or money needed for each area of the company. Allocating money or resources can be done by analyzing the past performance of an employee, project, or department to determine the most efficient approach.

Regardless of the resource being allocated or the task to be accomplished, the goal is to assign resources to maximize the profit produced by the task or project.

Example of Assignment Method

A bank is allocating its sales force to grow its mortgage lending business. The bank has over 50 branches in New York but only ten in Chicago. Each branch has a staff that is used to bring in new clients.

The bank's management team decides to perform an analysis using the assignment method to determine where their newly-hired salespeople should be allocated. Given the past performance results in the Chicago area, the bank has produced fewer new clients than in New York. The fewer new clients are the result of having a small market presence in Chicago.

As a result, the management decides to allocate the new hires to the New York region, where it has a greater market share to maximize new client growth and, ultimately, revenue.

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Assignment method definition

What is the assignment method.

The assignment method is any technique used to assign organizational resources to activities. The best assignment method will maximize profits , typically through cost controls , increases in efficiency levels, and better management of bottleneck operations.

Examples of Assignment Methods

An assignment method can be used to determine the optimal number of people to assign to a work crew, or which jobs to schedule for a production process, or which salespeople to assign to a sales territory.

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Assignment Problem: Meaning, Methods and Variations | Operations Research

After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. Meaning of Assignment Problem 2. Definition of Assignment Problem 3. Mathematical Formulation 4. Hungarian Method 5. Variations.

Meaning of Assignment Problem:

An assignment problem is a particular case of transportation problem where the objective is to assign a number of resources to an equal number of activities so as to minimise total cost or maximize total profit of allocation.

The problem of assignment arises because available resources such as men, machines etc. have varying degrees of efficiency for performing different activities, therefore, cost, profit or loss of performing the different activities is different.

Thus, the problem is “How should the assignments be made so as to optimize the given objective”. Some of the problem where the assignment technique may be useful are assignment of workers to machines, salesman to different sales areas.

Definition of Assignment Problem:

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Suppose there are n jobs to be performed and n persons are available for doing these jobs. Assume that each person can do each job at a term, though with varying degree of efficiency, let c ij be the cost if the i-th person is assigned to the j-th job. The problem is to find an assignment (which job should be assigned to which person one on-one basis) So that the total cost of performing all jobs is minimum, problem of this kind are known as assignment problem.

The assignment problem can be stated in the form of n x n cost matrix C real members as given in the following table:

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Assignment Method of Teaching

Assignment method.

Assignment method as the name suggests students are assigned some tasks-theoretical as well as practical nature for being performed at their parts in the school, at the workshop or laboratory, library or at their home. They are provided necessary guidance instruction and also the specific outlines for completing their assignments in time.

Assignment is a necessary part of the teaching and learning process, helping us measure whether our students have really learned what we want them to learn. While exams and quizzes are certainly favorite and useful methods of assessment, out of class assignments (written or otherwise) can offer similar insights into our students' learning. And just as creating a reliable test takes thoughtfulness and skill, so does creating meaningful and effective assignments.

Undoubtedly, many instructors have been on the receiving end of disappointing student work, left wondering what went wrong, and often, those problems can be remedied in the future by some simple fine-tuning of the original assignment. This paper will take a look at some important elements to consider when developing assignments, and offer some easy approaches to creating a valuable assessment experience for all involved.

Features of the Assignment Method

Importance of Assignments

Types of assignment method

1. page-by-page assignment.

This type is sometimes called the textbook assignment. It designates the number of pages to be covered. Page-by-page assignment is unsatisfactory, but recent studies have revealed that this type is still widely used in the elementary grades.

2. Problem assignment

This type of assignment gets away from the basic textbook idea. It encourages the use of references and stimulates reflective thinking. In this type the problem to be solved is the prime consideration. Special directions and suggestions are important in this type of assignment.

3. Topical assignment

In this kind of assignment the topic to be developed is the prime consideration. This is also a form of textbook assignment which is often given in social and natural science subjects.

4. Project assignment

This is a special type of assignment which is best adapted to vocational courses, to natural science subjects, and in some measure to social science subjects and other content subjects. In this type of assignment a project is considered a unit.

