Assignment 2: Data Analysis

Due: Monday, 9:00 am (eastern), Week 6 (Weight: 20%)

Overview

This assignment picks up where the last one left off. Having accurately framed the core problem/opportunity in Assignment 1, you will now turn your attention to collecting, organizing, and analyzing the data you are using to test your hypothesis. You are not yet ready to propose a specific action plan for your business. You will focus on evaluating what data you have and don’t have, and on identifying patterns, trends, and anomalies. Because you can never have complete data, your analysis must acknowledge what you know and what you don’t know. But, even with incomplete data, your actions must be reasonable given the time frame and resources you have. Those actions – your strategic plan – will be developed in Assignment 3.

 Instructions

For this assignment, you will build on your first assignment by including an additional 3 to 4 pages to present your analysis of the data. Your submission must include the work you did in Assignment 1 and must provide relevant and quantifiable data, models, calculations, and analysis. Use the topics below to organize this section of your Board Brief: 

1.     Data Sources and Reliability

a.     What data were the most critical to the analysis of the problem/opportunity you identified in Assignment 1? Explain.

b.     What sources did you use to gather the data?

c.     How reliable and complete are the data you are using? What steps did you take to validate this?

d.     What data are unknown (or unknowable) at this stage? How does this impact your analysis?

 

2.     Data Tools and Analysis

a.     Drawing from the “Types of Analysis” guide and other resources from the course, what tools and techniques have you used in your analysis? Why did you select these?

b.     Applying the analysis tools to your selected data, what patterns, trends, and anomalies did you uncover?

c.     How do these patterns, trends, and anomalies shed light on the problem/opportunity you identified?  

d.     Leveraging your work in the Discussion Questions and the guidance from our course materials, include charts, tables, and/or other visual supports to ensure that your data tells a clear story that your reader can easily understand.  

 

3.     Conclusion and Action Items

a. What does your analysis tell you about where you should focus your efforts to drive meaningful improvement?  

Formatting and Submission Requirements 

•        Submit your work in Word

•        Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, your professor’s name, and the course title and date

•        Include a references page with your sources

•        The cover page and the references page are not included in the required page length

•        Use professional font (Times New Roman or Arial), 10-12 font size, and double-space

•        Headings are used to identify main topics and subtopics  

•        Paragraphs are separated by a single space

                

Rubric: Assignment 2

Criteria	Unsatisfactory	Low Pass	Pass	High Pass	Honors
1. Data Sources and Reliability   Weight:25%	Response was missing, inaccurate, or offtopic, and/or addressed 2 or fewer of the questions	Provided a basic response to 2 or more of the questions; contained minimal detail or insight into the value of the data	Provided a good response to 3 or more of the questions; demonstrated good attention to detail and insight into the value of the data	Response provided a complete and wellreasoned treatment of all 4 questions and provided very good additional detail and insight into the value of the data	Met HP criteria plus added significant and relevant commentary on data identification and collection and application processes
2. Data Tools and Analysis   Weight: 25%	Did not submit an adequate response for any of the data analysis questions	Submitted a complete and accurate response for 2 or fewer questions	Submitted a complete and accurate response for 3 questions, but lacked sufficient exploration of main themes	Submitted a complete and wellreasoned treatment of all 3 questions supported by specific examples	Met HP criteria plus added significant relevant insight from additional sources
3. Data Presentation   Weight: 30%	Data presentation was missing or poorly displayed; did not make use of appropriate charts, tables, graphs, or other tools covered in the course	Data presentation used 2 or fewer tools covered in the course and/or selection of tools was arbitrary and did not direct the reader to critical patterns, trends, and anomalies	Data presentation used 3 or more tools covered in the course, but selection of tools seemed arbitrary; critical patterns, trends, and anomalies were not clearly displayed	Data presentation used 3 or more tools covered in the course; selection of tools was appropriate for each data set and enabled the reader to clearly identify critical patterns, trends, and anomalies	Met all HP criteria plus made excellent use of color, page layout, and other design elements that made the paper engaging and visually compelling
4. Conclusions and Action Items   Weight: 20%	Conclusions and action items were missing, unclear, or did not connect the data and analysis	Conclusions and action items were  basic and lacked sufficient detail or did not connect the data and analysis	Conclusions and action items were  sound and supported by the data and analysis	Conclusions and action items demonstrated excellent insight and were wellgrounded in the data and analysis, demonstrating a  solid grasp of realworld obstacles and opportunities	Met all HP criteria plus included additional insights and references, demonstrating a thorough understanding of Jack’s guidance on ‘eating and dreaming’