BIRMINGHAM CITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

College of Business, Digital Transformation, and Entrepreneurship

BUS5074 ASSESSMENT BRIEF (Resit)

MODULE TITLE:        Business Analytics

MODULE CODE:        BUS5074

MODULE LEADER:    John Colby

ISSUE DATE:             September 2023

HAND IN DATE:         3^rd January 2024 12:00 (midday)

HAND BACK DATE:    31^st January 2024

This assessment constitutes 80% of the marks for the module

Learning outcomes and assessment criteria specific to this assignment:

On completion of this assignment, students should be able to demonstrate their ability to:

Learning Outcomes

1. Evaluate current approaches of data collection for commercial purposes.
2. Apply advanced data visualisation techniques to demonstrate data summary.
3. Use commercial data analysis packages to analyse data.
4. Apply data analytics for business decision making.

Transferable skills

This assessment will assist in development of the following transferable skills:

• Being able to analyse data from multiple sources in order to support arguments you make.
• Being selective about the research you undertake.
• Structuring commercial reports succinctly and to a targeted audience.
• Consideration of the suitability of subjects to be included for your audience.
• Demonstrable skills in using standard software products.

Penalties for late submission

Late submissions are not permissible for re-sit assessments. Therefore, where a student submits a re-sit attempt after the published deadline, the student will be deemed to have failed the re-sit and the coursework will be returned to the student unmarked unless there is a support statement or valid EC claim.

Support for re-sit students

There will be one resit support session to be held during week commencing 11^th December 2023

Importance of Taking Assessments

It is important that you complete your assessment, otherwise it is classed as a failed attempt (unless you have made a successful EC claim relating to Extenuating Circumstances).

If you fail any of your modules you will have to re-take it, although there are limits on the number of times that you can re-take and you may even have to re-study a module you have failed. Having to re-sit or re-study modules means that your workload will be increased and you will be putting yourself under more pressure. You may even be liable to incur more fees if you are required to re- study a module.

The university does appreciate that there are times when you may be unable to take an assessment due to circumstances outside your control such as illness. If this is the case you need to make a formal claim for an extension or deferral, as without this you are expected to submit within the standard guidelines.

No tutor, module leader or course leader can grant any form of extension to the published deadlines – this is done by a separate team within the university to ensure consistency and fairness for all. For full guidance on what constitutes an exceptional circumstance and how to make a claim, please visit the Extenuating Circumstances page on iCity; you can also contact the Student Support Team for help.

1.1.          Method of assessment

The assessment consists of a report constructed used MS Word and MS Excel using only data as specified. It represents 80% of the marks for the module.

To pass this module, you must achieve a final overall mark of at least 40%.

• Deadlines & submission

The deadline for submissions is: 3^rd January 2024 12:00 midday

Work must be submitted online via the link provided in the Assessment area of the module’s Moodle site. Please follow the University policy regarding online submission and submitting assessed material on time (see Page 2).

Please retain a copy of your original assessment material for your own records.

• Word count

The word count for this assessment in the module specification is 3,000. However, as your work will also include the production of evidence in a spreadsheet so that your markers can judge that you have fulfilled the requirement.

1.4.          Assignment format

Please see the assessment specification for the format of the assessment you need to submit. Material should be written in formal business English and structured in a clear way to ensure that ideas are expressed effectively.

1.5.          Tutor support

Support is available at any time throughout this module from your tutor in the workshop sessions.

Specific feedback on individual assessments will only be available via face-to-face meetings in the workshops, not via email. To make the most of getting advice, it is expected that you will have already begun substantial work on your assessment and have a list of questions for your tutor prepared in advance. The incorporation of evidence in the form of analysis is crucial. You must perform your own analysis in order to satisfy the requirement of the assessment. We will not be commenting on multiple drafts of your assessment as there is a danger your work actually becomes your lecturer’s work.

There is no need to research any work outside the module save as directed in one option, hence referencing to sources would not be required in the scenario used.

Additional support sessions will be arranged prion to your submission. These will be circulated nearer the time.

Please note that tutors are unable to indicate a provisional grade for your work at any point prior to the official release date. As such, it is requested that you do not ask tutors what grade your work is likely to achieve prior to final submission.

