Statistical Data Analysis for Business Decision-Making: A Report

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Statistics for Management
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Table of Contents
Task 1- Individual Written Report...................................................................................................3
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3
Brief Background.............................................................................................................................3
1. An introduction to statistics, e.g., what they are, what are the key characteristics, and what are
the benefits of statistical data for meeting business objectives.......................................................3
2. The sources and types of data and information businesses can access........................................4
3. The value of employing statistical methods when meeting business objectives and achieving
competitive advantage.....................................................................................................................5
4. Analysis of deductive and inductive approaches.........................................................................6
5. Examples of analysis...................................................................................................................7
6. Suitability of one type of data analysis vs another....................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
Reference list.................................................................................................................................12
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Task 1- Individual Written Report
Executive Summary
The report consists of the different kinds of processes that are responsible for the organisation to
perform the statistics. The report also provides a brief about the characteristics for the use of
statistical data. These give a clear picture of the different ways through which statistics is
performed within the business. There is a brief description about the inductive and deductive
approach that are necessary for the organisation to follow in order to complete the process of
statistics.
Brief Background
Statistics plays an important role in the context of almost every business organisation in the
current scenario. The management of businesses become easier due to the role that statistics
plays within it. Starting from the measurement and evaluation of performance and ending with
acting as an aid for businesses in meeting their objectives, statistics helps businesses in differing
ways. This report has been created as the Business Data Analyst at Associated British Foods and
is going to conduct a detailed analysis of what statistics is, its characteristics, its role in
accomplishing business objectives, sources of data and their types, as well as the worth of
employment of statistical methods when it comes to meeting business objectives. It is also going
to analyse inductive and deductive approaches, their business in business intelligence, while
providing examples on analysis of sample data sets and evaluation of suitability specific data
analysis types over other.
1. An introduction to statistics, e.g., what they are, what are the key characteristics, and
what are the benefits of statistical data for meeting business objectives
Statistics can be defined in several ways. In simple terms, one can define statistics as the science
that is used for the collection, the analysis, the presentation as well as the interpretation of data
(Pyrczak, 2016). Business statistics, on the other hand, refers to the area of specialty wherein
statistical data and methods are applied into business settings for purposes such as quality
assurance, production, operations, financial analysis and such areas (Gupta and Gupta, 2017).
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There are differing characteristics of statistics (Fisz and Bartoszynski, 2018). A few of them are
as follows -
 It involves aggregation of facts
 It must be expressed in numerical forms
 It is affected because of various causes
 It has to be estimated or enumerated with accuracy
 It is required being gathered in a systematic way
 It requires being gathered for some predetermined objective or purpose
 It has to have the capacity of being place relative to one another
Statistical data is highly beneficial to organisations for meeting business objectives (Cao, 2017).
The following are the ways in which statistical data benefits organisations such as Associated
British Foods in meeting its business objectives -
 Easing the management as well as evaluation of performance
 Enhances the compare and contrast of alternatives
 Aids largely in research and development
 Leads to the gathering or collection of precise and actual data
 Accurate projection of future events
 Keeping a business in operations throughout
 Facilitating businesses in building up long-term goals and targets
 Acts as a medium for strategic advertising
 Attracting customers through smart marketing
2. The sources and types of data and information businesses can access
In terms of statistics, there are two main sources for achieving data (Lohr and Raghunathan,
2017). They are statistical sources and non-statistical sources.
Statistical sources - The statistical sources are the form of data, which are gathered for official
purposes and involve officially conducted survey and censuses (Cai et al., 2015).
(a) Statistical surveys involve the data collection method using samples and their analysis with
the means of statistical methods.
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(b) Censuses involve gathering of various data and information through a particular reference
period and their analysis.
Non-statistical sources - These are the sources utilised to gather data and information for other
purposes of administration, especially for the private sector (Fernandez et al., 2016). Registers
are a common non-statistical data source in which data is stored and are usually extensive and
detailed.
