+1 862 207 3288 Programme unit 6: Business decision making
Outcome 1: Be able to use a variety of sources for the collection of data, both primary
and secondary
Outcome 2: Understand a range of techniques to analyse data effectively for business
purposes
Outcome 3: Be able to produce information in appropriate formats for decision making
in an organisational context
Outcome 4: Be able to use software generated information to make decisions in an
organisation
Your assignment consists of two tasks for you to complete. Task 1 is scenario based and asks
you to prepare a professional report based on your market findings. Task 1 will test L01-L03
learning outcomes as set in Unit 6 of your programme. Task 2 will test L04 learning outcomes
and will be based on four stand-alone questions.
TASK 1
Scenario – SeaWorld Theme Park
Middle East Entertainment Ltd (the ‘’Company’’) is a real estate development company
investing in theme and amusement parks across the Middle East. The Company is considering
an investment opportunity to develop a large-scale open-air SeaWorld theme park in the area
of Dubai, UAE. The management of the Company seeks information on the amusement park
industry sector in the UAE in order to evaluate the investment opportunity and make several
important business decisions. The Company appointed you as their consultant to analyse
relevant market data/ information and deliver a professional report based on your findings.
The proposed SeaWorld theme park will offer a variety of experiences for the residents and
tourists of the UAE such as rides and attractions, open-air educational areas and activities for
children, evening shows and food courts. There will be more than 30 rides and attractions for
different ages of people (for juniors, the park will offer rides and activities starting from the age
of two years old). In addition, the park will host a large-size indoor Oceanarium presenting an
ocean habitat with marine animals from around the globe. The park is planned to be located in
the close proximity to Dubai (around 20 minutes’ drive from the center of Dubai).
In order to assess commercial and financial feasibility of the project, the Company seeks market
information on leisure needs and preferences of residents of the UAE. Also, the Company
would like to assess the level of interest in the open-air SeaWorld park theme among the
residents of the UAE, the potential park traffic (attendance) and the price an adult visitor would
be willing to pay for one-day visit ticket to the park.
Higher National Diploma – Business Management
(1) Your role as the consultant will involve investigation into current and possibly future leisure
needs and preferences of the residents of the UAE. Your findings need to be reported to
the Company.
(2) The management of the Company also asked you to evaluate the statistical relationship
between the monthly household income and the price an average adult visitor would be
willing to pay for one-day visit ticket to the park.
In order to meet all the learning outcomes (L01-L03) you will be required to:
I.
Learning Outcome L o1: Be able to use a variety of sources for the
collection of data, both primary and secondary
1.1- Create a plan for the collection of primary and secondary data for a given business
problem
1.2 – Present the survey methodology and sampling frame used
1.3 – Design a questionnaire for a given business problem
II.
Lo2: understand a range of techniques to analyse data effectively for a
business
2.1 – Create information for decision making by summarising data using representative values
2.2 – Analyse the results to draw valid conclusions in a business context
2.3 – Analyse data using measures of dispersion to inform a given business scenario
2.4 – Explain how quartiles, percentiles and the correlation coefficient are used to draw useful
conclusions in a business context
III.
L o3: be able to produce information in appropriate formats for decision
making in an organisational context
3.1 – Produce graphs using spreadsheets and draw valid conclusions based on the information
derived
3.2 – Create trend lines in spreadsheet graphs to assist in forecasting for specified business
information
3.3 – Prepare a business presentation using suitable software and techniques to disseminate
information effectively
3.4 – Produce a formal business report.
Guidelines to achieve Pass grade for Task 1
You will need to produce a detailed plan of how you will collect the data, justifying the
usage of primary and secondary sources. Primary data can be collected by administering
questionnaires. Data from the Internet or other published sources can be used as
examples of secondary data.
You will need to present the survey methodology used. Discuss in your report how the
sample was selected from a population.
Higher National Diploma – Business Management
Produce a questionnaire for the investigation into the current and possibly future leisure
needs and preferences of the residents of the UAE. The questionnaire may ask 10-15
questions; you can circulate your questionnaire within or outside of the University. You
can also work on the design of the questionnaire together with a fellow student, if you
wish.
You will need to classify, record and present your market findings appropriately.
Using market data collected, analyse it by the use of averages (mean, median, mode)
and measures of dispersion (standard deviation, inter-quartile range).
You are required to estimate the statistical relationship between the monthly household
income and the price an average adult visitor would be willing to pay for one-day visit
ticket to the park using a linear regression model. For this, you can use the survey
collected data. You will need to calculate and interpret the correlation coefficient and
coefficient of determination, calculate the constants “a” and “b” for your linear
regression model.
You will need to present your findings appropriately, using Excel spreadsheet graphs
(line, pie, bar charts and histograms), tables, scatter XY graphs.
You will need to predict the price level for the monthly household income range outside
of your collected source data.
You will need to produce a formal business report detailing your findings from the tasks
above to the Company.
