Exam 13: Data Analytics

Martha is a manager for a florist. The company's owner has recently been talking about data analytics. Martha has heard the term before but is largely unfamiliar with it, so she asks for assistance from the accounting department. Assume you are the accounting manager, and you need to explain data analytics to Martha. What information would you share with her, and what would she need to know to be ready to do data analytics?

Chelsea's Candles is a medium-sized factory that produces candles that hold a small trinket in the wax. As the candle burns and the wax melts, eventually the trinket reveals itself. As part of their yearly review, they use data analytics to determine what changes they might implement in the coming year. Which of the following actions would most likely be part of the "Make Decisions" step in the decision-making process?

The management for Lyra Corp. has decided to work towards streamlining processes across many of their divisions. Each department chair must collect data relevant to their unique functions and operations to assist management with constructing ad hoc reports. If management would like to gain insight into their customers' satisfaction, then what information would be best to use for this goal?

Courtney is preparing to graduate in a few months with a degree in accounting. She has been working diligently on mastering the material she is learning in her classes as well learning about what potential employers seek in a job candidate. Aside from technical accounting knowledge, which of the following is the best example of a skill Courtney should ensure she has?

Benson Company is a retailer that specializes in e-commerce sales of small office supplies including decorative file folders, personalized desk calendars, and trendy desk accessories. As part of their annual review, management decided to perform some analysis on trends over the past five years. One manager suggested they use data visualization for this purpose. Which of the following best represents the correct list and ordering of the data visualization process?

Fey Company is a small factory that produces fashionable hats it sells on its website and to other wholesale vendors. Fey's managers have been reviewing their financial statements and are growing concerned that their profit margins have continued shrinking year after year. Management has begun the process of collecting data and would like to employ data analytics to determine the causes of these changes in profit margins and create a plan to implement meaningful changes moving forward. What type of data analytics should management employ to satisfy their needs, and why?

Rachel is a cost accountant for a local architect, and she knows this company needs to adopt data analytics to improve operations and become more efficient. Previous departments have attempted to use data analytics but ultimately abandoned the process. What challenges and opportunities can you identify for Rachel as she attempts to reintroduce data analytics to the organization?

Jessica recently compiled a budget for herself. She believes she needs to do a better job planning her finances and knows this could be a step in the right direction. Her take home pay is $2,500. The following table shows her budgeted and actual values for the month of May: Jessica puts any unallocated funds into her savings account. Assume Jessica's take-home pay increased to $2,750 and use her Actual numbers from May, by what percent would the amount she can put into savings change?

Joseph is a business student at a local university. He is looking over his transcripts to determine how his performance looks so far. He pulled the following report from his profile on the University's Student Information section: At this University, A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, and F = 0. Select the graphs that Joseph should use to display his course GPA data and the total number of each letter grade earned over his years of school?

Data analytics has four broad categories that range in value and complexity. Each of the four category types strives towards raising questions that assist decision makers in their efforts to gather relevant data. Which of the following is an example of a question answered by descriptive analytics?

Jeweltopia is a trendy online jewelry boutique that completed its first year of operations. Management would like to conduct some data analysis to take a detailed look at various business activities. Jill, the sales head, is concerned that their sales have not met their budgeted sales every month. Analysts collected the following data: Jill decided to analyze his data and create some visuals to assist during the presentation of her findings to management. With all this in mind, please answer the following questions. a. Using Excel, determine sales variances for each month. Also, determine if the Jeweltopia had favorable or unfavorable sales variance for the year as a whole. b. Jill would like to create visual aids to depict this data in a way. What kind of graph would you create for Jill and why? Using Excel, create this graph. c. Based on your answers to parts a) and b), do you believe Jill's concerns are warranted? What would you recommend Jill do about their budgeting or current sales figures?

As data is gathered and collected, organizations must determine how to make the best use of this vast resource. When left in its raw state, this data might remain unusable but would continue to consume storage space at an exponential rate. Within the data, there exists both structured and unstructured data. Which of the following is an example of unstructured data?

Corbin Inc. is a small factory, and they are in the process of evaluating their data storage system. The biggest question management needs to answer is whether their current setup is enough to meet their needs or if they should invest in a more robust and comprehensive system. Which of the following types of information would be in the human resources module of a company's data storage system?

An organizational area that often needs attention but may be overlooked is Performance Evaluation. Having a well-developed and thorough performance evaluation system helps a company have successful and productive employees. Which of the following represents a way data analytics could improve the performance evaluation process?

As more practitioners acquire data analytics skills, organizations have made a concerted effort to collect more data and find new ways to make use of that data. A positive byproduct of this is that decision making has improved, and organizations have used these techniques to improve insights gleaned from the data. According to a 2019 survey from the Society of Actuaries, what types of analytics experienced major growth?

As practitioners increase their knowledge in data analytics, some companies have moved towards collecting information in new and different ways. Additionally, decision makers have taken their newly collected data and devised ways that it can benefit the organization the most. Which of the following is an example of a way that organizations use data analytics in performance evaluation?

An area of business that uses data analytics to improve operations is supply chain management. Managers are constantly looking for ways to make their operations more efficient and cost-effective. Which of the following represents an area of supply chain management that could be improved using data analytics?

Data analytics has become an increasingly in-demand skill across business world since its inception. As employers focus on what they are looking for in potential employees, data analytics has become a desirable skill for accountants. Which of the following is an example of a skill that entry-level accountants should hone?

Monica has been working with her IT department to capture user data from online profiles potential customers create on the company's website. Monica is working on a project to build internal customer profiles so that they can tailor offers and target emails to unique preferences. After she receives an initial Excel document with data, she notices some of the data appears multiple times. What could cause this?

Data analytics can be broken into four broad categories. Each category serves a unique purpose and will vary by value and complexity. Which of the following would be a question answered by using diagnostic data analysis?