E1: Chapter 8 – Knowledge Check: Data to create and preserve value for organisations

Salzar Ltd’s board of directors has been focusing on upgrading its data strategy. One of the major changes has come in the form of the installation of software that includes appraisal systems, analysis tools that track productivity, and tools for monitoring progress in training programmes.

Which department/stakeholder group at Salzar Ltd is most likely to have been affected by the above changes?

Garbatec Ltd was founded just a few years ago. It has some of the most up to date data systems in place. The company uses a highly efficient ETL system, that allows it to manage big data. All departments have access to the same suite of data analytics and visualisation tools, and all staff are highly skilled in the area of data manipulation. Interdepartmental sharing of data is efficient and consistent due to strong data modelling.

However, despite all this, the board of directors consistently argue about how all of this data ought to be used. There is no unified vision of how exactly the company’s large database ought to be used; which data ought to be prioritised; and what the key data points for each department are.

Which of the following is Garbatec most likely to be lacking?

From the questions below, choose those most relevant to preparing effective data visualisations. (Select ALL that apply)

The main challenges faced by traditional ETL systems include: (Select ALL that apply)

The letter “T” in ETL corresponds to which of the following activities?

From the perspective of the finance function, which of the following is most relevant in the context of data manipulation?

Harbison & Sons is a longstanding family business that is striving to bring itself into the 21st century. They have recently hired several new employees across a number of departments, all of whom have a background in data analytics and are proficient at creating actionable, insightful information in order to enhance operations and services at Harbison & Sons. However, despite these new hires, Harbison & Sons continues to fall behind its competitors. Its new hires have started to complain that there is neither a sufficient quantity nor quality of data available to them; and what little data is available, is disorganised and inconsistent.

Which of the following does Harbison & Sons need to invest more in?

Which of the following count as reasons why management accountants are especially well-positioned to serve as interfaces between data specialists/scientists and other business functions within an organisation? (Select ALL that apply)

1. Which two of the following are characteristics of effective data visualisation?

In the context of the finance function contributing to decision-making, there are generally considered to be 4 different types of data analysis. Which type of data analysis is described by the following?

Finding new relationships or insights in a data set.

2. Which stakeholder is likely to be most interested in data about the productivity of individual staff members?

Jafter Ltd has invested a considerable amount of money in upgrading its information systems, in an effort to utilise big data and realise its data strategy. Jafter now has a state-of-the-art ETL system which loads lots of relevant data to the company’s database. Although most of the staff at Jafter have basic skills in using popular analytics softwares, they do not know how to effectively extract the data from the company database, how to transform the raw data loaded into the database into effective visualisations, nor how to link up the ETL system with off-the-shelf analytics solutions.

Which of the solutions listed below seems most appropriate to Jafter’s current limitations?

3. Before data can be transferred from its source to a data warehouse it needs to be analysed to understand its content, structure and format.

What is this process known as?

4. During which stage of the ETL process is data profiling vital?

Trafecta Inc is a company that manufactures electronics for cars and other vehicles. It has recently invested significantly in data software and training, incorporating ETL systems and business intelligence practices. However, despite all this, issues have arisen in inter-departmental relationships. It has been discovered that the assembly line managers have been entering data into the ETL system using different naming conventions to some of the other departments. Moreover, sales and marketing had been assuming that the finance function was responsible for entering data on revenues into the database, while the finance function had assumed that this was the prerogative of sales and marketing.

Which of the following processes has most likely been overlooked by Trafecta Inc?

5. Which one of the following statements regarding data science are true?

You work in the finance function at Galatech Ltd. The finance director has been engaged in a debate with the head of sales and marketing regarding the success of a recent advertising campaign. According to the finance director, growth of sales for the product in question had already been accelerating prior to the launch of the campaign, and so the accelerated sales growth since the campaign was launched cannot be reliably attributed to the campaign. The head of sales and marketing disagrees, insisting that were it not for the campaign, the sales growth would have slowed and plateaued.

Both the finance director and head of sales and marketing have agreed to form a temporary team made up of a selection of employees from both the finance function and sales and marketing, and task them with confirming which of the two hypotheses is most likely true on the basis of the available data. You are to be one of the members of that team.

In the above scenario, what kind of data analysis would you be performing? Choose the correct answer from the options below:

Garven Ltd is a company that sells sports shoes. It has recently noticed that one line of shoes which had previously been selling about as well as its other lines, has suddenly experienced a drop in demand. The information currently available to Garven appears inadequate to establishing the causes of the drop in demand.

Which of the following would be the most appropriate data strategy for Garven?