Project Overview & Instructions

Objective

This project is designed to familiarize students with Tableau and data analytics. In doing so, this assignment will contribute towards the development of an “analytics mindset”, which is the ability to:

? Ask the right questions,

? Extract, transform and load relevant data,

? Apply appropriate data analytics techniques, and

? Interpret and share the results with stakeholders.

You have the choice to complete the semester project individually or in pairs. If you wish to work with a partner, you must inform your instructor as soon as you begin working on the project and no later than November 29, 2020, 11:59 pm (EST). If you do not declare a partner by the deadline, you must complete the project on your own.

Background

D&M, Inc. is a Pennsylvania-based company that sells office supplies such as paper, stationery, and basic office equipment. The firm currently offers a relatively small portfolio of products to its customers across the continental United States and prides itself on providing superior client service. While the company has been successful with its customer-centric strategy in the past, it has struggled to stay competitive in a market that is increasingly dominated by larger competitors.

Requirements

You have been hired by D&M, Inc. as a management consultant. Your task is to use Tableau to analyze the company’s current financial performance and make recommendations for improvement to the board of directors based on the data supplied by the client. Your deliverables include the following:

1. Written Report: The report should closely follow the guidelines outlined on the next page and include outputs from Tableau (to be included in the appendix) that support and justify your recommendations.
2. Presentation: Prepare a professional presentation to the board of directors of the client discussing your analysis. This presentation should be about 10 minutes in length and summarize the main findings and recommendations from your report for the client. It should be professional-looking, informative, and must include outputs from Tableau. You can use either PowerPoint or Tableau to prepare the presentation. You will present during the final exam week of the semester (December 14 – 22). If you are unable to schedule a live presentation with your instructor, you will have the option to record your presentation and submit it before the deadline. You can use free tools such as https://www.loom.com/.
3. Tableau File: Prepare all your analysis, including visualizations, in Tableau. Your file must be submitted with your report and should be organized in a professional, easy-to-follow way. Add explanations to your visualizations where necessary. In addition to charts, you should create a Dashboard or story to organize your analysis.

Guidelines for the Written Report

The necessary financial information about the company has already been supplied by the client. Your task is to analyze that information in order to advise the client on how to improve financial performance, i.e. profit, going forward.

Your report must include the following sections:

1. An overview of the current financial position of the firm. What facts about the business can you uncover based on the dataset you have been given? For example, size, markets, products, etc. Create a brief corporate summary.
2. Strengths and weaknesses of the firm (financial and non-financial). This is the most important part of the analysis. See this article on SWOT Analysis as a starting point: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp. Make sure that you clearly justify the strengths and weaknesses you identify based on the visualizations from the data. Present the analysis and data in a way that logical and understandable to your audience.
3. Recommendations to maximize profitability of the firm by addressing the weaknesses and by further capitalizing on the existing strengths of the business. Be creative here. You can do research online and bring in other sources to make suggestions. Be sure to clearly explain how your recommendations address the factors outlined in Section II.

Formatting of the Written Report

• The cover page should list your full name and ID. It should also feature the following statement:

CERTIFICATION OF AUTHORSHIP:

• At least five (5) pages in length, not including cover page, appendix, and references
• Create at least six (6) visualizations (bar graphs, line graphs, map charts, etc.) and discuss them in your report
• Font: Times New Roman; Font size: 12; Line Spacing: 1.5; Normal Margins (1’’ on each side)
• Appendix: include a bibliography (https://www.plagiarism.org/article/whats-a-bibliography) in APA style (http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/apa-format/) and additional information, charts, sources, etc. as necessary

IMPORTANT: You must follow all instructions and formatting requirements, including page limits, carefully and exactly. Violations and late submission of the required documents will lead to grade reductions.

Academic Integrity

In line with the NJCU Academic Integrity Policy (https://www.njcu.edu/academics/policies-and-procedures/academic-integrity-policy). There is a zero tolerance for breaches of Academic Integrity and ethics. All submitted work must be your own (!) and violations will be dealt with in accordance with the official University Policy.

Grading

The grade for the project consists of the Written Analysis (50%), Presentation (25%), and Tableau file (25%). The grading rubric is attached on the next page.

Helpful Resources

Writing

https://www.accounting.com/resources/writing-guide/

https://www.njcu.edu/library/library-resources/citation-guide/apa-citation-guide