Week 12 of the module is scheduled for assessment support. The workshop sessions in that week will be available to you to bring your work to your tutors for advice. You are also

advised to take advantage of your tutors’ availability time, where they are also able to provide support. Your tutors will not be available to review work if sent by email, only face to face during the workshop or availability times. This is because of the questions that they may well have to ask and answer need to be answered face to face.

1.6.          Plagiarism, Collusion, the use of AI Chats and Academic Misconduct

Any work you submit must be your own original work. Any work that is plagiarised – this means submitting any item of assessment which contains work produced by someone else in a way that makes it look as though it is your own work – will be subject to an academic misconduct review. This includes ‘self-plagiarism’ – you are not allowed to re-use work or significant sections from work, which you have already submitted for an assessment.

You are also not allowed to collude with others to produce work unless your assessment brief specifically outlines group work. Collusion means working with at least one other person to produce a piece of work that you then pass off as your own. You can discuss ideas for the work with other students, but you must not work with them to produce a piece of work together, you must not copy or share another student’s work, and you must not lend your work (including drafts) to another student to allow them to copy your work.

If your piece of work is very similar to that of another student, you are likely to be accused of collusion. If you are found to have made your work available for another student to copy all or part of it, you may be referred for disciplinary action even after you have completed your award and are no longer a student of the University. You must not also falsify information, resources or data in any way.

These, and any other types of academic misconduct that are likely to give you an unfair advantage in an assessment, will be referred for investigation. Academic misconduct threatens the standards of awards we make, so we take this matter extremely seriously indeed and any student found guilty of this will have penalties applied and in the most serious of cases students with be withdrawn from the course.

The use of AI generated responses is forbidden. Your analysis must be from the data provided or from directed research. No other research is necessary and should not form part of your assessment response.

2.1.          Scenario

In the assessment you are assuming the role of a management trainee in a company with multiple divisions and, as part of your training, you have been asked to produce some reports explaining why the analysis and visualisations you produce is of value to the company and how you achieved the visualisations you are providing. This assessment tests your ability both to prepare effective visualisations and to make judgements when presenting information to various audiences in business.

There are three elements to this assessment:

Element 1: Compulsory:

Analysis and visualisations derived from the Hotels spreadsheet presented in Week 8 and subsequent weeks of the module. This element is worth 50% of the marks for the assessment.

Element 2: Option (one of three):

EITHER: A thematic analysis of pubs, restaurants or cafes in an area of your choice to determine the quality of provision in that area. The information is gained from your analysis of Tripadvisor reviews. This was introduced in Week 4 of the module.

OR: An analysis of Human Resource data supplied. This was introduced in Week 6 of the module.

OR: An analysis of Marketing data supplied. This was introduced in Week 9 of the module. This element is worth 30% of the marks for the assessment.

Element 3:

Style, accuracy and layout of the report and its suitability for the intended audience. This element is worth 20% of the marks for the assessment.

Please see below for more detailed descriptions of the requirements.

Each part of the assessment will make reference to how well you address the learning outcomes with reference to the table at the end of this document.

2.2.          Detailed Requirement

This assessment should ONLY use the information provided in the spreadsheets in the module and in the limited directed research for one of the options. Data is not required from sources other than that provided in or directed by the module, neither is reference to theories from other sources.

You need to submit both your Excel spreadsheet on which you have performed the calculations and visualisations and your report as a Word document. The word document needs to be complete as a report and does not need appendices or other references, having all the visualisations embedded in the body of the report. Your spreadsheet is needed as evidence that you have completed the visualisations so that the methods and processes of your calculations can be verified. It does not carry a separate mark, although failing to include it in your submission will results in your marks being reduced.

To pass this module, you must achieve a final overall mark of at least 40%. If your mark is less than 40%, you will not have passed the module.

You will need to refer to the advice given below to ascertain the specific scenario required for the different parts, compulsory and by option, or your assessment.

2.3.          Rationale

You are providing a report to managers within a company, and your assessment should be formatted to reflect this. All the supposed manager (your audience) is going to require is a report on your findings, so you need to both make calculations and prepare visualisations to be used within the report from the information provided or that you are directed to research.

In all cases your explanations should not include a detailed list of the data you are providing

– that information should be discernible from the visualisations, neither should it suggest any courses of action. You are only reporting on the data to provide your insight into the data for others to make decisions.

First Element – compulsory:

This concerns Group Hotel Performance – introduced in week 8 of the module.

In this part of the assessment your reporting style should be suitable to be presented to the Accounting and Finance manager of the hospitality division of your company.

