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  RMIT Classification: Trusted ISYS2056 BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT TWO TERM 2, 2020 ANALYSING A SPREADSHEET AND PRESENTING A BUSINESS REPORT Case Study   Strobe Inc

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RMIT Classification: Trusted

ISYS2056 BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS

ASSESSMENT TWO TERM 2, 2020

ANALYSING A SPREADSHEET AND PRESENTING A BUSINESS REPORT

Case Study

 

Strobe Inc. is a large trendy warehouse nightclub in Melbourne’s inner Eastern suburbs. Here, patrons can enjoy a dance floor where DJs play loud electronic music and bars with a variety of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.

 

The business is jointly owned by friends, Jose and Ellie, who met in an information systems workshop during their undergrad at RMIT. Jose takes care of the accounts/finances whilst Ellie manages Strobe Inc.’s nightly operations. They employ 3 security guards, 5 bar staff and 1 cleaner who are paid by the hour. Security and bar staff finish work depending on how busy the venue is so their hours can vary a little. Staff receive pay rises which apply from the 1st Jan each year. The DJ is paid a flat fee depending on the nights worked e.g. it varies from $500 on Thursday up to $800 Saturday. Jose and Ellie pay themselves out of the profit of the business.

 

Since opening in 2018 business has been booming, with upwards of 300 patrons on most nights. Strobe Inc. is open from 7:00pm to 7:00am nightly, Thursday evening to Monday morning. They charge an entry fee after 11:00pm which depends on the night- Friday and Saturday $30 and Thursday, Sunday $15. Currently they serve packaged snacks (eg chips and nuts) but no cooked or fresh food, mainly because they don’t have proper kitchen facilities.  They keep their pricing simple with a profit percentage on all drinks and snacks.

 

Recently (since Jan 2020), leasing and other costs have increased significantly and  Jose and Ellie are concerned this will put the business at risk of shutting down. Additionally, with construction completed on an apartment block next door, they have been receiving noise complaints from their new neighbours. They have not kept detailed financial records of the business- just nightly takings of drinks, snacks and entry fees. They pay their staff cash at the end of each night based on hours worked and have recorded the hours and pay for each staff member.

 

They have a spare, noise insulated band practice room that is currently used for storage. They have considered opening up the band practice room as another music option for earlier in the evening or on the quieter nights to increase business. The band room can accommodate roughly 100 audience members. Jose and Ellie have not done a thorough analysis yet but they think they would need at least 1 more junior security staff to manage the band room and  at least 1 more junior bar staff. Of course they would have to pay for bands (usually about $1000 per night) so an entry fee to the band room might be required to cover the costs or perhaps they just pay for the bands out of current profits. They’ve also estimated a setup cost of $350,000 to get it ready e.g. renovations, a small bar, furnishings, etc, which they would fund from their own savings.

 

Jose and Ellie love what they do and want to remain open. To do this, they seek your consultation. They not sure how been profitable they’ve been so far, for the current and the past financial year and they’re not sure if they’re going to be profitable in the last financial quarter of 2020 given the increasing staff costs and lease expenses.  Perhaps the band practice room is a good idea – if it makes them more profitable however they don’t know the analysis to conduct to ensure it is sensible. They’d have to work out to charge customers to make sure that they earn their $350000 back within 5 years.  Are they charging enough for their current product sales?  Are there problems with the staffing?

 

A spreadsheet has been provided containing data for the business. A “financial year” usually runs from 1st July until 30th June the following year. Josie and Ellie have recorded data from July 2018 until March 2020.

They have also provided some cost information and point out that some of their costs change on the 1st January each calendar year rather than the 1st July financial year.

As a business they haven’t really kept track of how many units of drinks are sold (This can be hard to know how many pints from a keg, or how many glasses from a bottle of wine) but they  keep track of sales figures in $ amounts for each category and they have given the profit% for each category.

Some of the data and calculations have been completed for you and you are guided to some of the other calculations and tools.

You will need to calculate Patron Revenue and Product Profits on the Nightly Takings worksheet. There are three additional columns at the end of the Calculations worksheet you will also need to complete, plus any additional calculations you may think the business needs.  A summary sheet has been started for you. You may continue to use these or you may make your calculations using any Excel methods/tools you are comfortable with.

