Write a minimum of 250 words for each of the discussion questions below.

The development of linear programming is perhaps among the most important scientific advances of the mid-20th century. Today, it is one of the standard tools that has saved many millions of dollars for most companies and enterprises.

1. Identify at least two reasons for the importance of linear programming in an enterprise of your choice and describe the impact that linear programming has had in that enterprise in recent decades.
2. Provide a specific example of a linear programming model related to the enterprise that you have selected and interpret the slack variables of your example.
3. Describe how the information obtained about the shadow prices (i.e., “dual values“) of your example can be used by the decision-making sector of that enterprise. (You do not have to write a mathematical formulation of your example. Simply mention the objective, the decision variables, and a few possible constraints to describe your model example).

• In one reply to a classmate, compare and contrast the similarities and differences between his/her model and your model.
• In your second reply (made to another classmate), compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the slack variables and the shadow prices of his/her model and those of your model.