Assignment Title

Research for a company you know, is familiar to you or a case study.

Context

Briefly describe your organisation and what it does.

Task 1

Planning is an important aspect of business. Based on the company or case study you have chosen, you will create a plan to outline how you will collect secondary and primary data based on a defined issue.

Task 2

Once a plan is formed you will then decide the most appropriate methodology to use in the collection of this data, including the rationale for this. Part of the methodology will outline the sampling framework. This information will be presented in the formal report and in a later presentation.

Task 3

A questionnaire is one method of gathering primary data. For the company or case study you have chosen you will design a short questionnaire to help gather information based on the defined issue.

Understand a range of techniques to analyse data effectively for business purposes (learning outcome 2)

Task 1

You have already decided on the company or case study, the plan for collecting data, the sampling method, and have designed a questionnaire. This questionnaire will gather the data necessary. This data will then be analysed to help inform the business decision to be made.

You will create this information by summarising data using representative values.

Task 2

With the data on hand, you will analyse the data and draw valid business conclusion in your defined business context.

Task 3

As part of the analyses you will examine the data using measure of dispersion to inform the business scenario.

Task 4

With your company or case study in mind, and the data gathered, explain how quartiles, percentiles and the correlation coefficient are used to draw useful conclusions in a business context

Be able to produce information in appropriate formats for decision making in an organisation (learning outcome 3)

Task 1

A visual representation of data can be important in communicating your findings. Based on your chosen company or case study, use aids to help communicate your data. You will produce graphs using spreadsheets and draw valid conclusions based on the information derived.

Task 2

With the data gathered and being looked at, you will create trend lines in spreadsheets graphs to assist in forecasting for the specified business issues as defined by you.

Task 3

With all the data gathered and examined, you will prepare a presentation using suitable software and techniques to disseminate the information effectively, based on the issues defined for the company or case study you have chosen.

Task 4

With all the information gathered and examined for the company or case study you have chosen, you will compile your plan, your method, your analyses and your findings and decisions in a formal business report.

Be able to use software generated information to make decisions in an organisation (learning outcome 4)

This section will allow you to look at different software generated information and your assignment will be presented in a separate, short formal report. This can incorporate aspects from companies and case studies.

Task 1

Management information systems are a part of everyday working life. We use computers and information processing tools for operational, tactical and strategic levels in the organisation. You will get to use appropriate information processing tools. Some of these may have been used in the preparation of your report.

Task 2

Project Management is an important aspect in business. You will chose an activity of your choice and prepare a project plan and determine the critical path.

Task 3

As we have seen in case studies, financial information is necessary in informing and making a business decision. You will demonstrate use a number of financial tools that are used for decision making purposes:
Net present value
Discounted cash flow
Internal rates of return