...BUSINESS ANALYTICS Business analytics (BA) is the practice of iterative, methodical exploration of an organization’s data with emphasis on statistical analysis. Business analytics is used by companies committed to data-driven decision making. BA is used to gain insights that inform business decisions and can be used to automate and optimize business processes. Data-driven companies treat their data as a corporate asset and leverage it for competitive advantage. Successful business analytics depends on data quality, skilled analysts who understand the technologies and the business and an organizational commitment to data-driven decision making. Examples of BA uses include: * Exploring data to find new patterns and relationships (data mining) * Explaining why a certain result occurred (statistical analysis, quantitative analysis) * Experimenting to test previous decisions (A/B testing, multivariate testing) * Forecasting future results (predictive modeling, predictive analytics) * FUNCTIONS OF A BUSINESS ANALYST At a high level, a Business Analyst acts as a liaison between business people who have business problems and technology people who know how to create automated solutions. A Business Analyst serves the mission-critical function of understanding specific business needs, determining and documenting accurate requirements from business units and presenting those requirements in a manner that is agreeable, measurable and flexible enough to meet project...
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...Critical Analysis: Best Buy When Best Buy first opened it was an event that an electronics store could hold such a variety of products, have knowledgeable employees, and offer competitive prices at the same time. Although in 2012 it was reported that revenues for Best Buy increased, the company still fell victim to the problems of having a decrease in net income and operating cash flow. “The company reported revenues of (U.S. Dollars) USD 50,705.00 million during the fiscal year ended March 2012, an increase of 1.93% over 2011. The operating profit of the company was USD 1,085.00 million during the fiscal year 2012, a decrease of 54.30% from 2011. The net loss of the company was USD 1,231.00 million during the fiscal year 2012, as against a net profit of USD 1,277.00 million during 2011 (Strategic Analysis 1).” It is obvious by these numbers that Best Buy, a company that has been historically successful, has been running into some recent troubles. In this report I will identify all of the potential reasons for Best Buy’s recent poor performance, as well as offer my opinion for the primary reasons for Best Buy’s recent sub-par performance. As a company, Best Buy can be held at fault for some of its performance struggles purely from an internal point of view. Best Buy is categorized as the “leading global electronics and appliance specialist retailer (Passport 4).” They have obtained such success from their warehouse type stores, with specific services offered inside (Geek...
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...Course Paper: Product Buying Report Objectives | Guidelines | Report Components | Milestones | Grading Rubrics Objectives Back to Top The Course Paper is to enable you to apply the various purchasing elements that you encountered in the course. Recognizing that this is a research project, you are expected to utilize a variety of resources. This is not just limited to your lecture and textbook; you may use your experiences, interview coworkers, and use online library databases to assemble the information to be contained in this report. For this assignment, you are to produce a Product Buying Report, which is all the information a buyer needs to intelligently purchase a specific product, component, or commodity (e.g., computer chips, capital equipment, raw materials for reworking). In selecting and presenting the data you will assemble, you should indicate what use a buyer will make of this information. Based on what you determine from your research, you are expected to make a recommendation about whether the chosen product should be acquired and how you would plan to negotiate its purchase. Guidelines Back to Top Clear writing is an important element of good business communications, and you should strive to demonstrate such skills in this paper. Because economy is a hallmark of good business writing, your paper should NOT exceed 12 double-spaced pages (not counting title page, executive summary, and references). You are expected to submit your best work for this assignment...
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...contained in this report. For this assignment, you are to produce a Product Buying Report, which is all the information a buyer needs to intelligently purchase a specific product or commodity (e.g., computer chips, capital equipment, raw materials for reworking). In selecting and presenting the data you will assemble, you should indicate what use a buyer will make of this information. Based on what you determine from your research, you are expected to make a recommendation about whether the chosen product should be acquired and how you would plan to negotiate its purchase. Due Date The Course Paper is due in Week 7 of the course. Format The content of your Product Buying Report should be divided into the sections corresponding to the Report Components shown below. Clear writing is an important element of good business communications, and you should strive to demonstrate such skills in this paper. Because economy is a hallmark of good business writing, your paper should NOT exceed 12 double-spaced pages (not counting title page, executive summary, and references). You are expected to submit your best work for this assignment, which means knowing and using good grammar and APA style. Report Components Your Product Buying Report must contain the following sections. 1. Title Page 2. Executive Summary This is a one-page summary of your overall report. Recognizing that many executives will only read this portion of your report, you are expected...
