Business Analytics for MBA Assessment

Part A – Case Analysis - De Beers

1. Examine all of the exhibits in the De Beers case and undertake careful data analysis to determine the presence or absence of any key trends or patterns, etc. (please carefully assess and describe what you observe, using the terminology and analytical tools learned in the Business Analytics course; you may consult the HBX Data analytics syllabus if you wish).

• Exhibit 1 – shows wholesale prices for one carat round diamond
• Exhibit 2 – shows the relationship between a diamond move from a mine to a retail customer and the price (increase)
• Exhibit 3 – shows total historical productions of diamonds
• Exhibit 4 – shows prices of rough and polished diamonds in recent years and their correlation over time
• Exhibit 5 – shows a typical De Beers advertisement
• Exhibit 6 – shows Anglo American Financial Statements
• Exhibit 7 – shows the De Beers group’s performance
• Exhibit 8 – shows a survey of pricing at pawn shops for diamonds versus other products
• Exhibit 9 – shows consumers dissatisfaction with their selling experience (two reviews posted on Yelp and Circa Jewelers)

a. Are these trends, patterns, and distributions to be expected or have you noticed anomalies? What do your confirmed trends and abnormalities of the data reveal about your hypothesis/see? How is your suggestion related to your preferred strategic decision in the case? Please relate your analysis back to your underlying suggested strategic decision in the

b. Please make sure your analysis covers all Exhibits in the case, as well as any data described in the narrative of the case.

2. Using the analysis in part 1, above, prepare a memo directed to Tom Montgomery, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at the De Beers Group, outlining the implications of your data analysis of the case, as it relates to your recommended strategic decision (and hypothesis, if any). If you wish, you can extend the analysis of the memo to include more than one strategic decision, arguing in favor or against each of the selected decisions. Please be sure to highlight how the data helps support or thwart the available option(s) and strategic decision(s) in the case. Be sure to highlight any underlying assumption(s) or theory/is (e.g., economic theory) in your analysis. Required word count is 1,000 min. to 1,500 max.

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Part B. Marketing Manager - Sales Exercise

In a given year, a Manager wants to forecast corporate sales for the coming year and to understand the Relevant factors. This information will serve at least 4 purposes:

- Provide estimates in corporate planning

- Provide data for staffing requirements

- Provide data for budget allocations for advertising, dealer discounts, etc.

- Allow for better decisions regarding price, product expenditures, etc.

The dataset (below and attached via excel) provides information in the following categories:

• Sales Expenses (EXPENSE)
• Advertising (ADVERTISE)
• Total Industry Advertising (TRINIDAD)
• Personal disposable income (PDI)
• Prices (PRICE)
• Product development expenditures (R&D)
• Capital investments (INVEST)
• Dealers’ allowances (DEALS)
• Company Sales (SALES)

Assignment

• Create and study a correlation matrix.
• What do the correlations signify?
• Find the most appropriate regression equation for SALES.
• What interpretation can you make?

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