kim woods

Faculty of Business and Law

Assignment Brief

Assessment Information

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:

1. Analyse realistic management problems based on analysis of data sets and case materials.

2. Apply the techniques studied to interpret and communicate findings on data analysis.

This assignment is an individual assignment.

Your coursework consists of the following four tasks based on Grack’s case study and data supplied in moodle. Some similar tasks will be performed in seminars with the tutors’ guidance. However, some parts of these tasks will require independent study. Your work will have to be submitted on the designated section of the module’s Moodle page AS A SINGLE EXCEL FILE containing all four tasks. You should name the different worksheet tabs (within the excel file) as Task 1, Task 2, Task 3 and Task 4. If you have written content in a word document you can copy and paste this into your appropriate worksheet tab.

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The Case Study & Tasks

Grack’s is a chocolate and bakery company based in the UK. They have been operating very successfully in the snacks industry for many years. Catering for consumers’ needs and demand is the key to their success and sustainability. They collect consumer data on a regular basis and analyse it to identify the growing trend in snacks consumption.

Recently they have identified that the British population is increasingly choosing healthier snacks with low sugar content. They have also established that this is strongly correlated with an Olympic spirit. To exploit this new trend Grack’s is planning to launch a new product after the success of ‘Team GB’ at the Brazil Summer Olympics. Grack’s innovation and product design team plan to market a chocolate bar for keeping weight under control, with average calories of 193 per unit.

Grack’s has hired you for your analytical insights. Your job is to collate and analyse a range of data to recommend a competitive product for the healthy snack food market. See Excel file “CW2 Raw Data.xls” for raw data.

Task 1: [30 Marks]

Using the food table in the dataset provided, prepare a list of alternative snacks i.e. direct competitors to the new product. You are required to:

1. Sort, list & appropriately format the dataset into appropriate categories related to food groups e.g. chocolate-based snacks, baked food, processed food, fast food, healthier snacks etc.

[10 marks]

1. Prepare appropriate graphs displaying & comparing calories, of the categories.

[5 marks]

1. Calculate summary statistics such as the mean, median and standard deviations of the categories.

[5 marks]

1. Give a brief critical discussion of the summary statistics from part 3.

[5 marks]

1. What advice would you give for weight-loss purposes – which snacks have to be chosen? Is the chocolate bar going to be competitive in the market?

[5 marks]

Task 2: (30 Marks)

Using the attached sugar content data, “Sugar Content – British Dental Society”, and internet sources, try to determine the average content of sugar of the items in the chocolate bar categories you have selected in Task 1, that are in the sugar data, and list them in a new column near the calories. After that, you need to:

1. Construct the appropriate graph(s) for the new variable, sugar.

[6 marks]

1. Calculate the mean and median of the new variable, and their standard deviations.

[6 marks]

1. Give a brief critical discussion of the summary statistics from part 2.

[6 marks]

1. Generate the scatterplot and calculate the Pearson’s coefficient for the two variables (calories and sugar); for the chocolate bar category.

[6 marks]

1. Provide comments about the results (hint: it is about the correlation).

[6 marks]

Task 3 [25 Marks]

Grack’s is now interested in trying to estimate how sales are influenced by the price of their products. To do this, the company randomly chooses 9 UK cities and offers the candy bar at different prices and run a regression analysis on price and sales data.

City Price (£) Sales

London 1.46 92

Birmingham 2.70 83

Manchester 2.60 62

Derby 2.00 80

Edinburgh 3.70 53

Glasgow 4.00 45

Cardiff 3.00 57

Belfast 4.50 23

Leicester 3.20 60

1. Using sales as the dependent variable, conduct linear regression analysis*.

[5 marks]

1. Generate the scatterplot.

[4 marks]

1. Write the regression equation using the results of the excel table.

[5 marks]

1. Determine & interpret the slope and the intercept.

[6 marks]

1. Determine what percentage of the total variation in candy bar sales is explained by prices?

[5 marks]

*[Perform, using Excel, Data Analysis Pack, Regression function, the regression analysis.]

Task 4 [15 Marks]

Write a summary report based on the results of the three tasks above.

Guidelines for completing task:

You are to follow the procedures, techniques and Excel based & long hand formula taught in seminars to answer questions related to categorising, tabling, central tendency, variance and regression analysis calculations. You will also need to perform web-based research to identify sugar content of chocolate-based snack items. Theories delivered in lectures will help you to answer descriptive questions. If you need further support please contact your seminar tutors.

Word Count

The section for which a word limit primarily applies is for Task 4, in which you are asked to write a summary report based on the results of three exercises. So for Task 4, it is no more than 500 words. 

It is recommended that you only use Appendices for supporting material and not for the substantive part of your work.

There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark (after internal moderation) for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.

How to submit your assessment

The assessment must be submitted by 23.55:00 on 07/04/17. No paper copies are required. You can access the submission link through the module web.

• Your coursework will be given a zero mark if you do not submit a copy through Moodle. Please take care to ensure that you have fully submitted your work.

• All work submitted after the submission deadline without a valid and approved reason (see below) will be given a mark of zero.

• The University wants you to do your best. However we know that sometimes events happen which mean that you can’t submit your coursework by the deadline – these events should be beyond your control and not easy to predict.  If this happens, you can apply for an extension to your deadline for up to two weeks, or if you need longer, you can apply for a deferral, which takes you to the next assessment period (for example, to the resit period following the main Assessment Boards). You must apply before the deadline.

You will find information about the process and what is or is not considered to be an event beyond your control at https://share.coventry.ac.uk/students/Registry/Pages/Deferrals-and-Extension.aspx

• Students MUST keep a copy and/or an electronic file of their assignment.

• Checks will be made on your work using anti-plagiarism software and approved plagiarism checking websites.

GUIDELINES AND BACKGROUND TO THIS ASSIGNMENT

Plagiarism

As part of your study you will be involved in carrying out research and using this when writing up your coursework. It is important that you correctly acknowledge someone else’s writing, thoughts or ideas and that you do not attempt to pass this off as your own work. Doing so is known as plagiarism. It is not acceptable to copy from another source without acknowledging that it is someone else’s writing or thinking. This includes using paraphrasing as well as direct quotations. You are expected to correctly cite and reference the works of others. The Centre for Academic Writing provides documents to help you get this right. If you are unsure, please visit www.coventry.ac.uk/caw. You can also check your understanding of academic conduct by completing the Good Academic Practice quiz available on Moodle.

Moodle includes a plagiarism detection system and assessors are experienced enough to recognise plagiarism when it occurs. Copying another student’s work, using previous work of your own or copying large sections from a book or the internet are examples of plagiarism and carry serious consequences. Please familiarise yourself with the CU Harvard Reference Style (on Moodle) and use it correctly to avoid a case of plagiarism or cheating being brought. Again, if you are unsure, please contact the Centre for Academic Writing, your Academic Personal Tutor or a member of the course team.

Return of Marked Work

You can expect to have marked work returned to you 15 working days after the submission date. If for any reason there is a delay you will be kept informed. Marks and feedback will be provided online feedback. As always, marks will have been internally moderated only, and will therefore be provisional; your mark will be formally agreed later in the year once the external examiner has completed his / her review.

Assignment Brief Template

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