ISYS3014 Business Analytics Techniques
Assignment 03
ABOUT THE ASSIGNMENT
Due Date: 24th May 2024 1700 (AWST)
This Assignment is worth 40% of your final marks for the unit. It is an INDIVIDUAL assignment and will be checked using TurnItIn. The assessment marking guide is below.
In this assignment, you are being asked to conduct an analysis, providing both a written report and PowerBI dashboard.
Assessment extension is permitted on application as per the instructions in the Unit Outline.
Late submission is permitted for this assignment and if the student does not have an approved assessment extension, the following penalties will apply:
1. For assessment items submitted with the first 24 hours after due date/time, students will be penalised by a reduction of 5% of the total marks allocated for the assessment task (i.e., 5% of 40 is 2)
2. For each additional 24-hour period commenced and additional penalty of 10% of the total marks allocated for the assessment item will be deducted; and
Assessment items submitted more than 168 hours late (7 calendar days) will receive a mark of zero.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
This assignment assesses the following Unit Learning Outcomes:
1. Develop models (financial, statistical, forecasting and simulation) to solve business problems
2. Analyse business data using models, queries and reports, and contemporary software
3. Critically and ethically analyse business problems in the context of Decision Support Systems and Business Intelligence.
ASSIGNMENT TASK
As part of its efforts to meet its renewable energy targets, your consulting company has been approached by the Australian government to create a report as to if and how the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) has changed since 2018.
You have been asked to conduct several specific analyses:
1. Change in market share of EVs in Australia from 2020-2023.
2. Comparison of Australian states or territories regarding EV adoption rates.
3. Comparison of EVs with Hybrid vehicles in terms of adoption rates and market share in Australia.
4. Forecast for the sales of electric vehicles in Australia for the year 2030.
If you have questions that you would like to address to the client, or you are unsure as to what is being asked, you can email or post your queries to the Discussion Forum on Blackboard.
You will most require a range of datasets to perform. your analyses. You should attempt to procure the data for yourself. There is no limit as to what or how many data sources you use for this project. However, whenever you do include a data source, you must ensure that you include the relevant metadata in the Appendix (see Section 1e of the Report Specification). You should also indicate the source of data used in any analyses or visualisations you create.
When students have attempted projects like this in the past, they have expressed concern about how poorly the data are structured, and how the data they found from other sources was not formatted “correctly”. Unfortunately, this is what working in BA is like!
WHAT TO DO?
1. Produce a written report. This report should include the following sections:
a. Executive Summary and Introduction
b. Report Findings, including any supporting visualisations, for the four analyses listed above
c. Conclusion
d. Appendices that include design documentation; for example, detailed ETL processes and other metadata
2. Create a dashboard in PowerBI Desktop that allows the user to explore your analyses.
WHAT TO SUBMIT?
- Word document that includes the written report
- PowerBI File that includes your dashboard
MARKING GUIDE
REPORT (60%):
Executive Summary (5%)
The purpose of an Executive Summary is to present to the reader the “highlights” of the report. It is important to note that for some of your readers, this will be the only part of your report they will read (particularly if what they read in the Executive Summary doesn’t grab their attention!). I would expect this to be no more than 1 page.
We will be looking the following in determining the mark:
- Effectiveness of Summary: how well the summary summarizes the content of the report. It should present the most important aspects of the project goals, methods and how the project finished
- Professional presentation: the organisation of the summary, which should flow logically from the goals, through the methods used, to the conclusions/findings of the project. Spelling and grammatical errors should be avoided in this part of the report (remember, that it might be the best chance you have to grab the reader’s attention).
Introduction (5%)
The Introduction is somewhat different from the Executive Summary in that the idea is to introduce the rest of the report. It will more formally explain the structure of the report in that it will outline the main sections and perhaps outline the findings. I would expect the Introduction to be no more than 2 pages.
We will be looking at the following in determining the mark:
- The Introduction clearly and logically outlines the sections of the report and provides an overview of the content of those sections.
- Again, professionalism in the presentation of this section is important.
Report Findings (30%)
This is the part of the report where you need to provide the four analyses as specified in the report specification. The marks will be allocated equally between the analyses. The length of this section will vary and so it is difficult to provide a page/word limit. It is important to make sure that you address each of the points below for each of the questions.
In marking this section, we will be looking at these points for each analysis:
- The report clearly demonstrates an understanding of the analysis and why you are being asked to conduct the analysis (i.e., why is the Client interested in the analysis)
- The methods used to conduct the analysis are clearly stated, as are the sources of data used for the analysis along with any assumptions that you make to assist you with completing the analysis
- Data and visualisations used to support the analysis and any recommendations that are made, are appropriate for that analysis
- Visualisations used in the report demonstrate an understanding of best practice in visualisation design and best practice
- The outcomes of the analysis are clearly stated and supported by the data and visualisations used.
Conclusion (10%)
The conclusion is an important part of the report in that it is where you tie it all together. I would expect this to be no more than 2 pages.
Make sure you take this opportunity to once again highlight the important findings that you have made.
- The Conclusion should clearly state the purpose of the project and summarise the methods and data used.
- Some of the more interesting findings should be emphasised and re-stated here
- Any shortcomings of the project or suggestions as to how the project could proceed, could also be stated here
Appendices (10%)
This section is where you should include your process documentation; the primary purpose of this is so someone would be able to pick up your work and continue with it (I think of this as insurance against becoming ill and being unable to complete the project). It should include any ETL processes or that you used and metadata you used in the project. We will be looking for this section to be complete, AND ask ourselves, could someone, using this documentation, be able to pick up the project and run with it?
DASHBOARD (40%)
The Dashboard is there primarily for the user to see and explore the data. It will be marked using the principles discussed in Topic 08.
- Do the visualisations on the dashboard assist with the analysis? (10%)
o Is the purpose of the visualisation clearly explained in its title or surrounding text?
o Is it possible to understand the visualisation in 30 seconds or less without additional information?
o Does the visualisation include a title? Is that title simple informative and eye-catching?
o Does the visualisation include subtitles to guide the viewers?
- Chart types (10%)
o Are the charts chosen appropriate for the type of analysis being performed?
- Chart Effectiveness (10%)
o Are the most important data shown on the X- and Y-axes and the less important data in coated in colour or shape attributes?
o Are the views oriented intuitively - do they cater to the way the viewers read and perceive data?
o Is there a limited number of measures or dimensions in a single view so that users can see your data?
o Is there limited usage of colours and shapes so that the users can distinguish them and see patterns?
- Dashboard Design (10%)
o Are the legends close to the views they apply to?
o Is the legend highlight button said to “on” or “off” according to the preference?
o Are the legends and filters grouped and placed intuitively?
o Do the views fit consistently well when filters are applied?
o Do all the colours on the dashboard go together without clashing?
o Are there less than 7 to 10 colours on the dashboard?
o Are fonts used consistently in all of the views and no more than three different fonts on one dashboard?
o Are the labels clear and concise? Are they placed optimally to help guide the viewers?
o Are the tooltips informative? Do they have the right format so that they are easy for viewers to use?