Extension of the Product Range in the Furniture Department of the business
In 2018, the Board of Directors of the business decided to introduce a new Section into the Furniture Department of the Manchester store. This Garden Room Section supplies patio and conservatory furniture such as tables, chairs and sofas in oiled teak, cane, rattan etc. The new section was introduced as a trial on the basis that, if it proved successful, then similar sections would be opened in the other stores.
The new section has been introduced into part of the sales area occupied by the existing Furniture Department; no additional space has been made available on the shop floor. (The original four sections – dining room, living room, bedroom, home office – still exist as before but in a bit less space). The new Section has run for a full year (August 2019 to July 2020). (Ignore COVID)
It is time to evaluate its performance.
Task:
You are required to take the role of the manager of the Furniture Department in the Manchester store. You are required to prepare a presentation for the next meeting of the Board of Directors of the business in which you assess the trial and make a recommendation about the continuation of the new Section within the Furniture Department.
Data:
You are provided with the monthly revenue figures for each Section of the Furniture Department in each of the stores from August 2018 and to July 2020. This data is available in the Referred Project 1 data file in the same folder as this document.
Analysis:
The purpose of the presentation, which you are to prepare, is to describe and evaluate the performance of the new Section in its own right and, to compare and evaluate the performance of the Furniture Departments over the two 12 month periods:
August 2018 – July 2019 (2018/19) without the new Section
August 2019 – July 2020 (2019/20) with the new Section.
Your analysis should include:
1. the performance of the new Section over the 12 months that it has existed (August 2019 – July 2020).
2. a comparison between the performance of the Manchester Furniture Department as a whole in August 2018 – July 2019 with that in August 2019 – July 2020.
3. a comparison across all comparable stores of the performances of the Furniture Departments in 2018/19 and in 2019/20.
4. a conclusion in which all of these analyses are pulled together and you assess the potential of the new Section and make a recommendation.
Output:
You are not required to give the presentation but you are required to prepare the slides including relevant charts and summary statistics which you would use at such a presentation, together with a set of speaker’s notes which highlight and explain the points of information which you would provide verbally.
Charts and Summary Statistics:
You should produce a maximum of six slides which contain charts and relevant summary statistics (mean, standard deviation, % changes, indexing etc.) plus a title slide and a concluding slide.(ie a maximum of 8 slides in total).This can be done in word or powerpoint.
Speaker’s Notes:
These should be in bullet point format and a maximum of two sides of A4.
You should explain clearly but briefly the main points shown by your charts and measures and how these relate to the business problem you Are addressing
