Module 3 – Case
PIVOT TABLE AND MULTI-ATTRIBUTE DECISION ANALYSIS
Assignment Overview
You are the lead consultant for the Diligent Consulting
Group. It is mid-October. One of your top clients, Sunshine Floor Barn, has
just closed the books for the first three quarters of the year (January through
September). Sunshine Floor Barn requests that you analyze the sales performance
of its 5 product lines over this 3-quarter period. From past consulting work
you have done for the company, you know that Sunshine Floor Barn has 4 regions
and 18 total store locations. Each Regional Manager at the company has compiled
the data for his/her region. The raw data provided consists of the sales
revenue for each of the 5 premium flooring lines for all 4 regions and 18
locations for the first three quarters of the current year.
Case Assignment
The data have been provided in list format. Generate a Pivot
Table Report with Charts. Use the Pivot Table and Charts to analyze the data.
Following your in-depth analysis of the data, write a report to Sunshine Floor
Barn in which you discuss and analyze the data, and make appropriate
recommendations relative to how Sunshine Floor Barn should improve its sales
performance going forward.
Assignment Expectations
Data: To begin, download the list data here: Data chart for BUS520
Case 3
Excel Analysis:
Provide accurate and complete Excel analysis (Pivot Table
with Charts).
Written report:
Length requirement: 4–5 pages minimum (not including Cover
and Reference pages). NOTE: You must have 4–5 pages of written discussion and analysis.
This means you should avoid use of tables and charts as “space fillers.”
Provide a brief introduction to/background of the problem.
Using the Pivot Table and Pivot Charts, discuss and analyze
the data, noting key highs and lows, trends, etc.
Include charts from your Pivot Table to support your written
analysis. (Please do not use charts as “space fillers.” Instead, use them
strategically to support your written analysis.)
In a “Recommendations” section, give clear, specific, and
meaningful recommendations that Sunshine Floor Barn should use to improve
overall company sales.
Be sure to consider highs, lows, and trends in the data.
Which cities are the highest performers? Lowest? Which regions and quarter had
the highest sales? Lowest sales? Consider what may be driving the numbers: Poor
marketing? Outstanding marketing strategies? Inventory management? Seasonal
sales? Other? There are innumerable possibilities. Your role is to reflect on
the data, and ultimately, to use the data to give useful recommendations.
Write clearly, simply, and logically. Use double-spaced,
black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size.
Have an introduction at the beginning to introduce the
topics and use keywords as headings to organize the report.
Avoid redundancy and general statements such as “All
organizations exist to make a profit.” Make every sentence count.
Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas,
employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely
exceed five words.
Upload both your written report and Excel file to the Case 3
Dropbox.
Module 3 – SLP
PIVOT TABLE AND MULTI-ATTRIBUTE DECISION ANALYSIS
Assumed Certainty: Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM)
Scenario: You are the Vice President of Franchise Services
for the Lucky restaurant chain. You have been assigned the task of evaluating
the best location for a new Lucky restaurant. The CFO has provided you with a
template that includes 6 criteria (attributes) that you are required to use in
your evaluation of 5 recommended locations. Following are the 6 criteria that
you will use to evaluate this decision:
Traffic counts (avg. thousands/day)—the more traffic, the
more customers, and the greater the potential sales.
Building lease and taxes (thousands $ per year)—the lower the
building lease and taxes, the better.
Size of building (square feet in thousands)—a larger
building is more preferable.
Parking spaces (max number of customers parking)—more
customer parking is preferable.
Insurance costs (thousands $ per year)—lower insurance costs
are preferable.
Ease of access (subjective evaluation from observation)—you
will need to “code” the subjective data. Use Excellent = 4, Good = 3, Fair = 2,
and Poor = 1.
Now that you have collected the data from various sources
(your CFO and COO, local real estate listings, personal observation, etc.), you
have all the data you need to complete an analysis for choosing the best
location. Download the raw data for the 5 locations in this Word document:
BUS520 Module 3 SLP.docx
Assignment
Review the information and data regarding the different
alternatives for a new restaurant location. Then do the following in Excel:
Table 1: Develop an MADM table with the raw data.
Table 2: Convert the raw data to utilities (scaled on 0 to
1). Show the utility weights in a second table.
Table 3: Develop a third table with even weights (16.7%) for
each variable.
Evaluate Table 3 for the best alternative.
Table 4: Complete a sensitivity analysis by assigning
weights to each variable.
In a Word document, do the following:
Discuss the process used to put together Tables 1–4 above.
Provide the rationale you used for choosing for each of the
weights you used in Table 4.
Give your recommendation of which location the company
should choose (based on results of Table 4).
SLP Assignment Expectations
Excel Analysis
Complete Excel analysis using MADM (all four tables noted
above must be included).
Accurate Excel analysis (Excel file includes working
formulas showing your calculations; all calculations and results must be
accurate).
Written Report
Length requirements: 2–3 pages minimum (not including Cover
and Reference pages). NOTE: You must submit 2–3 pages of written discussion and
analysis. This means that you should avoid use of tables and charts as “space
fillers.”
Provide a brief introduction to/background of the problem.
Discuss the steps you used to compile the Excel analysis
(i.e., the four tables).
Discuss the assumptions used to assign weights to each
variable of your sensitivity analysis (Table 4). That is, provide the rationale
for your choice of weights for each variable.
Provide a complete and meaningful recommendation related to
the location that should be chosen as a new site.
Write clearly, simply, and logically. Use double-spaced,
black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size.
Have an introduction at the beginning to introduce the
topics and use keywords as headings to organize the report.
Avoid redundancy and general statements such as “All
organizations exist to make a profit.” Make every sentence count.
Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas,
employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely
exceed five words.
Upload both your Excel file and written Word report to the
SLP 3 Dropbox by the assignment due date.