To achieve Merit and Distinction grades, you need to:
M1 – You will need to demonstrate the application of the relevant theories and techniques and
to show how data can be analysed to form effective judgments about the research problem.
M2 – You will need to show evidence that a range of sources of primary and secondary data
has been used to gather information for the purpose of research.
M3 – You will need to ensure that the appropriate structure and approach has been used in
preparing the business report. Also, your report shall be submitted on time.
D1 – You will need to demonstrate that synthesis has been used to generate and justify valid
conclusions based on your data analysis.
D2 – You must demonstrate autonomy/independence while conducting data analysis and
drawing conclusions.
D3 – You will need to evaluate the research process and the validity of your conclusions. For
this, you will need to assess the reliability of data and also describe how your research might
have been constrained by time and other factors.
Higher National Diploma – Business Management
Task 2:
Module Lo4: be able to use software generated information to make decisions
in organisations
4.1 – Use appropriate information processing tools
4.2 – Prepare a project plan for an activity and determine the critical path
4.3 – Use financial tools for decision making
.
To pass Task 2 you are required to answer all four questions as follows:
Question 1
Please note that Question 1 (as set below) is given for HND students only – to be submitted by
31 December 2015.
HD students are required to pass Question 1 in a time-constrained environment. The question
text will be provided for HD students in class. The date for the class examination will be
determined and communicated separately.
Aerospace Company are planning a commercial aerospace launch project to be undertaken in
the three-month’ time. Various activities have to take place before the launch can start, and
these are shown in the table below.
Activities
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
Check controls
Check propellants
Check personnel
Assemble items
Move to launch pad
Run system tests
Check astronauts
Check ground
stations
Final checkup
Preceding
activities
A
A
C
B
B, D
C
G, F
E, H
Duration (weeks)
3
5
3
1
3
4
2
3
1
Required:
Answer the following:
1. Draw the network and show that it is not possible to start a launch within 12 weeks.
Determine the earliest and latest event times. What are the critical activities and how much
float each non-critical activity has?
Higher National Diploma – Business Management
2. It is possible to “crash” (reduce the duration of) certain activities at increased cost. These
activities are shown in the table below:
Activity
Normal duration
Crashed duration
Extra costs per
(weeks)
(weeks)
crashed week, GBP
A
3
2
2,000
B
5
4
5,000
C
3
1
1,000
G
2
1
2,000
H
3
2
1,500
3. Tom Smith, the launch manager suggests that only activity C needs to be crashed because
this is the cheapest option and allows the greatest reduction in time to be made. Explain
why this would not help the situation.
4. It has been estimated that for every week over 13 weeks that this project takes, a loss of
GBP 5,000 is made as a result of lost profits. Decide on the strategy that will minimise the
sum of crashed costs and loss of profits.
Question 2
Please note that Question 2 (as set below) is given for HND students only – to be submitted by
31 December 2015.
HD students are required to pass Question 2 in a time-constrained environment. The question
text will be provided for HD students in class. The date for the class examination will be
determined and communicated separately.
The daily demand for a particular product is steady at 30 units a day for each of 250 working
days of the year. The product units are currently bought weekly in batches of 300 from a
supplier for £50 each. The cost of ordering the product units from the supplier is £30 regardless
of the size of the order. The stockholding cost for one unit for one year is 10% of the unit price.
Required:
(a) What are the current annual ordering and holding costs?
(b) Determine the economic order quantity. If the company apply economic order quantity,
would its annual ordering and holding costs change? Explain your answer.
(c) The company can get a discount of 5% if 600 or more units are ordered in one go. Is it
worthwhile? Please explain.
Higher National Diploma – Business Management
Question 3
Please note that Question 3 (as set below) is given for both HND and HD students – to be
submitted by 31 December 2015.
Moon Ltd are about to replace some of its existing equipment. Two machine configurations
have been designed by the production engineering department, M1 and M2. Each
configuration involves significant capital outlay with estimated cash flows over the next five
years as follows:
Estimated cash
flows (in US$)
Initial cost
1
2
3
4
5
M1
M2
-210,000
55,000
67,000
70,000
75,000
80,000
-250,000
60,000
62,000
70,000
74,000
80,000
Assume that the machines have residual value of nil and the company’s cost of capital is 15%.
Required:
i.
You need to calculate for each machine configuration:
a. Net present value (NPV)
b. Internal rate of return (IRR).
ii.
Evaluate the configurations using the calculated
recommendations on the machine configuration.
indicators
and
provide
Question 4 – Discussion paper (2-3 typed pages)
Please note that Question 4 (as set below) is given for both HND and HD students – to be
submitted by 31 December 2015.
Discuss the use of MIS in the context of decision making at different levels of the organization.
Guidelines:
Discuss different types of information (strategic, tactical and operational); define what MIS
is; discuss different types of information systems at different level of management
(Executive Support Systems, Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems, and Transaction
Processing Systems).