In this analysis you need to take the spreadsheet, make calculations and compare performance across a range of factors and across time. You must decide on which analyses to perform and the reporting must be primarily by creating visualisations from which conclusion about performance can be drawn. It is not sufficient for you to merely draw graphs from the information given in the spreadsheet, you must make intelligent calculations and comparisons to highlight performance.

You will need to generate at least eight visualisation charts using the spreadsheet supplied using the hotel performance metrics also given. You will have to decide which combination of metrics you use to give the information you think you should present, and generate suitable visualisation charts (Learning Outcome 2). You should make these visualisations different from those provided in the module workshops and provide a brief explanation of the process you undertook to produce the visualisations.

The charts should each be accompanied by a succinct explanation of the following:

Why you chose those particular metrics and analyses and what value it adds to the information in the organisation. (Learning Outcome 1)

What patterns across place and/or time you can discern from your analytics efforts which affect the performance of the hotels division and of its various departments. (Learning Outcome 3)

State what the impact could be of your work on optimising the operation and/or the profitability of the company. (Learning Outcome 4)

In all of the above you must confine yourself to the evidence you provide from the spreadsheets and not speculate about things you cannot show.

Second element – choose ONE of the three source options listed below.

In this part of the assessment your reporting style should be suitable to be presented to the Manager listed.

Thematic Analysis

Introduced in week 4 of the module – for the Operations Manager of the catering division of your company.

Your task is to review the Tripadvisor reports on at least eight pubs, cafes and restaurants (not takeaways) in an area you choose. Your Manager needs to know what people are saying about competitors before deciding whether to expand operation into the area you choose.

For this task choose a different area to that which was introduced in week 4 of the teaching and get Tripadvisor comments from at least eight establishments of suitable type in that area, conducting a thematic analysis for your report to the Operations Manager. Bear in mind that the accommodation has got to be cost-effective for the company.

You will need to generate at least five analytical visualisation charts from the data you research. You will have to decide which metrics you use to give the information you think you should present, and generate visualisation charts to suit. (Learning Outcomes 1 and 2) You should make these visualisations different from those provided in the module workshops and provide a brief explanation of the process you undertook to produce the visualisations.

Please note that your visualisations should compare the data to justify your analysis and not just report upon it.

The charts should each be accompanied by a succinct explanation of the following:

Why you chose those particular metrics and analyses and what value it adds to the information in the organisation. (Learning Outcomes 1 and 2)

What patterns across place and/or time you can discern from your analytics efforts. (Learning Outcome 3)

How you see the analysis you have conducted to be useful for the company (Learning Outcome 4)

Human Resources Data

Introduced in week 6 of the module – for the HR Manager.

Your task is to choose suitable data so that the HR Manager can assess the performance of areas of that company that you define. This is explained in the Workshops

You will need to generate at least five analytical visualisation charts from the spreadsheet you choose from this list above. You will have to decide which metrics you use to give the information you think you should present, and generate visualisation charts to suit. (Learning Outcomes 1 and 2) You should make these visualisations different from those provided in the module workshops and provide a brief explanation of the process you undertook to produce the visualisations.

Please note that your visualisations should compare the data to justify your analysis and not just report upon it.

The charts should each be accompanied by a succinct explanation of the following:

Why you chose those particular metrics and analyses and what value it adds to the information in the organisation. (Learning Outcomes 1 and 2)

What patterns across place and/or time you can discern from your analytics efforts. (Learning Outcome 3)

How you see the analysis you have conducted to be useful for the company (Learning Outcome 4)

Marketing Data

Introduced in week 9 of the module – for the Marketing and Communications Manager

Your task is to choose suitable data so that the Marketing and Communications Manager can assess the performance of areas of that company that you define. This is explained in the Workshops

You will need to generate at least five analytical visualisation charts from the spreadsheet you choose from this list above. You will have to decide which metrics you use to give the information you think you should present, and generate visualisation charts to suit. (Learning Outcomes 1 and 2) You should make these visualisations different from those provided in the module workshops and provide a brief explanation of the process you undertook to produce the visualisations.

Please note that your visualisations should compare the data to justify your analysis and not just report upon it.

