Business Analysis

Business Analysis

DescriptionAnswer all the following questions.
Please note the following instructions:

• You may select any organisation upon which to base your answers, but you are strongly recommended to select an organisation that you have worked for or one you feel you can research easily using the Internet and academic search engines. The latter approach is acceptable where you do not work for an organisation. It is also acceptable to base your answer on a case study.
• Where you are asked to supply MS Excel (or equivalent) material such as graphs and/or data tables please note these must be embedded as figures within the file and not shown as linked files (i.e. your assignment must be a single document in word or PDF format. Turnitin cannot accept multiple files or linked files).

Question 1

You have been asked to conduct a survey of your fellow colleagues to gauge their response to the possibility of flexible working hours being introduced at the workplace. Explain the significance of the following:
a) Population
b) Sampling techniques
You must draw upon relevant theory, concepts and models and appropriate organisational examples.
In order to complete this task, you will need to consider as a first step the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the lessons on Primary Sources in the Introduction to Business Analysis Unit and add relevant academic sources to your answer.

Question 2

a) Define and discuss the features of primary and secondary data. What are the main differences?
b) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary data.
You must draw upon relevant theory, concepts and models and appropriate organisational examples.
In order to complete this task, you will need to consider as a first step the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the lessons on Primary Sources and Secondary Sources in the Introduction to Business Analysis Unit and add relevant academic sources to your answer.

Question 3

Select an appropriate quantitative measure that can be used to assess how performance of your chosen organisation varies over time. Examples could include the annual turnover or profit of a company obtained from secondary sources such as annual reports. Obtain values for this quantitative measure over five equal time periods. Calculate the following:
a) the mean
b) the standard deviation
You must include all your manual calculations. Use an Excel spreadsheet to verify your calculations and embed a copy of this spreadsheet in your answer.
In order to complete this task, you will need to consider as a first step the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the Techniques to Analyse Data Unit and add relevant external sources to your answer.

Question 4

When it comes to making sound decisions an effective management information system acts as an important part of the process. To what extent would you agree with this perspective and why?
You must draw upon relevant theory, concepts and models and appropriate organisational examples.
In order to complete this task, you will need to consider as a first step the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the Software Generated Unit and add relevant external academic sources to your answer.