Assignment #2: Decision Support via Excel Pivot Tables (8 Points) Draft 1 is due

Assignment #2: Decision Support via Excel Pivot Tables
(8 Points)
Draft 1 is due on Wednesday, November 1 at 10am
Final Draft is due on Canvas Wednesday, November 8 at 10am.
The purpose of this assignment is for each student to gain experience in using an IT tool to help them make basic decisions. Students should complete this assignment individually rather than in groups.
Excel 2007 format data file (.xlsx)
Excel 97-2003 format data file (.xls)

Part One – Basic Pivot Tables (3 points)
Using the Excel spreadsheet found above, create at least two-three different pivot tables (or pivot charts) to answer the following questions.
1. What do the numbers/data tell us about the purchases in each region?
2. What form of payment is most common?
3. Do our customers shop online?
Please submit the pivot tables that you used to answer each question together with your essay via canvas on February 21 at 10am.

Part Two – Analysis (5 points)
This is a written component that is designed to test your critical thinking ability.
The company’s approach has been to distribute advertising efforts equally between web banner ads and email ads, and to give equal resource levels to each area. What are the weaknesses of this approach?
Also, what changes would you suggest to their advertising plan? For example, should the company cease all advertising in the North? concentrate on web banner ads of books in the South? stop using PayPal? etc.
Present your answer in paragraph form. Be sure to include all pivot tables or other charts that you used in your decision-making process.
Your grade for Part Two of this assignment will be based on correct identification of the problem, identification of any underlying assumptions, the quality of your supporting data, and the clarity of your conclusions. Please consult Canvas for the grading rubric.

I uploaded the excel spreadheet as a file down below.