5. Contract assignment

This form of assignment is extensively used in individualized types of instruction with the main purpose of adjusting the task to the ability and interest of the individual.

6. Unit assignment

This type is associated with the Mastery Plan and the Cycle Plan of instruction. It is best adapted to the subjects which are divided into units. The so-called flexible assignment is used with the unit assignment plan.

7. Cooperative or group assignment

Cooperative assignment is most frequently utilized in a socialized type of recitation, or in a project method of instruction. Assignment of this type stimulates pupils to do their own thinking and to organize their materials. Here pupils also participate in determining desirable objectives and in deciding what should be done to attain them. Cooperative assignment can be utilized to advantage in many high school classes.

8. Syllabus assignment

Syllabus assignment is often utilized in the college or university. In this type of assignment, questions and references are given to guide the students. Here again guide questions and other suggestions are given to insure attention to the important points of the lesson.

9. Drill assignment

It is the purpose of this assignment to strengthen the connections formed in the process of growth in mental motor skills. Memorizing a poem or mastery of facts or simple combination facts in Arithmetic are good examples of this type of assignment. Drill assignment, like other type of assignment, should be motivated.

Merits of Assignment Method

1. Development of useful habit:- Assignment method helps in imbibing useful habits like below:

2. Recognition of individual differences:- The assignment are alloted to the students on the basis of their mental abilities, capacities, interests and aptitudes. They are also allowed to execute their assignments according to their own pace. The brighter ones have not to wait for the slow learners as they can undertake next higher assignments after finishing the one in hand.

3. Provides freedom to work:- There is no restrictions of time both in term of starting and finishing with the assignment. The duration for the execution of the assignment depends upon the mental and physical stamina of the pupil. They may go to the library or work in the laboratory. according to their convenience.

Demerits of Assignment Method

1. Strain on the teacher:- The teacher is expected to work hard in the method for preparing the assignments, assigning these to the students individually or in groups, guiding the students at the proper time in a proper way and evaluating their work.

2. Not suitable to all types of learners:- This method does not suit student of low intelligence and also those having average capacities. Similarly, it cannot also work with the students who are irresponsible or careless and thus cannot be relied to finish their assignment properly in a specified time.

3. Provides stimulation for cheating:- Assignment method may provide temptation or compulsion to a number of students for copying the answers of the questions and results of the experiments from the readily available source or note book of their classmates. If it happens, the very purpose of these assignments is completely lost.

Precautions in the Planning of Assignments

Assignment Method – Concept, Characteristics and Steps | Operations Management

Assignment method.

Organizational resources are allocated using the assignment method. This involves assigning tasks and jobs to resources. People can be assigned to projects, machines to jobs, and salespeople to territories. It is most often aimed at minimizing total costs or the time required to complete the task. Assigning jobs or workers to machines (or projects) is an important characteristic of assignment problems.

Characteristics of Assignment Method

The characteristics of the Assignment Method are:

Tables are used in each assignment problem. Each row will indicate the cost or time associated with a particular assignment. Using the assignment method, the lowest opportunity costs for each assignment are calculated by adding and subtracting appropriate numbers. Steps to follow are as follows:

1) Take each row’s smallest number and subtract it from every row’s smallest number, and then take each column’s smallest number and subtract it from every column’s smallest number. This step has the effect of reducing the numbers in the table until a series of zeros, meaning zero opportunity costs, appear. In spite of the changes in numbers, this reduced problem will have the same optimal solution as the original.

2) Cover all zeros in the table by drawing as many straight lines as possible vertically and horizontally. We can make an optimal assignment (see step 4) if the number of lines equals one of the table’s rows or columns. We proceed to step 3 if the number of lines is less than the number of rows or columns.

3) Divide every uncovered number by the smallest number not covered by a line. If two lines intersect, add the same number to either number. If only one line covers a number, do not change its value. If an optimal assignment cannot be made, return to step 2 and continue until one can be made.

4) It is always optimal to assign values to zero locations in the table. Choosing a row or column with only one zero square is one systematic way of making a valid assignment. It is possible to assign a row and column to that square and then draw lines through them. Our next step is to choose another row or column with only one zero square among the uncovered rows and columns. Each person or machine is assigned to one task and the process is repeated until all tasks have been assigned.

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