#1

Case Study: MBA Schools in Asia-Pacific

The pursuit of a higher education degree in business is now international. A survey shows more and more Asians choose the master of business administration (MBA) degree route to corporate success. As a result, the number of applicants for MBA courses at Asia-Pacific schools continues to increase.

Across the region, thousands of Asians show an increasing willingness to temporarily shelve their careers and spend two years in pursuit of a theoretical business qualification. Courses in these schools are notoriously tough and include statistics, economics, banking, marketing, behavioral sciences, labor relations, decision making, strategic thinking, business law, and more. 

After your MBA, you get a job at Bloomberg in its media division, Bloomberg Business. Your division publishes reviews and rankings for business schools in the US and internationally. Because of your strong analytical education from University of Phoenix, your boss assigns you to work on preparing an analysis for data gathered for leading business schools in the Asia-Pacific. The data set in the Excel® file shows some of the characteristics of the leading Asia-Pacific business schools. 

Resources: Microsoft Excel®, Case Study: MBA Schools in Asia-Pacific

Review the Case Study: MBA Schools in Asia-Pacific and the Case Study: MBA Schools in Asia-Pacific Data set. 

Prepare a 1,050-word managerial report for your boss.

Use the following questions for guidelines and directions on what to include in the report:

1. What is the type of data (Quantitative or Qualitative) for each of the columns (variables) in the dataset? If quantitative, is the data discrete or continuous? Neatly summarize your response in a table for all the columns (variables).
2. Using Excel®, find the mean, median, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and the three quartiles for each of the quantitative variables identified in part 1 above. Neatly summarize in a table on this document. Comment on what you observe.
3. What are the minimum and maximum full-time enrollments? Which schools have the minimum and maximum full-time enrollments?
4. What is the average number of students per faculty member? Is this low or high? What does this mean to prospective applicants who are interested in pursuing an MBA in one of the leading international business schools?
5. What are the mean, median, and modal ages? What does this mean to prospective applicants?
6. What is the mean percentage of foreign students? How many and which schools have 1% and 0% foreign students? Which schools have highest percentage of foreign students? Please state these percentages.
7. What percentage of schools require the GMAT test?
8. What percentage of schools require English tests such as Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)?
9. What percentage of schools require work experience? From this percentage, does this appear to be a significant factor in gaining admissions?
10. What are the mean and median starting salaries? Which schools have the minimum and maximum starting salaries? How much are these minimum and maximum salaries?
11. What are the mean tuition for foreign students and for local students? Does there appear to be a significant difference? What is the difference between the two means?
12. How many schools require work experience and how many of them don’t? What is the mean starting salary for schools requiring work experience? What is the mean starting salary for schools requiring no work experience?
13. How many schools require English tests and how many don’t? What is the mean starting salary for schools requiring English tests? What is the mean starting salary for schools requiring no English tests?
14. Comment on the skewness for the data on starting salaries:
15. Plot a histogram and determine the skewness.
16. Find the skewness coefficient.
17. Find the mean, median, and mode for starting salaries and compare the three measures to determine skewness.
18. Finally, use Empirical Rule on the starting salaries and determine whether the salaries follow the Empirical Rule.

Format your assignment consistent with APA format. 

#2

Case Study – Bell Computer Company

The Bell Computer Company is considering a plant expansion enabling the company to begin production of a new computer product. You have obtained your MBA from the University of Phoenix and, as a vice-president, you must determine whether to make the expansion a medium- or large- scale project. The demand for the new product involves an uncertainty, which for planning purposes may be low demand, medium demand, or high demand. The probability estimates for the demands are 0.20, 0.50, and 0.30, respectively.

Case Study – Kyle Bits and Bytes

Kyle Bits and Bytes, a retailer of computing products sells a variety of computer-related products. One of Kyle’s most popular products is an HP laser printer. The average weekly demand is 200 units. Lead time (lead time is defined as the amount of time between when the order is placed and when it is delivered) for a new order from the manufacturer to arrive is one week. 

If the demand for printers were constant, the retailer would re-order when there were exactly 200 printers in inventory. However, Kyle learned demand is a random variable in his Operations Management class. An analysis of previous weeks reveals the weekly demand standard deviation is 30. Kyle knows if a customer wants to buy an HP laser printer but he has none available, he will lose that sale, plus possibly additional sales. He wants the probability of running short (stock-out) in any week to be no more than 6%.

Resources: Microsoft Excel®, Bell Computer Company Forecasts data set, Case Study Scenarios

Write a 1,050-word report based on the Bell Computer Company Forecasts data set and Case Study Scenarios. 

Include answers to the following: 

Case 1: Bell Computer Company

• Compute the expected value for the profit associated with the two expansion alternatives. Which decision is preferred for the objective of maximizing the expected profit?
• Compute the variation for the profit associated with the two expansion alternatives. Which decision is preferred for the objective of minimizing the risk or uncertainty? 

