Graphical Comparison of Marginal and Average Product

A farm manager is deciding whether to hire one additional farmhand to help with the harvest. The farm currently employs 10 farmhands who collectively harvest 500 bushels of apples per day. To make the most profitable decision about hiring an 11th worker, which of the following pieces of information is most crucial for the manager to determine?

Productivity Analysis at a Bakery

A company's management notes that the average output per employee for the entire year was higher than the previous year's average. From this single piece of information, they can confidently conclude that the last employee hired during the year produced more output than the company's new yearly average.

Hiring Decision at a Manufacturing Plant

Match each scenario with the productivity concept it best illustrates.

Productivity Measures in Decision-Making

Interpreting Productivity Data

Productivity at a Software Firm

A factory employs 5 workers. The output produced by the 5th worker alone is 20 units. If the average output per worker for all 5 workers is 25 units, it must be true that the average output per worker for the first 4 workers was greater than 25 units.

If the output generated by one additional worker is greater than the average output of the existing workforce, what will happen to the average output per worker once this new worker is included in the calculation?