BTMA-444 Assignment 3: Lessons 5–8

This assignment consists of three parts, covers the material from Lessons 5 through 8, and is worth 15% of your final grade. You should submit this assignment after completing Lesson 8.

Academic Integrity

For all parts of this assignment, your work must be entirely in your own words. Where you quote or paraphrase any source, including the textbook, include appropriate citations in APA format that correspond to one APA-compliant reference list at the end of your assignment.

Your Choice, Your Responsibility

Each part of this assignment has several options for you to choose from. You should choose options that will demonstrate your understanding of concepts from different topics from the course. For example, if you choose a short essay that is mostly relevant to Lesson 5, make sure your applied task is most relevant to Lessons 6, 7, or 8. 

In Part A: Short Answer, you will choose one question to answer from each lesson (in total, four answers from eight options). Each answer should be approximately one to two paragraphs in length and should draw primarily from the textbook.

In Part B: Short Essay, you will choose one essay prompt to respond to from two options. Your essay should be approximately 500 words in length and should draw from at least one academic source other than the textbook.

In Part C: Applied Task, choose one case analysis or applied problem to complete from two options. Your response to the applied task should be approximately 1000–1500 words in length and should draw from at least two academic sources other than the textbook.

What to Submit

Compile all parts of this assignment into one MS Word (or compatible) file. Include any figures, spreadsheets, or additional data either within the text or as appendices.

Refer to the Assignment Checklist and Marking Guidelines at the end of this document to ensure your submission is complete and meets expectations.

 

 

 

Part A: Short Answer

Choose four questions to respond to—one from each lesson. You should select questions to showcase your understanding of concepts across the full scope of the course; the questions you don’t submit for this assignment will help you prepare for the final exam.

Each answer should

·        be approximately one to two paragraphs in length,

·        draw primarily from the textbook,

·        incorporate appropriate citations in APA format, and

·        include the full question text to facilitate marking. 

 

Lesson 5: Choose one question from the two options below

1. What are the similarities and differences between text mining, data mining and web mining? Use examples to support your answer.  

2. Explain the similarities and differences between Natural Language Programming (NLP) and sentiment analysis. Use examples to support your answer

Lesson 6: Choose one question from the two options below

1. Explain how decision trees and simulations can be used together to solve complex business problems with high degrees of uncertainty. 

2. What is linear programming? How can linear programming models be used to solve allocation problems?  

Lesson 7: Choose one question from the two options below

1. Why big data is important? What are the critical success factors for big data analytics?

2. What are the key technologies supporting big data? What are the use cases for each?

Lesson 8: Choose one question from the two options below

1. Explain how BI and analytics technologies and tools are disrupting and affecting decision making and managerial activities.

2. Explain the emerging term “people analytics.” What are the key issues that could be raised within this field? What strategies should be adopted to address the risks?

 

 

 

Part B: Short Essay

Respond to one essay prompt from the four options below. This essay is an opportunity for you to showcase your ability to critically engage with the course concepts by taking and defending a position on a topic while taking multiple perspectives into consideration.

Your essay should

·        be approximately 500 words in length,

·        draw from at least one academic source other than the textbook, and

·        include appropriate citations in APA format.

 

Short Essay Prompt 1

Thomas Davenport argues that social predictive analytics is more about the people than about the math (Siegel, 2018). Discuss the significance of this statement in terms of crafting social and web predictive analytics strategies. Investigate the ways in which different companies’ strategies either reflect or fail to reflect this statement. Support your response with examples.

Reference

Siegel, E. (2018, October 5). Three common mistakes that can derail your team’s predictive analytics efforts. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/10/3-common-mistakes-that-can-derail-your-teams-predictive-analytics-efforts

 

Short Essay Prompt 2

The effect of Big Data growth is felt everywhere. It is especially affecting how organizations are conducting their business to stay competitive in the marketplace.

Identify an example of a current business that is leveraging big data and answer the following questions:

1.      Describe briefly the context of the business that you have selected.

2.      What are the key goals and objectives for the business in using Big Data?

3.      What types of big data are they using and what are the sources?

4.      What are the key tools and technologies used to support their use of Big Data?

 

 

Part C: Applied Task

Choose one case analysis or applied problem to complete from the two options below. The applied task is an opportunity for you to apply the course concepts in a real-world context.