Case 2: Kyle Bits and Bytes

• What should be the re-order point? How many HP laser printers should he have in stock when he re-orders from the manufacturer?

Format your assignment consistent with APA format.

#3

Major consulting firms such as Accenture, Ernst & Young Consulting, and Deloitte & Touche Consulting employ statistical analysis to assess the effectiveness of the systems they design for their customers. In this case, a consulting firm has developed an electronic billing system for a Stockton, CA, trucking company. The system sends invoices electronically to each customer’s computer and allows customers to easily check and correct errors. It is hoped the new billing system will substantially reduce the amount of time it takes customers to make payments. Typical payment times—measured from the date on an invoice to the date payment is received—using the trucking company’s old billing system had been 39 days or more. This exceeded the industry standard payment time of 30 days.

The new billing system does not automatically compute the payment time for each invoice because there is no continuing need for this information. The management consulting firm believes the new system will reduce the mean bill payment time by more than 50 percent. The mean payment time using the old billing system was approximately equal to, but no less than, 39 days. Therefore, if µ denotes the new mean payment time, the consulting firm believes that µ will be less than 19.5 days. Therefore, to assess the system’s effectiveness (whether µ < 19.5 days), the consulting firm selects a random sample of 65 invoices from the 7,823 invoices processed during the first three months of the new system’s operation. Whereas this is the first time the consulting company has installed an electronic billing system in a trucking company, the firm has installed electronic billing systems in other types of companies.

Analysis of results from these other companies show, although the population mean payment time varies from company to company, the population standard deviation of payment times is the same for different companies and equals 4.2 days. The payment times for the 65 sample invoices are manually determined and are given in the Excel® spreadsheet named “The Payment Time Case”. If this sample can be used to establish that new billing system substantially reduces payment times, the consulting firm plans to market the system to other trucking firms.

Resources: Microsoft Excel®, The Payment Time Case Study, The Payment Time Case Data Set

Review the Payment Time Case Study and Data Set. 

Develop a 700-word report including the following calculations and using the information to determine whether the new billing system has reduced the mean bill payment time:

• Assuming the standard deviation of the payment times for all payments is 4.2 days, construct a 95% confidence interval estimate to determine whether the new billing system was effective. State the interpretation of 95% confidence interval and state whether or not the billing system was effective.
• Using the 95% confidence interval, can we be 95% confident that µ ≤ 19.5 days?
• Using the 99% confidence interval, can we be 99% confident that µ ≤ 19.5 days?
• If the population mean payment time is 19.5 days, what is the probability of observing a sample mean payment time of 65 invoices less than or equal to 18.1077 days? 

#4

Case Study – Election Results

When an election for political office takes place, the television networks cancel regular programming and instead, provide election coverage. When the ballots are counted, the results are reported. However, for important offices such as president or senator in large states, the networks actively compete to see which will be the first to predict a winner. This is done through exit polls, wherein a random sample of voters who exit the polling booth is asked for whom they voted. From the data, the sample proportion of voters supporting the candidates is computed. Hypothesis testing is applied to determine whether there is enough evidence to infer the leading candidate will garner enough votes to win. 

Suppose in the exit poll from the state of Florida during the 2000 year elections, the pollsters recorded only the votes of the two candidates who had any chance of winning: Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. In a sample of 765 voters, the number of votes cast for Al Gore was 358 and the number of votes cast for George W. Bush was 407. The network predicts the candidate as a winner if he wins more than 50% of the votes. The polls close at 8:00 P.M. Based on the sample results, conduct a one-sample hypothesis test to determine if the networks should announce at 8:01 P.M. the Republican candidate George W. Bush will win the state. Use 0.10 as the significance level (α).

Case Study – SpeedX

SpeedX, a large courier company, sends invoices to customers requesting payment within 30 days. The bill lists an address, and customers are expected to use their own envelopes to return their payments. Currently, the mean and standard deviation of the amount of time taken to pay bills are 24 days and 6 days, respectively. The chief financial officer (CFO) believes including a stamped self-addressed envelope would decrease the amount of time. She calculates the improved cash flow from a 2-day decrease in the payment period would pay for the costs of the envelopes and stamps. You have an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and work for SpeedX as a business analyst. One of your job duties is to run analytics and present the results to the senior management for critical decision-making. You see this as an opportunity to utilize some of the skills you gained in the Statistics course. Because of your strong understanding and background in inferential statistics, you decide to take up this important assignment. You have learned any analysis in inferential statistics starts with sampling. To test the CFO’s belief, you decide to randomly select 220 customers and propose to include a stamped self-addressed envelope with their invoices. The CFO accepts your proposal and allows you to run a pilot study. You then record the numbers of days until payment is received. Using your statistical expertise and skills you gained in the class, conduct a one-sample hypothesis test and determine if you can convince the CFO to conclude that the plan will be profitable. Use 0.10 and the significance level (α).

