Problem: Jeanie Boulet is a telemarketing manager for Laser Supply, Inc., which sells replacement chemicals to businesses with copy machines. In reviewing monthly experience over the past year, Boulet found the following relations between worker-hours spent in each market segment and monthly sales generated: Businesses with fewer than 250 employees Workerhours Gross Sales 0 $6,000 100 8,500 200 10,700 300 12,600 400 14,200 500 15,500 600 16,500 700 17,200 Businesses with 250-500 employees Workerhours Gross Sales 0 $5,000 100 8,000 200 10,500 300 12,500 400 14,000 500 15,000 600 15,500 700 15,500 Businesses with over 500 employees Workerhours Gross Sales 0 $7,000 100 9,000 200 10,500 300 11,500 400 12,300 500 12,900 600 13,400 13,700 700
a. Boulet employs her telemarketers for 1,000 worker-hours per month, how should she allocate the hours among market segments to maximize gross sales? Please show your work and briefly explain your reasoning
b. Calculate Boulet's total profit if profit margins are 5 percent of gross