Foundations of Business Analysis

Assignment 2 :-Weight: 50% (Total Marks: 100) 

Submission instructions:

1. Maximum word length: 3000 words (excluding references, tables and figures).
2. Submit a soft copy in Word format via Turnitin (with an assignment cover sheet).
3. Assignments submitted by other means (e.g. email) or forms (scanned copy, Excel document)

will attract no marks.

Case Study – Computers R Us

Computers R Us, a computer manufacturer and retailer has recently launched a service and repair

division, CompleteCare, for its portable/laptop/notebook computers. This division promises to

provide a rapid response to customer technical enquiries and warranty repairs.

However, the division is experiencing:

– a shortage of trained technical operators in its telephone centre;

– distribution problems; and

– parts availability problems.

As a result, Computers R Us has received multiple complaints about CompleteCare at the Computers

R Us call centre.

To address these issues, a research proposal was prepared (Assignment 1) and the research

overseen by the management of Computers R Us. It was found that customer satisfaction was a

contributing factor to the issues experienced in the CompleteCare division. Consequently, the

management of Computers R Us have developed several possible initiatives to improve customer

satisfaction to a minimum level of 7 out of 10. These initiatives include: decreasing response times in

the CompleteCare division, training and continuous education for staff on products and services to

assist customers, increasing methods of communication between Computers R Us and its customers

and a new loyalty rewards program. Management is interested to know which of these strategies is

considered the most effective by Computers R Us customers.

A member of your team has already collected data that can be used for this analysis. To collect this

data, a simple random sample of 500 customers was selected. Of the 500 customers to whom

surveys were sent, 420 responded. The survey used to collect this data is provided below and the

survey responses have been collated in the CompleteCare.xls Excel file. You are required to write a

report after performing an analysis on the data collected from the customers of Computers R Us.

A member of your team has suggested that, when you perform this analysis, you should undertake a

series of hypothesis tests to examine the following:

1. Does the current level of customer satisfaction differ from management’s goal of 7 out of 10?

2. Is there any difference between the overall satisfaction of male and female customers at Computers R Us?

3. Are there any differences in overall customer satisfaction across the following age groups:

20 and below, 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, 51 and over?

4. Is there any difference in customer satisfaction between responses to the initiatives of

‘decreasing response times in the CompleteCare division’ and the ‘new loyalty rewards program’?

5. Are any of the initiatives proposed by management related to the overall satisfaction of Computers R Us customers?

Required:

Write a data analysis report that provides the results to each of the five hypothesis tests above and

make overall recommendations to Computers R Us that management can use for future business

decision-making. Based on your analysis relating to these hypotheses, your report should focus on

two key issues: the current degree of customer satisfaction and the strategy or strategies that would

be most effective to increase customer satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction Survey  

Section 1: Personal information

Please complete the following information about yourself.

Question 1 – What is your gender?

Male Female

Question 2 – Please check the box that indicates your age group.

20 years and below

21–30 years

31–40years

41–50 years

51 and over

Section 2: Current Customer Satisfaction 

Question 3 – Have you experienced any problems with the CompleteCare division? Yes No

Question 4 – Overall, I am satisfied as a customer of Computers R Us.

Please circle the number that corresponds with your level of agreement with the statement below.

Strongly Disagree = 1 and Strongly Agree = 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Section 3: Determinants of Customer Satisfaction

Please circle the number that corresponds with your level of agreement with statements below.

Strongly Disagree = 1 and Strongly Agree = 10

Question 5 – I am satisfied with the response time of the CompleteCare division.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Question 6 – I am satisfied with the level of advice CompleteCare staff provide on Computers R Us

products and services.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Question 7 – I am satisfied with the level of communication with staff and management at

Computers R Us.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Question 8 – I am satisfied with the loyalty rewards program at Computers R Us.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Report Structure 

Executive Summary

This section should provide a brief overview of the data analysis report. You should discuss the

subject matter, the method of analysis, the findings and recommendations and any limitations of the

report. It is suggested that the Executive Summary should be the last section that you write.

Introduction

Provide a brief background to the case to put your analysis in context. Provide a discussion of the

objectives of your analysis.

Research Design

Discuss the data collection process and the sampling procedures that were applied. In this section,

you should also outline the ethical considerations that would have been taken into account when

collecting data from this survey and reporting your results. This section should include references

from at least three credible sources, such as textbooks or journal articles.

Analysis

Synthesise the hypothesis test results as they relate to the two key research questions. Report the

conclusions that can be derived from this analysis.

Recommendations

Briefly summarise your results and provide recommendations to Computers R Us. Bullet points can

be used for the recommendations.

Referencing style

American Psychological Association (APA) 6th Edition. You can find helpful examples of APA 6th ed.

citation in pp 27–41 of the 2015 NBS Postgraduate Student Manual as well as at

https://www.apastyle.org/index.aspx.

Appendix: Hypothesis Testing

For each hypothesis you should:

1. a) State the null and alternative hypotheses.
2. b) Select an appropriate statistical test and briefly justify your selection.
3. c) Perform the appropriate test using Microsoft Excel.
4. d) Report the results of your analysis (including test statistic and p-value).
5. e) Provide a brief interpretation (both statistical and non-statistical) of the results.

An example is provided below.

Hypothesis Testing Example

Question: How much are potential patrons willing to pay for the entrées? Is the $18 amount from

the forecasting model the correct value to use when setting food prices?

Appendix 1: Average patron expenditure

H0: The average amount patrons are willing to spend on the entrée course is equal to $18

HA: The average amount patrons are willing to spend on the entrée course is not equal to $18

A one-sample t-test is used, as this is the appropriate test to compare the difference between one

variable and a pre-determined mean (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2012, p. 520). The results from

this one-sample t-test are shown below:

Table 1: One-sample t-test for difference in patron expenditure

	Variable 1	Variable 2
Mean	20.14118	18
Variance	91.85022	0
Observations	340	340
Hypothesized Mean
Difference	0
Df	339
t Stat	4.119569
P(T<=t) one-tail	2.39E-05
t Critical one-tail	1.649361
P(T<=t) two-tail	4.77E-05
t Critical two-tail	1.966986

 

From Table 1, it is evident that we can reject that null hypothesis that the average patron is willing to

pay $18 for their entrée (p-value 0.0000477). As the average expenditure is greater than $18

($20.14), this value should be used when pricing food in the restaurant.

Word count (excluding tables): 107

References

Zikmund, W., Babin, B., Carr, J., & Griffin, M. (2012). Business research methods (9th ed.): Cengage

Learning.

 

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