Resources: Microsoft Excel®, Case Study Scenarios, SpeedX Payment Times

Develop a 700- to 1,050-word statistical analysis based on the Case Study Scenarios and SpeedX Payment Times. 

Include answers to the following: 

Case 1: Election Results 

• Use 0.10 as the significance level (α).
• Conduct a one-sample hypothesis test to determine if the networks should announce at 8:01 P.M. the Republican candidate George W. Bush will win the state. 

Case 2: SpeedX

• Use 0.10 and the significance level (α).
• Conduct a one-sample hypothesis test and determine if you can convince the CFO to conclude the plan will be profitable. 

Format your assignment consistent with APA format. 

#5  

When an election for political office takes place, the television networks cancel regular programming and instead, provide election coverage. When the ballots are counted, the results are reported. However, for important offices such as president or senator in large states, the networks actively compete to see which will be the first to predict a winner. This is done through exit polls, wherein a random sample of voters who exit the polling booth is asked for whom they voted. From the data, the sample proportion of voters supporting the candidates is computed. Hypothesis testing is applied to determine whether there is enough evidence to infer the leading candidate will garner enough votes to win. 

Suppose in the exit poll from the state of Florida during the 2000 year elections, the pollsters recorded only the votes of the two candidates who had any chance of winning: Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. In a sample of 765 voters, the number of votes cast for Al Gore was 358 and the number of votes cast for George W. Bush was 407. The network predicts the candidate as a winner if he wins more than 50% of the votes. The polls close at 8:00 P.M. Based on the sample results, conduct a one-sample hypothesis test to determine if the networks should announce at 8:01 P.M. the Republican candidate George W. Bush will win the state. Use 0.10 as the significance level (α).

Case Study – SpeedX

SpeedX, a large courier company, sends invoices to customers requesting payment within 30 days. The bill lists an address, and customers are expected to use their own envelopes to return their payments. Currently, the mean and standard deviation of the amount of time taken to pay bills are 24 days and 6 days, respectively. The chief financial officer (CFO) believes including a stamped self-addressed envelope would decrease the amount of time. She calculates the improved cash flow from a 2-day decrease in the payment period would pay for the costs of the envelopes and stamps. You have an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and work for SpeedX as a business analyst. One of your job duties is to run analytics and present the results to the senior management for critical decision-making. You see this as an opportunity to utilize some of the skills you gained in the Statistics course. Because of your strong understanding and background in inferential statistics, you decide to take up this important assignment. You have learned any analysis in inferential statistics starts with sampling. To test the CFO’s belief, you decide to randomly select 220 customers and propose to include a stamped self-addressed envelope with their invoices. The CFO accepts your proposal and allows you to run a pilot study. You then record the numbers of days until payment is received. Using your statistical expertise and skills you gained in the class, conduct a one-sample hypothesis test and determine if you can convince the CFO to conclude that the plan will be profitable. Use 0.10 and the significance level (α).

Resources: Microsoft Excel®, Signature Assignment Databases, Signature Assignment Options, Part 3: Inferential Statistics

Scenario: Upon successful completion of the MBA program, imagine you work in the analytics department for a consulting company. Your assignment is to analyze one of the following databases:

• Manufacturing
• Hospital
• Consumer Food
• Financial 

Select one of the databases based on the information in the Signature Assignment Options. 

Provide a 1,600-word detailed, four part, statistical report with the following sections:

• Part 1 – Preliminary Analysis
• Part 2 – Examination of Descriptive Statistics
• Part 3 – Examination of Inferential Statistics
• Part 4 – Conclusion/Recommendations 

Part 1 – Preliminary Analysis

Generally, as a statistics consultant, you will be given a problem and data. At times, you may have to gather additional data. For this assignment, assume all the data is already gathered for you.

State the objective:

• What are the questions you are trying to address?

Describe the population in the study clearly and in sufficient detail:

Discuss the types of data and variables:

• Are the data quantitative or qualitative?
• What are levels of measurement for the data? 

Part 2 – Descriptive Statistics 

Examine the given data.

Present the descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, variance, CV, and five-number summary).

Identify any outliers in the data.

Present any graphs or charts you think are appropriate for the data.

Note: Ideally, we want to assess the conditions of normality too. However, for the purpose of this exercise, assume data is drawn from normal populations. 

Part 3 – Inferential Statistics

Use the Part 3: Inferential Statistics document.

• Create (formulate) hypotheses
• Run formal hypothesis tests
• Make decisions. Your decisions should be stated in non-technical terms.

Hint: A final conclusion saying “reject the null hypothesis” by itself without explanation is basically worthless to those who hired you. Similarly, stating the conclusion is false or rejected is not sufficient. 

Part 4 – Conclusion and Recommendations

Include the following:

• What are your conclusions?
• What do you infer from the statistical analysis?
• State the interpretations in non-technical terms. What information might lead to a different conclusion?
• Are there any variables missing?
• What additional information would be valuable to help draw a more certain conclusion?

Format your assignment consistent with APA format.