managment report

This assignment is intended to be a business application of the activities undertaken in class on Spreadsheets and Databases. The assignment is based on an organization focusing on the retail of second-hand cars. The manager of this organization has hired you as a consultant to help him decide whether to store his business data in a Spreadsheet or in a Database: data for this business would include data regarding the customers, the suppliers and the products (i.e. the cars for sale). The purpose of the assignment is to produce a management report which by comparing and contrasting the business uses of Spreadsheets and Databases determines a final recommendation for the manager and provides an outline design of the proposed solution.

Deliverables

Your final report should be in the format of a management report. Detailed guidelines on how to write a management report for this assignment are provided in the Appendix.

Part 1 – Assessment of Spreadsheet and Database Alternatives (40 marks)

Advise the manager of the organization, providing arguments in favour and against, on the use of the Spreadsheet and Database alternatives for his intended purpose.

Part 2 – Recommendation to the Manager (10 marks)

Building from the assessment carried out in Part 1 of the report, recommend one of the two options (i.e. either a Spreadsheet or a Database solution)

Part 3 – Outline Design (40 marks)

Illustrate a possible design for the selected option

Presentation: structure of the report and quality of the writing (10 marks).

Recommended word count: 1200 words - Maximum word count 1500 words

Marking Guidelines for the Individual Assignment

The report should be in the format of a management report, 10 marks are allocated for Presentation: Structure and Quality of the Writing:

- Structure of the Report: 5 marks

- Quality of the Writing: 5 marks

Part 1 – Assessment of Spreadsheet and Database Alternatives requires a well argued discussion of the benefits and limitations of spreadsheets and databases for the intended application:

- 8 marks for each well supported argument

- 4 marks for each correct but unsupported statement

up to a total of 40 marks.

Part 2 – Recommendation to the Manager requires a solid recommendation clearly linked to part 1

- 2 marks for each link to part 1

- 1 marks for each correct but unsupported consideration

up to a total of 10 marks

Part 3 – Outline Design

For a Spreadsheet solution:

- Identification of the number of sheets required: 10 marks

- Definition of the required variables: 14 marks

- Examples of key formulae and functions to be implemented: 16 marks

For a Database solution:

- Identification of the number of tables required: 10 marks

- Definition of the required attributes: 14 marks

- Examples of the key queries that can be performed: 16 marks

Report Writing

Project ID: #7194484

About the project