course Project: Excel Project

Objectives

GuidelinesThe
general instructions for this project can be found in the Week 6
Lecture material. The Week 6 Lecture describes the assignment and
provides an overview of the project as a whole. There are no
step-by-steps for the course project. The following are grading criteria
for this project.

Data imported from SalesData.csv text file located in Course Project Materials in DocSharing.Organize the Data

• Professional formatting follows the formatting guidelines we studied during the first week of class.
• Documentation
  sheet added to provide author, purpose, and date and provide
  information about each of the sheets you will create as you analyze the
  data.
• At least one calculated field added and copied to all cells in the worksheet.

Analyze the Data

Analyze
the data in at least three different ways. Each form of Data Analysis
should be provided on a separate, appropriately labeled worksheet. It is
expected that each sheet will be professionally formatted and clearly
documented with titles, comments, and explanation. Remove any extra
sheets so your workbook is as compact as possible when you turn it in.
Go back and review your labs for assistance in completing the different
types of analysis.

The following are some examples of analysis you might wish to do:

• Sort
  by discount level. Have discounts increased sales volumes? Is there any
  discount level that appears to be more effective than others?
• Graph
  sales over time to see trends. Are there any peaks and lows in sales?
  Is there any time of year in which sales are highest? Lowest?
• Pivot
  the data to see total sales by quarter, country, category, and
  salesperson. Are there any highs? Are there any lows that need to be
  addressed?
• Subtotal the data. How are quarterly sales totals? Sales totals by salesperson? By Country?
• Challenge
  Option: Perform What-If Analysis. What if prices were raised by a
  certain percentage with a slight decline in sales? What combination of
  price increases and decline in sales makes most sense?

Present your Conclusions in a Memo

Use
the integration techniques we worked on in the course to develop a Memo
(Word document) that includes data and graphs copied and pasted from
your spreadsheet. You will turn in both your Recommendation Memo and
your spreadsheet. (To help you formulate your report, there is a Word
document named “ExcelProjectMemoTemplate” located in DocSharing – Course
Project Materials. The yellow-lined information provides an explanation
of what should be included in each section of the Memo.)

Your
Memo will focus one paragraph on each of the Data Analysis sheets in
your workbook. Explain the type of analysis you completed, the
conclusions you drew, and a recommendation based on the analysis. (45
points)

You should include a final paragraph that explains three things you learned about using Excel for data analysis. (15 points)

Grading Rubrics