MBA 5008 CU Interpreting Graphical Data Representations in Articles Discussion Interpreting Graphical Data Representations in Articles or Reports OVERVIEW

MBA 5008 CU Interpreting Graphical Data Representations in Articles Discussion Interpreting Graphical Data Representations in Articles or Reports
OVERVIEW

Business administrators and managers are often called upon to interpret data that analysts have provided to them. In this first assignment, you are asked to locate any report or periodical article used in a business context that interests you and that contains at least two different graphical representations of data. You will interpret the graphical data representations and present your findings in a brief PowerPoint deck, as if you were presenting during a company meeting.

SCENARIO

You are an analyst in a business. You may choose a real or fictional business of interest. Any business that has practical meaning for you is an appropriate choice for this assignment.

You are responsible for a team of analysts at this business. One of your analysts has just given you a report containing some graphs and charts. You are now tasked with interpreting two of those charts and explaining them at a department meeting.

YOUR ROLE

You have been invited to be one of many presenters at a departmental meeting that employees of all levels will attend. You have been allotted 5–8 minutes and the purpose of your speech is to explain two charts or tables that your analyst has given you.

INSTRUCTIONS
Select two graphical representations of data, such as pie charts, bar charts, tables, or scatter plots and trend lines.
You may use published articles, annual report graphics from publicly traded companies, or any published business report.
A list of appropriate articles has been compiled for this assignment. Choose one of the articles from the list in the Unit 2 Article Options study or find your own article that meets the criteria.
If you cannot find any published data graphics, you may create them.
Identify the business context, such as an online store, a brick-and-mortar business, year-end review, product kickoff, recently merged or new IPO company, or a family-owned business.
This company background information should help explain why the data is relevant.
Interpret your chosen data representation in the context of the business situation. The following are typical questions an analyst would use to interpret the data:
What is being measured (the variables)?
What are the relationships among the variables?
What are the trends in the data?
How can the data be applied in the business context?
Create an effective 6-slide PowerPoint deck with detailed presenter’s notes or recorded narration elaborating on each bullet point that could be presented at a departmental meeting.
An effective PowerPoint presentation for this purpose typically includes:
1 title slide, APA formatted.
1 introduction slide explaining the business context.
2 graphics slides: one for each of the two data representations in your report.
You may insert or paste the graphics and include an appropriate citation.
Provide your interpretation of each graphical data representation.
1 conclusion slide in which you explain how the data may affect the business context or how it could be applied in your business context to inform decision making.
1 slide with APA-formatted references, including the source of each graph.
Refer to the Assignment 2 Example PowerPoint file linked in Resources to get a sense of what an assignment rated at Proficient or higher would look like.
Present your analysis in a short speech that it is applicable to people of all levels of the company.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
For each bullet point, use concise but complete sentences that are clear, easily understood, and jargon-free. Remember: you will be speaking to people of all levels within the company.
Do not include too many bullet points on each slide (a maximum of 3 bullets per slide is a good guideline to follow).
Include an APA-formatted references slide at the end of the presentation as well as APA-formatted in-text citations where appropriate.
Include a recorded voice-over of no longer than 5 minutes using Kaltura or detailed speaker’s notes to add necessary details to your presentation.
Your written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
EVALUATION

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies through corresponding scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Explain how data management techniques and tools are used to support business decisions.
Introduce the business context.
Explain how the data can be applied to the business context.
Competency 4: Present the results of data analysis in clear and meaningful ways to multiple stakeholders.
Interpret, or explain the meaning of, the two different graphical representations of data.
Format citations and references correctly using current APA style.
Present content clearly, professionally, and logically for the identified audience.

Example assignment: You may use the assignment example, linked in the resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Article Options

For your Unit 2 assignment, you will need to choose among business articles from periodicals, annual reports of publicly traded companies, or published business reports to find two graphical representations of data.

A list of appropriate articles has been compiled for this assignment. You may select one of the articles from the following list or find your own suitable business article containing two graphical data representations.

Huang, N. S. (2019). Investing: The best funds for your 401K. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 73(12), 18–29.
Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. (2020). Reacting to market volatility [Cover story]. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 74(2), 54–55.
Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. (2020). Taxpayers weigh in on the new tax law. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 74(3), 50–51.
Woodley, K. (2020). A holistic bet on housing. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, 74(2), 31.
Decarlo, S., Elam, D. G., Smyth, K., Agus, S., Austin, C., Hackett, R., …Wieczner, J. (2017). 100 Fastest-Growing companies. Fortune, 176(4), 157–163.
Growing, growing… gone! (2016). Forbes, 197(5), 28.
Lim, P. J. (2018). The 50 best mutual funds and 50 best ETFs. Money, 47(1), 86–91.
Meet the world’s richest. (2016). Forbes, 197(4), 26–27.
Salisbury, I. (2018). How we got here. Money, 47(1), 52–57.
Sorvino, C. (2016). Dollar days. Forbes, 197(4), 28.

Yes – you include graphs from the article – you can cut and paste or screen shot them in to your assignment doc.

Also – as much of your info comes from an article – lots of sentences will have citations as you know.