***THIS IS DUE TONIGHT 11 APR 2017***
Instructions
Throughout this course we’ve practiced ways to analyze and model data from
financial operations so that it assists in decision-making. Most of our
models have been discrete standalone designs. Often managers in
organizations would like a high-level snapshot of financial performance that
coveys critical information at a glance. Dashboards are such presentation
tools. Excel has made creating dashboards easier and more effective.
In this assignment you are required to create an Excel Dashboard by using
at least three of the Excel functions and/or capabilities that we have
learned in class. The details of the case and the raw data from which to
work are in the attached Excel workbook. Since this is raw data there may
be analysis steps that you have to perform to prepare the data for its final
presentation on your dashboard.
There is a lot of information in the course content on dashboards. Please
read it carefully. You should recognize most of this advice from our early
lectures on graphs and charts. What is different for this dashboard
assignment is that you are bringing together multiple displays of
information in a meaningful way to tell a story or in this case respond to
the question in the problem (will the company achieve 2010 forecasted
sales).
The DUE DATE on this assignment is listed in the syllabus. I suggest that
you start the project early. In this situation you MAY use the attached
spreadsheet that contains the raw data as the starting place for your
dashboard.
As you research and work on this project I encourage you to post additional
references and/or video links that you think may be helpful to the group.
You have a lot of freedom in this project and it is an opportunity to
practice and demonstrate the skills you’ve gained in class. You will be
graded on the following criteria:
1) appropriateness and complexity of Excel features used
2) accuracy of calculations analyses or presentations
3) overall theme and presentation
4) effectiveness of dashboard in communicating results and responding to the
question
5) the quality and accuracy of your narrative response to the question
Make the dashboard meaningful but have fun!