Part A:
You are provided two different business settings below. Select one of these business settings
and define and describe the data required for addressing the question that is being asked. As
part of your submission, please define the problem being addressed in the setting and why you
collected the data that you collected.
Business Settings
Business Setting 1:
Many retail stores, such as grocery stores and discount stores, experience long lines during
peak periods of the day. The problem is noticeably worse on certain days of the week, such as
weekends and before holidays, or will there are sales promotions. There are usually enough
workers on the job to open all cash registers. The problem is knowing when to call some of the
workers who are performing other activities, such as stocking shelves or helping customers in
the store itself, to the front to work the checkout counters. What type of data would be
needed to facilitate good decisions here?
Business Setting 2:
For the past year, you have consistently been short of cash at the end of the month. Prior to
one year ago, you always had enough cash. However this is no longer the case. Now you are
usually short at the end of the month. As a result you are only making partial payments on your
credit card obligations or are making payments late, hence incurring late fees. You want to
prepare a budget for the next six months that with the objective of being able to meet your
monthly financial obligations each month.
Part B:
You are provided two problem settings below, along with the data that was collected to analyze
each of the problem settings. For each of the settings and accompanying data sets, evaluate
the data that was collected relative to the problem setting. Evaluate whether the data
collected was appropriate and representative of the information that is needed to analyze the
problem presented in the problem setting.
Business Settings and Collected Data
Setting 1:
You are going to sell your house. You are determining what the price should be. To help you,
you have collected information of houses that have sold in your neighborhood during the past
eighteen months. You checked houses within a four mile radius and here is the information
you collected. You are going to base your determination of the price of your house based on
3 MGTC 319 Decision Making in the Business Environment
the following information. Evaluate and discuss whether the data collected was appropriate
and representative of the information that is needed to analyze the problem presented in the
problem setting.
House House Age Square Feet Selling Price
1 33 1812 $190,000
2 32 1915 $205,200
3 32 1840 $194,000
4 32 1832 $192,000
5 33 1851 $202,000
6 34 2032 $208,600
7 31 1755 $188,200
8 30 1805 $205,000
9 28 1900 $215,000
10 29 1485 $192,000
11 31 1525 $195,000
12 32 1515 $192,200
13 33 1685 $201,300
14 34 1600 $205,400
15 35 1650 $218,000
Setting 2:
You are going to set your budget for your utility (gas/water/sewer and electricity) expenses for
the next year. You have recorded your utility expenses for the past year. That information is
provided below. Evaluate and discuss whether the data collected was appropriate and
representative of the information that is needed to analyze the problem presented in the
problem setting.
Period Gas, Water,
Sewer
Electricity
Mar, 2011 125.47 65.68
Apr, 2011 70.89 61.5
May, 2011 72.58 59.93
Jun, 2011 80.91 72.17
Jul, 2011 66.08 101.35
Aug, 2011 84.58 118.04
Sep, 2011 80.39 80.07
Oct, 2011 88.12 60.76
Nov, 2011 86.5 58.7
Dec, 2011 130.06 70.22
Jan, 2012 131.34 65.5
Feb, 2012 121.2 67.71
Mar, 2012 98.96 67.99
Sample Solution
