BUS 225 2-1 assignment: making difficult decisions using data

Introduction to 2-1 assignment: making difficult decisions using data

In the BUS 225 2-1 Assignment, you will analyse employee performance and economic data as an HR manager of an air transportation supply company facing significant financial challenges. The BUS 225 2-1 assignment: making difficult decisions using data requires critical thinking and a strategic approach to extract meaningful insights from data, helping you make informed decisions to guide your company through difficult times.

Due to confidentiality, I will call the Air Transportation Supply Company “XYZ.”

Discuss your interpretation of the data.
What questions emerge from your analysis of the data?
What story can they tell about the company’s employees?

Data Interpretation

To start the BUS 225 2-1 assignment: making difficult decisions using data, we will analyse and interpret the company’s data spreadsheet.

• Look for patterns or anomalies in the data. What does a low or high-performance score indicate under current company conditions?
• Use the data to narrate how employee performance might impact the company’s financial health—link performance scores with managerial comments and departmental outcomes.

Example

Analysing the employee performance data reveals a clear correlation between performance scores, managerial commentary, and departmental financial allocations. Low-performance scores, particularly in departments like Account Planning and HR & Facilities, often align with critical managerial remarks such as “Needs motivation.” In contrast, higher scores in departments like Manufacturing and Sales coincide with positive feedback and essential employee recognition, indicating robust productivity and potentially more significant contributions to financial stability.

Emerging questions include: What causes variability in performance across departments? Could target interventions in training or management improve low scores and financial outcomes?

The narrative from this data suggests that enhancing employee performance through strategic HR interventions could positively impact the company’s financial health. Departments with consistently high-performance scores might leverage practices mirrored in underperforming areas to improve overall company performance and reduce operational costs.

Please explain how the provided data helps you understand your employees and how the company uses its financial resources. Identify potential gaps or issues in the data.
What are the quantitative and qualitative data telling you? Are there any underlying issues or perspectives?
What is the data not telling you?
What additional primary and secondary sources would help the company make a decision?

Data Analysis

We will explain the analysed data in this next section of the BUS 225 2-1 assignment: making difficult decisions using data. We will discuss how the data explains the employees and resources of the company.

• Understanding Quantitative and Qualitative Insights: Analyze the scores and feedback to gauge departmental and individual performance levels. Consider both numerical data and textual comments for a holistic view.
• Identifying Data Gaps: Assess missing information that could aid a more thorough analysis (e.g., employee satisfaction, turnover rates).
• Integrating Additional Sources: Consider how external data (market trends, economic reports) or internal reports (previous years’ performance metrics) could complement your analysis.

Example

The data provided insights into employee performance and financial resource allocation, indicating potential inefficiencies. Quantitatively, varying performance scores across departments suggest discrepancies in employee productivity. Qualitatively, managerial comments enrich these metrics by highlighting behavioural trends and individual contributions, which could influence financial allocations to departments like Manufacturing, which shows higher productivity. However, the data lacks indicators of employee satisfaction or turnover rates, which are critical for a comprehensive analysis.

Further, the absence of comparative historical performance data and external benchmarks limits the strategic understanding of trends over time. The company would benefit from integrating additional primary sources like employee surveys and secondary sources such as industry benchmarks or economic reports to make informed decisions. These would provide a broader context, allowing for a deeper understanding of how internal capabilities align with market dynamics, echoing how the liberal arts have evolved to incorporate broader interdisciplinary insights into human behaviours and societal trends.

Describe how you have used data to determine a strategy. Use evidence to support your explanations.
What would your strategy be if you were asked to recommend a 10% reduction in the budget?
How would you synthesise and defend your decision process?

Formulating Conclusions and Strategy

For the last section of the BUS 225 2-1 assignment: making difficult decisions using data, we will conclude our analysis and provide a strategy to determine the data.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Use the insights gained to formulate actionable strategies. How can the data inform cost-cutting measures or reallocations?
• Strategy Recommendation for Budget Reduction: Propose a strategy to reduce the budget by 10%. Consider areas where performance is low and costs are high.
• Synthesising and Defending Decisions: Prepare to defend your strategy by synthesising data and insights into a compelling rationale.

Example

Utilising the provided data, the strategy for a 10% budget reduction focuses on departments with lower performance scores and higher operational costs, as indicated by the data analysis. For instance, reallocating resources from underperforming departments like Account Planning, which combines lower scores and less critical feedback, could optimise financial efficiency. The decision process integrates quantitative (performance scores, salary allocations) and qualitative data (managerial comments), supporting a balanced view of operational effectiveness.

In defending this strategy, I would emphasise the alignment of financial resources with demonstrated productivity and essential roles within the company, ensuring that cuts are data-informed and strategically sound. This approach not only reflects modern interdisciplinary insights typical of the evolved liberal arts perspective but also provides a robust, holistic understanding of business needs and human factors.

Closing

The BUS 225 2-1 assignment: making difficult decisions using data can identify critical areas of improvement and potential savings for the company by systematically analysing employee performance data. This Owlisdom How-To Guide will highlight the importance of data in strategic decision-making and reinforce the need for continual assessment and adjustment of strategies based on analytical findings.
In the next module of BUS-225, we will explore the 2-2 Discussion: Making Decisions and Overcoming Bias Using.