You are a senior in college, assigned to work with a certain client for the semester as a part of your final project. The client's company has a problem, or "an opportunity for growth" that they need to solve, but you don't have enough information to solve it.

You do know that the company is responsible for exclusive technical and managerial training within their field (meaning that only they can train others) by providing instructional classes. The current method of completing this plan has not been well structured because it is reliant on the knowledge of the section managers and course instructors and what they can provide in order to maintain the requirements given to them. As a result of this incomplete and non-structured plan, the company has been losing resources within its yearly budget and the non-allocation of employee hours to produce an efficient work environment. The company is seeking aid in determining a model to help equivalate the number of Instructors to the number of hours of instruction that can be provided. There are 8 Technical Training Sections in the organization based on particular disciplines of technical training. Each Section has independent variables that factor into determining the ratio of instructors to hours of instruction.

Due to budget constraints and employee attrition, they are looking for a new model to distribute instructors. This new model would also convey to stakeholders and other agencies an accurate estimate of required resources, and allow those same stakeholders and agencies a better understanding of the effects of either increasing or decreasing this company's staffing levels or budget. The client wants us to :

1.) Analyze each section to determine the variables they face in deciding their output.  
 
2.) Determine a relative quantitative measure of these variables.
 
3.) Create a partial/complete automated tool and/or model using MS Excel that can consider the shifting variables and provide a relative number of hours.

What information are you missing to satisfy all the requirements and construct such a model? What questions would you ask the client to get all the information you need?

To construct a model that satisfies all the requirements, I would need the following information:

1. Detailed description of the current method of determining the number of instructors for each technical training section.
2. A list of all the independent variables that factor into determining the ratio of instructors to hours of instruction for each section.
3. The current number of instructors and hours of instruction for each technical training section.
4. The company's yearly budget for technical training and how it is currently allocated.
5. The company's employee attrition rate and how it affects the number of instructors.
6. The specific constraints and requirements for the new model.
7. The client's goals for the new model, such as reducing costs, increasing efficiency, or improving the quality of training.
8. Historical data of instructors, hours of instruction, and budget over the past few years.

To get this information, I would ask the client the following questions:

1. Can you provide a detailed description of the current method of determining the number of instructors for each technical training section?
2. What are the independent variables that factor into determining the ratio of instructors to hours of instruction for each section?
3. How many instructors and hours of instruction does each technical training section currently have?
4. What is the company's yearly budget for technical training and how is it currently allocated?
5. What is the company's employee attrition rate and how does it affect the number of instructors?
6. Are there any specific constraints and requirements for the new model that we should be aware of?
7. What are the client's goals for the new model? Are they looking to reduce costs, increase efficiency, or improve the quality of training?
8. Can you provide historical data of instructors, hours of instruction, and budget over the past few years?

Additionally, I would also ask,

9. Are the instructors' work hours fixed or can they be varied?
10. Are the number of students and their level of knowledge consistent for each section or do they vary?
11. Are there any prerequisites or dependencies between the sections that affect the number of instructors or hours of instruction?
12. Are there any compliance or regulatory requirements that need to be considered in the new model?
13. Can the company outsource any of the training to other vendors?
14. How does the company evaluate the effectiveness of the training and how does it affect the number of instructors or hours of instruction?