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...De Montfort University City University of Hong Kong BA (HONS) BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MANAGEMENT (121-29080) Corporate Strategy (Module code: BAMG 3108) Assignment Topic: Group Report Submit on: 20 November 2012 Name of Instructor: Mr. Eric Lam Name of Student (DMU Student No): (1) Kong Kwok Shing (DMU) P11013981 (SCOPE) 52810589 (2) Lai Ka Yi (DMU) P11014709 (SCOPE) 52810450 (3) Ng Yiu Ping (DMU) P11013811 (SCOPE) 52810332 (4) Wong Shu Kei (DMU) P110247X (SCOPE) 52810553 Table of Contents Page 1. Introduction 3 2. Macro-Environmental Analysis 4-7 3. Mobile Phone Industry Analysis 7-10 4. Critical Success Factors 10-13 5. Scenario Planning 13 6. Reference 14-15 7. Appendix 16-18 1. Introduction Nokia, one of the international communication and information technology company in the world which found in Finland. Their main products are phone and portable IT equipment. It also provides Internet services, including applications, games, music, media and communications through its Ovi platform, and free digital map information. Nokia is the largest vendor of mobile in the world since 1998 to 2008. However, in this past 5 years, Nokia has suffered declining market share because...
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...to do ???? and the other would be the consideration of security problems that can occur. In order to use ecommerce system the Company needs one server to be .NET framework, one server to be SQL server 2005/2008, the company has to be Windows 2008 with R1 or R2. Ecommerce system is built on Microsoft stack, and to ensure the security on the system the webserver would be on DMZ and the database would be on the trust network. When developing this program customers want to see how Kudler Fine Foods promote their products and how they will cater to those ones that uses and buy the most products from their web sites. [Interesting observation which needs to include encryption.] One way to use this would be in stores and on line. Just think if they order and use the Frequent Shoppers Program they will most likely return to the store to either return items and then buy something else or look on line and then buy at the store. What the customer spends with the frequent shoppers program up on check out, then the system will reward by giving a purchase discount. How this system offers the customers discount depends on that type of how that customer shops. The system can put customers in groups of 4. Depending on how much money is spent with on line or in the store. Every month a customer spends 200.00 that discount would be 10%, every...
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...Critical Analysis Paper #1 The revenue of Best Buy declined by 2.4% since 2011. The company lost $1.23 billion in 2011, or $3.36 per share. This report will conduct a situation analysis of Best Buy, explain internal issues and the external environment, and summarize key issues that can explain the poor performance. One of the potential internal causes of revenue decrease for Best Buy is the fact that they have high dependence on vendors for a supply of their products. Vendors that supply Best Buy are located domestically and internationally. Around 60% of merchandise that Best Buy purchased was from its 20 largest suppliers in 2011. “The five major suppliers namely, Apple, Hawlett-Packard, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba represented 39% of total merchandise purchased by the company.” Due to this fact, Best Buy might have difficult time meeting the demand of customers because key vendors can fail to supply Best Buy with products. This issue can drive down Best Buy’s revenue and profitability (Global Data). Another possible internal cause of revenue decrease is the lack of expansion. Previously, Best Buy was trying to open “big box” stores overseas to expand its product as well as customer segments. However, revenue is declining because Best Buy had to close its “big box” stores in United Kingdom, China, and Turkey in 2011 because their strategy failed, which decreased brand awareness in these countries. Best Buy plans on opening 50 new but smaller localized stores in China and...
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...management instrument designed to show, in detail, the critical...
