Task 1: Introduction and project plan (20 marks)
Summarize what you are going to
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 Corporate Strategy Manager. Ensure you also clearly reference a data
analytics framework as part of your plan. Finally, specifically, explain how data analytics can add
value and drive improved business performance for COTS’s coffee shops.
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Guidelines:
State the purpose of the 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 framework and explains how
the selected framework can be used to address the core business questions assigned to
you.
Present COTS’s coffee shops Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and how improved analytics
enables improvements against these KPIs.
Task 2: Data quality issues and remedies (10 marks)
Discuss both the generic issues that data analysts encounter in sourcing, reviewing, and cleansing
data and also specific issues with the project data that the Corporate Strategy team 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 differences?
options for resolving these generic issues?
List all the data problems you have identified with the COTS dataset. Explain how you
identified the problems and how you propose to address them.
Task 3: Data analysis and commentary (20 marks)
Set out and explain the results of your numeric data analysis in the form of tables, summary data
and supporting commentary. Explain how your results inform your understanding of COTS’s shop
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 product 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 coffee shops by
quarter, by year, and across the 3-year period.
Guidelines:
Include summary exploratory data calculations for total sales value and volume. The analysis
could include for example top and bottom-performing product categories, ranges, averages,
standard deviations; top and bottom performing time periods, etc.
Ensure your tables are professionally presented: Headings, units, and data formats. Highlight
and annotate key data elements
For each table include firstly an explanation of the table and its contents and then a bulletpoint list of what you can see or infer from the data.
Task 4: Data charting and commentary (20 marks)
Use your data charting and interpretation skills to develop visual presentations of your findings
together with bullet points setting out the key findings and inferences from the charting. This
should include three charts presenting:
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(Chart A) Comparison of sales value trends across coffee shops over time
(Chart B) Product category performance comparisons between coffee shops, and
(Chart C) Impact of the shop layout re-design done in Brighton coffee shop, and in
comparison, with other coffee shops.
Guidelines:
Ensure you provide well-presented and labeled charts
Use a combination of visual data presentation 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.
Guidelines:
What conclusions can be inferred regarding COTS’s coffee shop sales performance and
operations? Remember to answer the three issues raised by COTS’s top management.
What are your business recommendations to COTS’s CEO and top management?
Note that, in addition to any suggestions related to data analytics and its better use within
the organization, it is acceptable here also to put forward possible actions that COTS might
take, based not only on your findings but also on your wider knowledge of business and
COTS owns the market sector.