Professional blog

1. Assessment Brief 

2.1. Assessment learning outcomes 

This assessment is designed to gauge your understanding, skills and application of common data

analysis techniques used in business and other organizations today. As such you need to  demonstrate your attainment in these areas according to the four Module Learning Outcomes (LOs): 

• LO1: Critically evaluate the evolving use of data in solving business problems, presenting  logical arguments based on evidence 

• LO2: Explore how data analytics can be used within a business context 

• LO3: Critically appraise the presentation of data within a business environment • LO4: Critically evaluate different business analytical techniques as part of planning a data  analytics initiative. 

2.2. Scenario 

You have recently been employed by Olympic Sports Ltd. as a data analyst. Olympic Sports Ltd. is an  UK-based manufacturer of sport products selling across the UK and abroad. The company offers its  products under its brand Olympic. The brand includes sports clothes such as outerwear, t-shirts, shirts,  shorts, trousers and footwear for all kind of sports (e.g. Aerobics, Athletics, swimming, Basketball,  Boxing, Climbing, Cricket and Cycling). 

Olympic Sports Ltd. has grown successfully selling its brand across many of the high street retailers  in the UK including John Lewis, H&M and M&S. The company has also expanded business in other  countries in Europe, in particular in France and Germany where it uses leading local retailers to sell  its products. 

As Olympic Sports Ltd. expands, it continues to increase its data analytic roles within the  organization to strengthen its strategic decision-making capabilities. The recruitment strategy is  to employ young professionals with strategic and data analytics skills willing to provide Olympic  Sports Ltd. top management with a strong evidence-based foundation for their business decisions.  They like recruits to have a broad management experience combined with a strong academic  background. Your MSc Management degree at BPP University was a key element in their decision to  recruit you. 

As part of the induction process at Olympic Sports Ltd., you have joined the Finance Department as  junior data analyst. Your manager requested you to complete a number of tasks to ensure that you  have a grounded knowledge and understanding of data analytics and its application in decision making. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your capability and give your employer the  confidence to let you run your own project in the future.  

As part of your first duties, your manager asked you to join the team in charge of the development  of next year’s Business Plan for the company. The team is analyzing different options for growth,  which include expanding in more countries abroad, new product development and diversification  into new business areas. However, it makes sense to define the strategy based on these options only 

if the current business model does not provide the expansion and growth opportunities expected by  the top management. So, you have been given the responsibility to analyze Olympic Sports Ltd.  current business performance.  

Your job will be to analyze the performance of the business in the UK, France and Germany. Olympic  Sports Ltd. has experienced strong competition in these countries from international sport brands  such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Fila and Reebok. So, the performance in these countries is a good  indication of the current overall market position of the company.  

2.3. Research objectives and tasks 

The Finance Director, who is responsible for assessing the financial viability of the company to invest  in the different growth scenarios, is interested in understanding the option of opening its own branded  shops, so that the company can sell its products directly to customers without going through  distributors and local retailers. This strategy will also allow Olympic Sports Ltd. to strengthen its brand against competitors who have already branded shops such as Nike. For this purpose, he wants  you to: 

Question 1: Perform a sales value and volume analysis of the three countries to identify  the best country to open the first branded shop. 

As part of the analysis, the Creative Director wants to consider the re-development of the product  portfolio. He wants to focus on improving current products in terms of quality and design, therefore  enhancing the market position and competitiveness of the Olympic brand. However, since the  budget for product development has been reduced in the last few years, the improvement efforts  have to be concentrated only on a few products, that is, the high-selling products. The current  portfolio of sport products is made of the following product categories:  

• Outerwear 

• t-shirts 

• shirts 

• shorts 

• trousers 

• footwear 

In this respect, he wants you to: 

Question 2: Perform an analysis of the product offering to identify best performing sport  products. 