Your response should

·        be approximately 1000–1500 words in length,

·        draw from at least two academic sources other than the textbook, and

·        include appropriate citations in APA format.

 

Applied Task Option 1

Company ABC is a specialized organic free range, farm fresh eggs distributor to grocery stores in Edmonton. Lately, Steve, the manager, has noticed that their volume of sales to local grocery stores has dropped due to the availability of free trades through marketplaces within social. He is concerned about the future of his business and needs to explore the opportunity to sell online. His objective is to generate at least $950 per month net profit.

Steve’s cost per dozen from the local farmers is $1.95 and his total expenses are currently $500/month.  He has determined that the cost of managing an online presence (including advertising) will be $75/month. The existing competitors who sell online have established a price of $3.75 per dozen, which Steve needs to honour to be competitive.

Help Steve build a model to predict the viability of expanding online. Use an Excel spreadsheet to perform goal seek and what if analyses, and answer the following questions:

1.      How many dozens of eggs does the company need to sell per month to break even?

2.      How many dozens of eggs does the company need to sell per month to achieve their target profit of $950?

3.      What would happen if the cost of online management and advertising increased by 5%?

4.      What would happen if the cost per dozen increased to $2.05?

5.      Based on your analysis, make a recommendation to Steve as to whether or not expanding online would be a viable business opportunity.

 

Applied Task Option 2

Download the file TD BANK GROUP_BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT POLICY from the Assignment 3 submission page.

Based on this case study and drawing on at least two additional sources (other than the textbook), answer the following questions:

Identify and briefly describe the key capabilities and strengths of the TD Bank Group and their strategic positioning within their industry.What are the key internal and external challenges and issues that TD Bank Group’s new chief data officer (CDO) is facing?Based on the industry overview and knowledge of the situation, prioritize the issues and suggest how the CDO should address them. Be sure to include the following:What steps should the CDO take to ensure the process is adopted and followed?What are the key capabilities and core resources that should be leveraged to support
this strategic move?Do you think the CDO should engage with IBM for a “Design Thinking” workshop? Why or why not?How should the CDO handle the expanding role of the data stewards?Should the proposed changes be implemented across both Canada and the United States or in just one country? If in only one country, which country would you choose to implement first, and why?Should the CDO take on responsibility for the data life cycle management? If so, how should the CDO proceed with the other executives?What other recommendations would you recommend to the TD Bank Group with respect to their analytics strategy to sustain their competitive advantage in their industry well into the future? 

 

Assignment Checklist

Submit this assignment as one Word file (or compatible)—include any images or tables within the text or as appendices. It is your responsibility to ensure that your assignment is complete.

·        Part A: four short answers, approximately one to two paragraphs each

·        Part B: one short essay, approximately 500 words

·        Part C: one case analysis or applied problem, approximately 1000–1500 words

·        Reference list in APA format

·        Appendices, if applicable

Marking Guidelines

Presentation and Mechanics – 10 marks

The assignment
should leave a positive overall impression and

·       
be free of spelling, typographical,
grammatical, and punctuation errors.

·       
communicate in a clear manner with good
sentence, paragraph, and section structure.

·       
appear polished and professional looking.

·       
stay within the word limits for each part.

·       
include, where appropriate, properly labeled
and formatted tables, figures, or appendices.

Part A: Short Answer – 20 marks (5 marks each)

Each
response should

·       
answer the question clearly, completely,
correctly, and concisely.

·       
include thorough
details and relevant data.

·       
include relevant
citations in APA format.

Part B: Short Essay – 20 marks

The essay
should

·       
be well structured (introduction, body, conclusion), with one
main argument and supporting details.

·       
be focused and clear with little redundancy.

·       
create an effective argument with convincing supporting
evidence and relevant details.

·       
include relevant citations in APA format.

Part C: Applied Task – 45 marks

The
applied task should

·       
be complete and
reflect all specific task requirements.

·       
include relevant citations in APA format.

References – 5 marks

The
references used throughout the three parts of the assignment should reflect
the use of varied, high-quality sources for reference materials as directed
in each part. In addition,

·       
in-text citations
should be correctly formatted according to APA style.

·       
the reference list
should be correctly formatted according to APA style.

·       
all in-text citations should be reflected in
the reference list, and vice-versa.