However, data is of two forms - primary and secondary. Primary data can be defined as first-
hand information that a surveyor collects (Crowder, 2017). The following are the widespread
methods used for primary data gathering -
 Questionnaires
 Collection through investigators
 Telephonic investigations
 Personal investigations
Secondary data, conversely, are reciprocal to primary data and are gathered through already
published or previously available data sources (Johnston, 2017). Common secondary data
gathering methods include -
 Newspaper articles, technical publications, journals
 Official publications such as Federal Bureaus, Ministry of Finance and others
 Data published from trade associations, boards and Chambers of Commerce
3. The value of employing statistical methods when meeting business objectives and
achieving competitive advantage
According to Fleisher and Bensoussan (2015), the employment of statistical methods not only
help organisations in gathering information, performance measurement, and such other ways, but
also in various other ways. The value of the employment of statistical methods also lies in terms
of enabling a business in order to meet its objectives as well as for the accomplishment of
competitive edge or advantage. This accomplishment of business objectives and competitive
edge is done in various ways.
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The primary way in which employment of statistical methods helps organisations in meeting
business objectives is through aiding in performance measurement. It is through the means of
performance measurement in Associated British Foods that the organisation is enabled in
evaluating their productivity standards, the improvements required within work environment,
communication, equipments or other aspects, thereby helping it improving them largely so that
business objectives such as better customer satisfaction, improvement in sales, enlargement of
profits and such others can be met. Similarly, statistical methods help businesses in predicting
future performance. As a result, through prediction of future trends, organisations are enabled to
gain knowledge regarding the risks that it can be encountering in the future while taking steps so
that business objectives can be met with proper tackling of risks.
Enlargement of product portfolio and accomplishing higher return on investment is yet another
objective of every business. In Associated British Foods, statistical methods help the
organisation in optimising returns on investment while minimising its risks via measuring
possible risks in differing ways along with enhancing product portfolio through proper market
research. Competitive advantage, on the contrary, is accomplished through the aid statistical
methods provide in terms of research and development. It is through the means of random
consumer samples, survey data and other statistical methods that continuous research and
development takes place in organisations, thereby leading to innovation, which provides
organisations such as Associated British Foods in accomplishing competitive advantage.
Statistical methods also help organisations in building long-term goals and predicting future
events strategically to achieve them. This is another way in Associated British Foods develops
competitive advantage over its competitors.
4. Analysis of deductive and inductive approaches
Inductive Approach
This is such an approach in the field of statistics that enables the organisation Associated British
Foods to have qualitative research within their business (Shen et al., 2018). These are beneficial
for them in order to get the primary research for the business. These researches includes
concepts, meanings, symbols, description of things and metaphors that helps to get a detailed
analysis of the different types of statistics that are present within the business (Fleischmann and
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Ivens, 2019). The inductive approach gives a clear view of the different types of statistics that are
performed by the organisation Associated British Foods in order to check the performance of the
business.
Deductive Approach
Deductive approach in the field of statistics enables the organisation Associated British Foods to
develop a hypothesis that is based on the theory that is existing in nature. These are generally
taken from the theory of proposition (Fosse et al., 2015). The variables in this approach are
measured quantitatively that shows a difference among the inductive approach as well. This is an
alternative of inductive approach, which is necessary for the organisation to perform in order to
have proper approach within the business (Negahdaripour and Amirghassemi, 2016). The
observations in this sector are tested by the organisation Associated British Foods in order to
perform their activities properly.
5. Examples of analysis
Date Paid Amount
21-Jan-2017 £1,600.00
20-Feb-2017 £1,100.00
21-Mar-2017 £1,400.00
22-Apr-2017 £2,000.00
20-May-2017 £2,500.00
21-Jun-2017 £2,275.00
20-Jul-2017 £2,132.00
20-Aug-2017 £1,750.00
23-Sep-2017 £1,740.00
21-Oct-2017 £1,800.00
21-Nov-2017 £2,200.00
22-Dec-2017 £1,765.00
Total £22,262.00
Table 1: Representation for the data for wages in Associated British Foods
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(Source: Created by the learner)
01-Jan-2017
01-Feb-2017
01-Mar-2017
01-Apr-2017
01-May-2017
01-Jun-2017
01-Jul-2017
01-Aug-2017
01-Sep-2017
01-Oct-2017
01-Nov-2017
01-Dec-2017
£0.00
£500.00
£1,000.00
£1,500.00
£2,000.00
£2,500.00
Chart Title
Series1
Figure 1: Graphical Representation for the data for wages in Associated British Foods
(Source: Created by the learner)
The table that is provided above shows a clear view of the wages that are paid to the employees
during the period. These show that the highest wages paid is during the month of May, which is
£2,500.00. On the contrary, the minimum wages that is paid to the employees is in the month of
February, which is £1,100.00. There is a constant increase and decrease in the wages that are
paid to the employees, who is mainly due to the increase and decrease in the sales for Associated
British Foods. This is also due to the number of employees during the different months of
operations. The total amount of wages that are paid over one year is £22,262.00. This also shows
that an average of £ 1856.00 is being paid to the employees every month. The wages are directly
related to the amount of sales that are performed by the organisation Associated British Foods
for every month.