 

Report Requirements

You are expected to undertake descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analysis of the data that Jose has provided and use Excel to analyse the data. The results of the analysis are then required to be presented in a professionally organized report that analyses and discusses both profitability so far and the various options available to help increase future profitability. Some specific expectations are as follows: 

• Analyse the past two financial year’s sales figures -  has the business been profitable? Identify the key variables/features (eg products, costs, customer revenues, time, etc.) which have lead to this outcome.
• Predict the likely profits for the final quarter of the financial year of 2020 (April – June) and for the following financial year July 2020 – June 2021 (predictive analysis)
• Discuss (briefly) options for improving profitability based on your analysis in the first bullet.
• Identify at least one business issue you have identified from your analysis that the business should further explore. Clearly explain your reasoning using data to support your discussion
• Advise them on their expansion plans – Is it feasible to repay the $350000 costs within 5 years from the profits of the band room expansion given current interest rates? What should they charge? Justify your answer with calculations.
• Make two specific recommendations with regard to improving profitability which are based on your previous analysis.  Briefly justify these recommendations (i.e. prescribe what should be done and why this would be helpful, drawing on your previous predictive and descriptive analysis). (These are in addition to the expansion plans)

 

 

Preparing the Business Report

Report structure and specifications

The analysis, findings and recommendations which you prepare for Jose and Ellie should be outlined in a professional business report. This report should include

• A title page – with a relevant graphic, report title, student name/number, course name (Business Information Systems), course number (ISYS2056), your workshop time and your workshop tutors’ names.

• A Table of Contents (TOC) automatically generated by Microsoft Word.  Default settings for the table of contents should not be altered.
• A brief introduction which outlines clearly the purpose of the report.
• A discussion regarding the results of your analysis.  Relevant descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analysis has been included.
• Relevant charts which are labelled correctly and assist the reader in understanding the results of your analysis.
• A short concluding summary of the major findings of the report. (supported by relevant data: eg, use final figures you have calculated. etc)

• Clear recommendations that the business owner can adopt. These recommendations must be drawn from the analysis you have carried out in the body of the report.
• You should incorporate good report writing practices - refer to “Writing a Business Report” on the assignment page.

 

 

Report format

The report should be developed using the guidelines covered in Canvas and workshops. Specifically, you should:

• Ensure your report is concise - No more than 1200 words.  This word count includes title page and TOC.  It does not include appendices
• Present the report in a professional, business format with no spelling or grammatical errors.
• Use appropriate headings and subheadings throughout the body of the report.

• Use double or 1.5 spacing.
• Fully justify all text in the report.
• Include a page header with a suitably formatted title (the header must not appear on the title page).
• Include a page footer with your name, student number and page number (the footer must not appear on the title page).
• Include relevant charts and tables you have created in the body of your report (appropriately labelled). The charts and tables (screenshots of your spreadsheet are not appropriate) must be discussed as part of the paper.
• In an appendix include screen shots of calculations (as discussed below) which you have used to assist in your analysis. (Note: You do not need to refer to this appendix in the body of your report.) A guide to inserting screen shots commences on page 4 of this document.
• Do not include references or citations in this report

Report Submission

 

The Business Report must be submitted, in MS Word format, by 11:59 pm Friday September 18th, via the link provided in the “Assignments” area on the ISYS2056 Business Information Systems site on Canvas.  A Student Guide to submission (using Turnitin) is available at:

https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-and-facilities/it-services-for-students/canvas/turnitin

 

 

 

A Guide to inserting a screenshot in ‘Word’

• Open and/or minimise the program/sheet you wish to create the screen shot from (in this case your Excel document). As your screenshots are designed to show calculations, you should make sure you have highlighted the relevant cell and the function is clearly visible in the function dialogue (fx) box.
• Open your ‘Word’ document.
• Select Insert/Screenshot/Screen Clipping.
• Select the sheet you wish to create the screenshot from.   The screen should fade and a + appear.  Use the + as a cropping tool to select the required screenshot.  Note: There is no need to show every cell. (See Figure 1 in which one of the relevant cells is highlighted (B3) and the function for column B is clearly visible.)
• Label the screenshot appropriately.

