The office staff of XYZ Corporation presently consists of three bookkeepers, P, Q, R and 5 secretaries
S, T, U, V, W. The management is planning to open a new office in another city using 2 bookkeepers
and 3 secretaries of the present staff. To do so they plan to separate certain individuals who don‟t
function well together. The following guidelines were established to set up the new office:
(i) Bookkeepers P and R are constantly finding fault with one another and should not be sent
together to the new office as a team.
(ii) R and T function well alone but not as a team, they should be separated.
(iii) S and V have not been on speaking terms and shouldn‟t go together.
(iv) Since S and U have been competing for promotion they shouldn‟t be a team.
If $S$ goes to the new office, which of the following is true?
Solution
If $S$ is selected:
$V$ cannot go (condition iii)
$U$ cannot go (condition iv)
Remaining secretaries must include $T$ and $W$.
Since $T$ is selected, $R$ cannot go (condition ii).
Thus $R$ cannot go and $W$ must go.