Sales volume Number of sales staff
£10,000 5
£12,000 7
£14,000 11
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£18,000 9
£20,000 3
£30,000 8
Table 2: Representation of the sales volume according to the staffs in Associated British
Foods
(Source: Created by the learner)
£10,000
£12,000
£14,000
£18,000
£20,000
£30,0000
2
4
6
8
10
12
5
7
11
9
3
8
Number of sales staff
Number of sales staff
Figure 2: Graphical representation of the sales volume with the number of employees in
Associated British Foods
(Source: Created by the learner)
The table above shows a clear view of the number of employees in relation to the sales that is
performed by them. This is essential for the management of the organisation Associated British
Foods to check the performance report of the employees in order to check the performance of the
employees. This can be observed that the highest sales are done during the time when there were
eight staffs that were present, which is £ 30,000. While the highest amount of sales that is done
by the employees individually is when there are three employees, which is £ 20,000
cumulatively. The minimum amount of sales is done when there are five employees present in
the organisation, which is £ 10,000. These show that the performance of the employees are not
constant and they need improve the sales along with the attrition rate of the employees so that the
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organisation Associated British Foods gets improved. It is necessary for the employees to
provide constant results within the business in order to improve the condition of the organisation.
The organisation also needs to bring out some ways through which the employees are retained
properly.
6. Suitability of one type of data analysis vs another
Basis of Distinction Descriptive Analysis Diagnostic Analysis
Meaning Descriptive analysis is that
process of analysis that gives a
description of the data that is
being collected by the
department (Forsström et al.,
2016).
Diagnostic analysis is that
process of analysis that
performs a diagnosis of the
data that is collected by the
departments (Chen et al.,
2016).
Time of analysis This analysis is prepared by
the organisation during the
start of the data collection, as
this is more beneficial.
This analysis is prepared by
the organisation after the
management of the
organisation uses the methods
in order to get proper
diagnosis of the data that are
present.
Outcome This type of analysis brings
out the summary of the
research.
This type of analysis gives a
detail of the different types of
analysis that are being
performed.
Table 1: Tabular Representation of the difference between two types of data analysis
(Source: Created by the Learner)
Conclusion
The task consists of the different types of data that can be collected by the organisation in order
to perform the statistics of the data that are available to Associated British Foods. These are
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essential for the management of Associated British Foods to use the methods in a proper manner
that gives a clear picture of the data that is collected. The deductive and inductive approaches are
discussed in the report that helps in the collection and analysis of the data. Various methods are
used to interpret the data that are being achieved by the entity Associated British Foods in order
to check the various activities. With the use of different tables, the analysis of the data is being
prepared by the organisation. This helps in improving the performance of the employees and of
the entity as a whole.
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Reference list
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(CSUR), 50(3), p.43.
Chen, G., Hu, X., Li, L., Huang, X., Lui, S., Kuang, W., Ai, H., Bi, F., Gu, Z. and Gong, Q.,
2016. Disorganization of white matter architecture in major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis
of diffusion tensor imaging with tract-based spatial statistics. Scientific reports, 6, p.21825.
Crowder, M.J., 2017. Statistical analysis of reliability data. Routledge.
Fernandez, R.C., Abedjan, Z., Madden, S. and Stonebraker, M., 2016, June. Towards large-scale
data discovery: position paper. In Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on
Exploratory Search in Databases and the Web (pp. 3-5). ACM.
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application of new and classic methods. FT Press.
Forsström, D., Hesser, H. and Carlbring, P., 2016. Usage of a responsible gambling tool: a
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Studies, 32(3), pp.889-904.
Fosse, N.E., Grahe, J.E. and Reifman, A., 2015. Markers of adulthood subscale development:
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Gupta, K.R. and Gupta, M.P., 2017. Business statistics. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors.
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