 

 

Figure 1 - Screen shot of Countif function

If you need to create a screenshot of a column that is not located near the fx box (see Figure 2) you can:

• Select the relevant cell.  Double click on the cell to show the formula.
• Create screen clipping as per the instructions above. Provide an appropriate label.

 

 

 

Figure 2 – Screenshot of Sumif function

To show several formulas in the one screenshot (see Figure 3) you can:                                                                                                                     

• Select the relevant cells.
• Select Formulas/Formula Auditing/Show formulas.
• Take the screenshot as per the directions above.  (NOTE:  Text needs to be large enough to be read clearly.)

 

Figure 3 – Screenshot showing functions in several columns

Business Report: Updated Sept
Criteria	Ratings	Pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomePresentation	3.0 to >2.4 Pts High Distinction Excellent presentation. Table of contents has been automatically generated and other instructions concerning the presentation of the report fully adhered to. 2.4 to >2.1 Pts Distinction Very good presentation overall, minor formatting or presentation issues 2.1 to >1.8 Pts Credit Presentation is good overall but there are several presentation errors/and or formatting problems (eg: missing page numbers and/or missing headers/footers or table of contents not automatically generated) 1.8 to >1.5 Pts Pass Presentation meets the requirements to pass but there are consistent or multiple formatting issues. 1.5 to >0 Pts Fail Formatting is poor. Guidelines have clearly not been followed (or no table of contents)	3.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeIntroduction	2.0 to >1.6 Pts High Distinction The introduction is concise, yet provides the reader with a clear framework for reading the rest of the report. 1.6 to >1.4 Pts Distinction The introduction is very good but either needs a little more detail to be complete or includes some unnecessary or irrelevant details. 1.4 to >1.2 Pts Credit The introduction to the report is good overall but there is scope for greater clarity of expression or focus 1.2 to >1.0 Pts Pass Introduction has been attempted but is generally irrelevant and/or purpose statement is missing. 1.0 to >0 Pts Fail The introduction is missing or fails to explain the purpose of writing the report	2.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeDescriptive Analysis	4.0 to >3.2 Pts High Distinction A comprehensive analysis and use of %, proportions etc that ensure the data is described in the appropriate context. A Comprehensive discussion regarding the options to increase profit is clearly based on results of analysis 3.2 to >2.8 Pts Distinction Very Good development/analysis of appropriate content areas but missing some necessary/appropriate content or analysis. 2.8 to >2.4 Pts Credit Good analysis but too descriptive, further minimal meaningful supporting evidence would have enhanced the analysis 2.4 to >2.0 Pts Pass Satisfactory analysis that addresses the required variables adequately. Lacks supporting evidence. 2.0 to >0 Pts Fail Unacceptable or no analysis. Fails to address required variables adequately. Lacks supporting evidence.	4.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomePredictive Analysis	4.0 to >3.2 Pts High Distinction An excellent discussion fully evidencing the interpretation of the analysis of the improvement initiative and its effectiveness. 3.2 to >2.8 Pts Distinction A very good discussion about the interpretation of the results and implications for the future (re profitability and changes). 2.8 to >2.4 Pts Credit Good discussion regarding results of the analysis of the improvement initiative and its effectiveness but interpretation could have been more detailed to include more variables and/or evidence 2.4 to >2.0 Pts Pass Satisfactory discussion regarding results of the analysis of the improvement initiative and its effectiveness but interpretation could have been signifcantly more detailed to include more variables and/or evidence 2.0 to >0 Pts Fail Minimal or no discussion regarding interpretation of the of the analysis of the improvement initiative and its effectiveness.	4.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomePrescriptive Analysis	5.0 to >4.0 Pts High Distinction The potential effects to the business which would result from the proposed improvements have been clearly identified and discussed (both in $ terms and other factors) 4.0 to >3.5 Pts Distinction A very good attempt to discuss the potential effects to the business which would result from the proposed improvements (both in $ terms and other factors) 3.5 to >3.0 Pts Credit A good attempt to discuss the potential effects to the business which would result from the suggested change to the proposed improvements but discussion needs to be clearer, or be expanded to include both $ figures and other relevant implications. 