In addition to competing against global brands, Olympic Sports Ltd. has also experienced strong  competition from retailer’s private brands. A private brand, also called a private-label brand, is a  brand owned by a company and offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from  other businesses/suppliers. Many high-street retailers have developed their own private brands as a  way to improve their profitability at the expenses of their suppliers’ business. Olympic brands face pressure from private labels which in many cases offer equivalent sport products at less price and  have more shelf space at the retailers’ stores. One option Olympic Sports Ltd.’s management is

considering to balance this pressure is to become a manufacturer for private brands. By supplying  sport products to private brands, the company could improve production (asset utilization) achieving  economies of scale which translate in lower cost of production for Olympic branded products,  therefore allowing to keep profitability even under price promotions.  

Taking a cautious approach to dealing with private brands where distribution partners are also  competitors, in June 2022 the company ran a trial in Germany where two outsource contracts were  signed with leading retailers to produce their private brand sportswear products lines. The revenue of  Germany is the combination of the sales from the Olympic brand and the income from the  production of sport products for private brands. The Sales Director is keen to understand if this new  strategy could be expanded to other countries. So, he wants you to address the question: 

Question 3: Did the two contracts signed in Germany to produce sport products for private  brands have a positive impact on the sales performance of the subsidiary? 

The responses to the issues detailed above should be included in a summary MS Word report that  you save and submit as a PDF format file. 

Because this is your first project within Olympic Sports Ltd., the Finance Director has given you  additional details regarding the structure and content that it is expected to see in your report. This  is set out in Section 3 – Report Structure.  

A set of data is available (see module dataset spreadsheet file). Since the data comes directly from  the country offices, quality issues are present which will require your attention! 

You have five tasks to complete for your summative report. The first three are exactly the same as  for your formative report and you should update your answers to these tasks based both on  feedback on your formative submission together with your own further learning across the module. 

Task 1: Introduction and project plan (20 marks) 

Summarize what you are going to present in the report and justify your plan for delivering the  research project to the Financial Director. Ensure you also make clear reference to a data analytics  project framework as part of your plan. Finally, specifically explain how data analytics can add  value and drive business performance improvement for Olympic Sports Ltd.’s subsidiaries. 

Guidelines: 

• State the purpose of report and describe the report structure and contents • Present your overall project plan for delivering the project 

• Ensure that your project plan explicitly refers to a data analytics project framework and  explain how the selected framework can be used/applied to address the core three business  questions assigned to you.  

• Suggest a list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Olympic Sports Ltd.’s subsidiaries and  explain how better data analytics enables improvements against these KPIs. 

Task 2: Data preparation quality issues and remedies (10 marks)

Discuss first the generic issues that data analysts encounter in collecting, integrating and cleaning  data. Second, discuss the specific quality issues with the project data that the Finance department  has provided and how you propose to address those issues.  

Guidelines: 

• List and explain generic data problems and how to identify them. What are the different  options for resolving these generic issues? 

• List all data problems you have identified in the Olympic Sports Ltd. dataset. Explain how  you identified the problems (give examples of the issues) and how you propose to  address/solve them. 

Task 3: Data analysis and commentary (20 marks) 

Using tables, set out and explain the results of your numeric data analysis, including summary of  exploratory data and supporting commentary. Explain how your results provide an understanding  of Olympic Sports Ltd.’s subsidiaries performance. This should include three tables setting out:  

(Table A) Data and trends in sales volume and value by month, by year and across the 3  years period, 

(Table B) Benchmark comparisons of sport products categories performance covering sales  volume and value by quarter, by year and across the 3 years period, and  

(Table C) Benchmark comparisons of sales volume and value between subsidiaries by  quarter, by year and across the 3 years period.  

Guidelines: 

• Include summary exploratory data calculations for total sales value and volume. The analysis  could include for example top and bottom performing sport product categories, ranges,  averages, standard deviations; top and bottom performing time-periods, etc. 

• Ensure your tables are professionally presented: headings, units, data formats. Highlight  and annotate key data elements 

• For each table include firstly an explanation of the table and its contents and then a bullet point list of what you can see or infer from the analysis of the data. 