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...Umeed Sherpa Critical Analysis Paper 3 Dr. Christopher Monos BA 3103 Section 008 4th April, 2014 Best Buy Hits Rock Bottom Best buy the specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States is no longer the all-powerful super store that it used to be. Over the last fifteen years Best Buy, like many retailers, is “competing with a perfect storm of disruptive technologies (Savitz 2)”; making it hard to compete with companies such as such as Apple and Amazon that are embraced with innovations. As a result, Best Buys 2012 financial performance fell subpar, with a revenue decrease of 2.4% in the brick and mortar sector and operating profit plummeting by 54.30% in 2012. The net loss of the company was $1,231.00 million for 2012, against a net profit of $1,277.00 million during 2011 (Global Data 1). Lastly, Best Buy appears to be having cash flow problems in terms of declining liquidity of $1125 million (41.28% drop) for the year 2011. It is obvious by these numbers that Best Buy, a company that has been historically successful, has been running into some recent troubles. In this report I will conduct a situational analysis of potential causes of Best Buy’s problems and identify the major causes for declining revenue, net loss and declining cash flow position. Revenues Declining Best buy’s main source of revenues is contributed from the US market (76%) out of which the traditional brick and mortar accounts for 94% of the revenues and rest is from e-commerce segment...
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...performance means that the investment would have to provide returns necessary to meet an individual’s goals. Mutual Funds investments don’t have to beat a specific benchmark to be successful. Bill Miller was able to make consistent abnormal trading profits which would explain the fund’s performance. Mutual funds are also likely to outperform the S & P Index when small firms outperform large ones and underperform when small firms experience worse. Miller’s investment strategy explains his good performance to a small extent but most of his success in beating the market was luck and market timing. His portfolio is diversified compared to an individual stock portfolio. He buys and holds stocks with a turnover rate of 9% compared to a typical fund’s turnover rate of 85%. He usually holds on to winning stocks unless he decides to buy new names. Miller isn’t afraid to take an extensive position in a company by making big bets and instead of keeping transaction costs low he charges a 1.68% expense ratio. It won’t be easy to sustain Miller’s historical performance in the future. His strategy includes buying low-price, high intrinsic-value stocks and researching areas of the market that look the least...
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...ISFM 300 Case Study, Stage 1 Business Environment Analysis Click Link Below To Buy: http://hwaid.com/shop/isfm-300-case-study-stage-1-business-environment-analysis/ Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the “UMUC Haircuts Case Study” and be sure to take a look at the “Walmart Example.” Overview of Business Environment Analysis for UMUC Haircuts UMUC Haircuts has been in business since 1995 and has seen an increase in competition from a variety of competitors, as described in the Case Study. With the news that a Hair Cuttery is likely to open only five miles away, Myra, the owner of UMUC Haircuts, is concerned and has begun analyzing her situation and what could be done to remain competitive in this changing environment. She has recognized that scheduling her employees and her customers is causing her problems, and she thinks she should focus on that first, as it is fundamental to her business. Myra also believes that there must be a technology solution that could help her run her salon, but she has no idea where to start. You are a Systems Analyst, and Myra has asked you to help her with determining how she can improve her business. Myra has requested, specifically, that youverify and provide added support to her own analysis that has resulted in the identification of a Strategy for Competitive Advantage and a Business Process for Improvement. This will be the basis for defining business and systems requirements for an IT solution.This Strategy...
