Overview
Business administrators and managers are often called upon to interpret data that analysts have provided to them. In this first assignment, you are asked to locate any report or periodical article used in a business context that interests you and that contains at least two different graphical representations of data. You will interpret the graphical data representations and present your findings in a brief PowerPoint deck, as if you were presenting during a company meeting.
Scenario
You are an analyst in a business. You may choose a real or fictional business of interest. Any business that has practical meaning for you is an appropriate choice for this assignment.
You are responsible for a team of analysts at this business. One of your analysts has just given you a report containing some graphs and charts. You are now tasked with interpreting two of those charts and explaining them at a department meeting.
Your Role
You have been invited to present at a departmental meeting with employees from all levels within the organization. You have been allotted 6–10 minutes to speak. The purpose of your speech is to explain the business context as well as two charts or tables that you have evaluated as a business analyst of the organization. Your business report to the group will be a slide presentation with speaker notes and appropriate citations and references.
Instructions
- Article Identification. Use one of the articles listed for the assignment below or find an article in Forbes or other business journal or an annual report from a publicly traded company that includes at least two data graphs/tables.
- The graphs should depict/represent data using pie charts, bar charts, tables, scatter plots, trend lines, et cetera.
- Read the article and identify the business context. Business context includes organizational history, mission, product and services, environment, competitive advantage, competition, et cetera. You can also determine business context from additional sources (and you should).
- The company/organizational background information should help explain why the data is relevant. This will be the introductory info for your business report/PPT/assignment.
- Interpret your chosen data representations in the context of the business situation. The following are typical questions an analyst would use to interpret the data:
- What is being measured (the variables)?
- What are the relationships among the variables?
- What are the trends in the data?
- How can the data be applied in the business context?
Create an effective 6–10 slide PowerPoint deck with detailed presenter’s notes (including citations and reference slides) elaborating on each point that will be presented at a departmental meeting. For example:
- Organization/business context.
- Relevance/importance of information.
- Source of data set and any limitations?
- Graphic of data 1—with interpretations of graph.
- Graph of data 2—with interpretations of graph.
- Importance of data analysis in terms of business context.
- Summary.
- Reference slides.
An effective PowerPoint presentation for this purpose typically includes:
- One title slide, APA formatted.
- 1–2 introduction slides explaining the business context.
- You should copy and paste (insert) the graphs/tables and include an appropriate citation. Each slide should include detailed speaker notes.
- Include your interpretation of each graphical data representation.
- Conclusion slides in which you explain how the data may affect the business context or how it could be applied in your business context to inform decision making.
- Slide with at least four APA-formatted references, including the source of each graph.
Refer to the Week 2 Assignment Example [PPTX] Download Week 2 Assignment Example [PPTX]to get a sense of a basic assignment rated as Proficient would look like.
Additional Requirements
Your written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message, meet APA standards, and be unbiased with documented facts rather than opinion. Remember to use and include at least four sources of information for your presentation. Refer to Evidence and APALinks to an external site..
Evaluation
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding rubric criteria:
- Competency 1: Explain how data management techniques and tools are used to support business decisions.
- Introduce the business context or company background for the data.
- Explain how the data can impact the business context or be used by the company in decision making.
- Competency 4: Present the results of data analysis in clear and meaningful ways to multiple stakeholders.
- Interpret or explain the meaning of two different graphical representations of data.
- Format citations and references correctly using current APA style.
- Present content clearly, professionally, and logically for the identified audience.
Example assignment: You may use the assignment example, Week 2 Assignment Example [PPTX] Download Week 2 Assignment Example [PPTX], to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the rubric would look like.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
- Competency 1: Explain how data management techniques and tools are used to support business decisions.
- Introduce the business context or company background for the data.
- Explain how the data can impact the business context or be used by the company in decision making.
- Competency 4: Present the results of data analysis in clear and meaningful ways to multiple stakeholders.
- Interpret or explain the meaning of two different graphical representations of data.
- Format citations and references correctly using current APA style.
- Present content clearly, professionally, and logically for the identified audience.