The charts should each be accompanied by a succinct explanation of the following:

Why you chose those particular metrics and analyses and what value it adds to the information in the organisation. (Learning Outcomes 1 and 2)

What patterns across place and/or time you can discern from your analytics efforts. (Learning Outcome 3)

How you see the analysis you have conducted to be useful for the company (Learning Outcome 4)

Third Element – Style, accuracy and layout of the report and its suitability for the intended audience

You generate an acceptable template for your report in week 7 of the module. You must consider what information is needed to give your audience a clear, succinct but full picture of your findings from your analysis.

2.4.          Mark Distribution

The marks for each element are distributed as follows:

First Element – choice of metrics, their visualisation and your explanations – 50% Second Element – choice of metrics, their visualisation and your explanations – 30%

Third Element – Style, accuracy and layout of the report and its suitability for the intended audience – 20%

Each will be assessed within the context of the learning outcomes.

3.1.         Sources of Information

• Apart from as directed for Tripadvisor assessments, all information for analysis must be taken from the material provided in the spreadsheets in weeks 6, 7 and 9. All the analysis should be from those sources.
  • Your work will be submitted to Turnitin for plagiarism and use of AI checking as part of the submission process.
  • The use of any generative artificial intelligence is expressly forbidden and will not be taken account of in marking. Excessive use of generative artificial intelligence will be reported to student governance for possible disciplinary action.
  • The workbooks you study each week are designed to develop your skills in both analysis and the use of Excel, so it is necessary that you engage with the work of the module throughout.

3.2.         Marking Criteria

• You are strongly advised to examine the marking criteria to ascertain what is being sought in the answer to your assessment.
  • If you do not use the required data you will get zero marks.

BIRMINGHAM CITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

BUS5074 2^nd Discretionary Resit Assessment Brief (MAIN)

4. Marking criteria

80%+	70-79%	60-69%	50-59%	40-49%	<39%
Learning Outcome 1 – Evaluate current approaches of data collection for commercial purposes.
In addition to meeting the criteria for a 70-79% grade, demonstrates outstanding levels of professionalism and scholarship.	Excellent presentation and use of visualisations with justification of their use within the context of reporting to the audience.	Exhibit judgement in data production and justifying its inclusion within well produced visualisations with few errors	Production and justification of reasonable visualisations along with presentation and explanations that partially address the audience	Produces an analysis that would be of incomplete use to the audience but which does exhibit some good visualisation techniques	Demonstrates a poor understanding of the requirements. Limited analysis demonstrated. Poor presentation.
Learning Outcome 2 – Apply advanced data visualisation techniques to demonstrate data summary.
In addition to meeting the criteria for a 70-79% grade, demonstrates outstanding levels of professionalism and scholarship.	Effective visualisations giving information without recourse to tautology linked to potential company performance	Good consideration of time and place factors in the data visualisations, using them to highlight concerns or lack of concerns.	Some consideration of time or place factors in the data visualisations, reporting them effectively.	Little consideration of time or and/or place factors in the data visualisations and analysed. Lack of reporting of these.	No consideration of data visualiasatins over time or of cross tabulation nor of the reporting requirement for the audience.
Learning Outcome 3 – Use commercial data analysis packages to analyse data.
In addition to meeting the criteria for a 70-79% grade, demonstrates outstanding levels of professionalism and scholarship.	Produce an insightful analysis overall and use advanced techniques to succinctly and accurately use the analytical tools to report on the required data	Produce analysis that is well considered for the audience and compares different aspects of the data expected, along with visualisations that are clear in interpretation and contain very few errors overall	Using the expected data, exhibit some comparative analysis and producing visualisations that have few errors in presentation, together with few errors in calculations	Using the expected data, exhibit limited comparative analysis and producing visualisations that have errors in presentation, together with errors in calculations	Using the expected data, produce minimal or no analysis which would enhance the reporting. Visualisations minimal and/or incorrect. This category also applies if the required data is not used.
Learning Outcome 4 – Apply data analytics for business decision making.
In addition to meeting the criteria for a 70-79% grade, demonstrates outstanding levels of professionalism and scholarship.	Comprehensive and in depth analytical reporting across the range of data required with excellent presentation.	Good consideration of the role of analytics in the progress on an organisation and reporting on it effectively.	Some consideration of the requirement to produce analysis and reporting to assist others in making decisions.	Minimal consideration of the impacts that the analysis performed could have on the organisation	Lack of consideration of the requirement of reporting to the specified audience and poor consideration of the necessity for that reporting.

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