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...The Marketing Plan BY GEORGE SAMIR SAAD Introduction: My department is "AlSalam Nephrology department", in which I am the senior doctor and the responsible for patients and the subordinates –doctors, nurses and workers-. This department one of the most famous oldest unit in Egypt, in which renal transplantation done successfully and legally. The unit has: * 8 renal dialysis machines, * 2 outpatient clinics, * 20 inpatient beds, * 3 professors, * 1 senior doctor, * 5 doctors, * 3 head nurses, * 5 nurses, * 4 assistances, * 2 workers. Situation analysis: Current service: - AlSalam nephrology department, responsible for many services, like: * Renal transplantation, * Follow up renal-transplanted patients, * Renal dialysis for chronic renal failure patients, * Outpatient clinic for kidney diseases; and * Teaching and practicing place for new doctors who care with nephrology. - The unit in AlSalam hospital, which present in ElMohandseen area in Giza, Egypt, which is a famous, commercial, crowded, rich area. - The hospital accredited with ISO 9001 in 2004. -Background information -Date of opening the unit: 1983 -Average No. of outpatient/Day: 60 patients - No. renal failure patients/Day: 20 patients -Costs /outpatient: 40 LE -Revenue /out patient: 120 LE -Net profit /outpatient: - 80 LE, which is good. -Costs / renal failure patients: 200 LE -Revenue / renal failure patients: 250...
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...these issues. to obtain adequate information we need accounting information. Accounting information is a systematic connective issue in the presentation of useful information and can power to help leaders companies in an effort to achieve organizational goals that have been set previously. If accounting information connected with object information like product and companies activity it will generate accurate accounting information, It will help manager make right decision and useful for organizational behavior and human behavior in organization. Decision making divided into two, long-term decision and short-term decision. Long-term decision was made by manager can useful for one year or more. Example for long term decision are buy or rent a machine, buy machine with cash or credit, etc. short-term decision was made by manager, when that decision was made will directly affect for organizational or employees. Examples of short term decision are what products should the business make this year? How should the business maximize limited resources this year? Accounting information Accounting has an important role in the business world, from small business until big company for get higher profit need accounting information for planning, supervision, and consideration for a decision making. There are the definitions of accounting: Accounting is the...
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...Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Assignment Subject Individual Integrated Assignment – Operational Level Nature of the Assignment Integrated Assignment Examination June 2013 Assignment Submission Period 16th May 2013 to 22nd May 2013 (No late assignments will be accepted under any circumstances) Presentation Date N/A IMPORTANT (Common for Integrated and Subject Assignments) The assignment is designed to assess the application of theory and knowledge gained in the above subject. Assignment should conform to the Assignment Guidelines presented as per the Programme Handbook. (Refer to Section 07 – Guidance for Assignments) Assignment should be submitted to SLIM within the Assignment Submission Period. Assignment will not be accepted after the last date of acceptance under any circumstances. You will score higher marks in assignments if you meet the criteria given in the Programme Handbook. ( Please refer to Page 101 – Assignment Marking Criteria) Assignment Marking Sheet should be attached after the cover page for the examiner to mark assignment as per the Order of Headings in Programme Handbook. (Refer the Page 64) Attending Coaching Sessions (Classes) is compulsory in order to carry out the assignments. Current University students are allowed to submit the assignment without attending lectures since they register as self study students. SLIM will issue an acknowledgement slip upon the submission of your assignment and it must be ...
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...Case Analysis: Recruitment of a Star PROBLEM STATEMENT To recruit a suitable replacement for RSH’s star analyst Peter Thompson PESTC Analysis Political – Nil Economic:- * Increased shuffling of jobs. Social:- * The environment required rigid competencies, high stamina, great communication skills, and frequent client interaction. * The industry average retirement age was approximately 45 to 50. Technological:- * Intensive use of technologies in research. * Due to high competition, staying updated with latest technology provided the edge for firms against its competitors. * Many analysts were expected to provide prompt response to clients’ needs and come up with latest financial instruments benefitting both company and clients. SWOT of RSH: Strengths:- 1. Work culture- Many analyst and industry experts believed that RSH work culture was one of the main competitive advantages. This is so as the company gave space to its analysts to work and allowed and encouraged team work. This ensured the employees felt secured about their job thereby addressing the employees need for safety and social needs. 2. Working in team helped to co-ordinate and achieve more. The employees felt that being part of a team served them well. The company hence satisfied their need for affiliation. 3. The interpersonal relations among employees were good and ensured harmony among them. 4. With seniors helping juniors learn about the industry...
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