3.0 to >2.5 Pts Pass A satisfactory attempt to discuss the potential effects to the business which would result from the suggested change to the proposed improvements but discussion needs to be significantly clearer, or be expanded to include both $ figures and other relevant implications. 2.5 to >0 Pts Fail Minimal or no attempt to identify or discuss the potential effects to the business resulting from the suggested changes	5.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeSupporting Evidence	3.0 to >2.4 Pts High Distinction Excellent use of supporting evidence (charts/tables) Appropriately labelled, referred to in text or as an appendix. Clearly adds to audience’s understanding. Screen shots of relevant calculations have been displayed appropriately in appendix. 2.4 to >2.1 Pts Distinction Very good use of supporting evidence (charts/tables) but minor errors in set out, explanation or labelling. Screen shots of calculations have been included in appendix 2.1 to >1.8 Pts Credit Good use of supporting evidence (charts/tables) but several errors in set out, explanation or labelling. Screen shots of calculations have been included in appendix 1.8 to >1.5 Pts Pass Supporting evidence is present (charts/tables) with a reasonable connection to the content in the report. Choice of chart could be improved. Not referred to appropriately within the text, or poorly displayed, Some screen shots of calculations have been included in the report 1.5 to >0 Pts Fail Supporting evidence have major flaws and/or are missing from the report. Screen shots are not included	3.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeConclusion	3.0 to >2.4 Pts High Distinction An excellent conclusion that restates the main findings of the analysis. Conclusion is accurate and relevant and data has been used to support your findings. 2.4 to >2.1 Pts Distinction A very good attempt to draw conclusions from the analysis could have been enhanced with more depth and/or supporting data. 2.1 to >1.8 Pts Credit A good attempt to draw conclusions from the analysis but limited depth and/or supporting data. 1.8 to >1.5 Pts Pass A satisfactory attempt to draw conclusions from the data. However, the conclusion is either incomplete, contains irrelevant material or is inaccurate. 1.5 to >0 Pts Fail No or very limited attempt to draw conclusions from the analysis.	3.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeRecommendations	3.0 to >2.4 Pts High Distinction Excellent, clear and actionable recommendations which enable the client to be confident to select determine which strategies will be profitable in the future. Evidence demonstrates clear logic and are consistent with the content of the rest of the report. 2.4 to >2.1 Pts Distinction Very good recommendations that are drawn from the analysis, but some scope to further enhance clarity or consistency with rest of the report 2.1 to >1.8 Pts Credit Good recommendations that are drawn from the analysis, but the reader has to make some assumptions to action them. 1.8 to >1.5 Pts Pass Satisfactory recommendations but at least one of the recommendations does not flow clearly and logically from the body of the paper. Some recommendations may not be actionable 1.5 to >0 Pts Fail Recommendations are either not included or are not linked to problem(s) or opportunity(ies).	3.0 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeStructure	1.5 to >1.2 Pts High Distinction The logical flow of ideas is excellent and length of each section/paragraph is appropriate. Descriptive subheadings provide a clear outline to the report. 1.2 to >1.05 Pts Distinction Very good flow of ideas and use of subheadings which provide an outline to the report. 1.05 to >0.9 Pts Credit Generally good flow of ideas and use of subheadings which provide an outline to the report. Some subheadings may be missing, minimal or inappropriately labelled. Word count should be adhered to. 0.9 to >0.75 Pts Pass Satisfactory structure but Ideas do not always flow logically. Some subheadings are missing, minimal or inappropriately labelled.Word count should be adhered to. 0.75 to >0 Pts Fail Structure of the report does not follow a logical sequence.	1.5 pts
This criterion is linked to a learning outcomeLanguage	1.5 to >1.2 Pts High Distinction Sentences flow well. Ideas are clearly and logically expressed and developed. Writing is error free or nearly error free. 1.2 to >1.05 Pts Distinction Occasional problems with spelling/grammar/English Expression/sentence structure or flow of ideas but these do not detract from the message 1.05 to >0.9 Pts Credit Some problems with spelling/grammar/English Expression/sentence structure or flow of ideas but these do not detract from the message 0.9 to >0.75 Pts Pass Satisfactory language but writing contains numerous and/or significant errors which detract from the message and make the arguments difficult to follow. 0.75 to >0 Pts Fail English expression/sentence structure and grammar is very poor and seriously detracts from the quality of your work. You should seek assistance regarding this issue.	1.5 pts
Total points: 30.0