Task 4: Data visualization and commentary (20 marks) 

Using data charting/graphics, develop visual presentations of the data together with bullet-points  setting out the key findings and inferences from your analysis of the charts/plots. This should  include three charts presenting: 

(Chart A) Comparison of sales value trends across subsidiaries over time 

(Chart B) Sport product categories performance comparisons between subsidiaries, and (Chart C) Impact of the two contracts signed in Germany to produce sport products for private brands, and in comparison with the other two subsidiaries. 

Guidelines: 

• Ensure you provide well-presented and labeled charts 

• Use a combination of visualization plots and techniques such as bar charts, stacked bar  charts, trend charts, pie charts and tree map charts

• For each chart include firstly an explanation of the chart and its contents and then a bullet point list of what you can see or infer from the data. 

Task 5: Conclusions and recommendations (20 marks) 

Based on your analysis and findings in Tasks 3 and 4 set-out your conclusions and  recommendations. Ensure you address the three issues raised by the top management. 

Guidelines: 

• What conclusions can be inferred regarding Olympic Sports Ltd.’s subsidiaries sales  performance and operations? Remember to include the answers to the three  issues/questions raised by Olympic Sports Ltd. top management. 

• What are your business recommendations to Olympic Sports Ltd.’s CEO and top  management?  

• Include any suggestions related to data analytics and its better use within the organization. • Note that it is also acceptable to add to your data analytics recommendations, possible  actions that Olympic Sports Ltd. might take, based not only on your findings but also on your  wider knowledge of the business and sport apparel market sector. 

Report Structure and References (10 marks) 

In addition, ten marks are awarded for the overall professionalism of your report and the adoption  of academic standards. 

Guidelines:  

• Your report should follow the section naming structure and order set out in the Brief. You  should also add your own sub-headings as you see fit to demonstrate your ability to on develop structure and content 

• Your report should include an auto-generated contents page including section headings and subheadings. The contents page should also include a page-referenced list all tables, charts  and figures provided in our report. Remember to number all pages in your report, for  example ‘Page 8 of 12’. 

• Ensure you develop your discussion in a logical progression: Findings, inferences,  conclusions, recommendations 

• Do not make general assertions without supporting evidence 

• Zero spelling errors and grammatical mistakes 

• Cite all your sources in the body of the text and in the Referencing using the Harvard  Referencing style 

• Include a blend of industry research, case studies and academic references 

2. Report Structure 

You should set out your report according to the following heading structure. You should add sub headings under this overall structure as you feel fit to demonstrate your ability to on-develop the 

section themes and to provide meaningful sub-structure. But you must use this overall structure in  order to provide a consistent framework against which your marker will allocate marks. You will be  deduced marks if you do not follow this structure. Also note that there is no requirement for  producing an Executive Summary. 

University Cover Page 

Table of contents 

1. Introduction and project plan 

2. Data quality issues and remedies 

3. Data analysis and commentary 

4. Data charting and commentary 

5. Conclusions and recommendations 

6. References 

7. Appendix (optional) 

In addition, you may wish to add further appendices as you see fit in order to support your work. 

Word count: 2,500. Cover Page, Table of Contents, References, Appendices, Tables, Charts and  Figures do not count towards word count.

3. Mapping Learning Outcomes to Assessment Tasks 

The table below sets out the mapping between the four Module Learning Objectives and the key

tasks in your Summative Assessment which test your achievement against these Learning Objectives.

4. Marking Guide (Student version) 

The assignment is marked out of 100 and counts towards 100% of your module mark. The following table shows the tasks, marks and marking rubric. You should  iteratively self-assess your performance against the Marking Guide as you develop your draft submission, in order to evaluate your performance against your  target grade.

5. Marking Guide (Tutor version) 

Tutors: The assignment is marked out of 100 and counts towards 100% of the student mark. 

The following table shows the tasks, marks and marking rubric. Please ensure you take account of the individual task marking structure for distinction, merit, pass  and fail mark allocations.