After attending his first symphony concert, a young MBA made the following recommendations:

• For a considerable period, the four oboe players had nothing to do. Their number should be reduced, and their work spread more evenly over the whole concert program, thus avoiding peaks of inactivity.
• All twelve violins were playing identical notes. This seems unnecessary duplication, and the staff in this section should be drastically cut. If a large volume of sound is required, this could be obtained through use of an amplifier.
• Much effort was involved in playing the 16th notes. This seems an excessive refinement, and it is recommended that all notes should be rounded up to the nearest 8th note. If this were done, it would be possible to use paraprofessionals instead of experienced musicians.
• No useful purpose is served by repeating with horns the passage that has already been handled by the strings. If all such redundant passages were eliminated, the concert could be reduced from two hours to twenty minutes.
• In many cases, the operators were using one hand for holding the instrument, whereas use of a fixture would have rendered the idle hand available for other work.
• It was noted that excessive effort was being used occasionally by the players of the wind instruments, whereas one air compressor could supply adequate air for all instruments under more accurately controlled conditions
• Obsolescence of equipment is another matter into which it is suggested further investigation could be made, as it was reported in the program that the leading violinist’s instrument was already several hundred years old, so that if normal depreciation schedules have been applied, the value of the instrument should have been reduced to zero, and it is possible that purchase of more modern equipment could be considered.