MBA SEM III (Jan –May2025)

Assignment 1- Operations Analytics

Submitted to:- Submitted by:-

Name : Mukesh Rawat
Shelly Garg SAP ID : 500128862
Course : MBA OPM
SEM : III
Session : Jan – June 2025

Solutions :
Data analytics, in the context of big data, presents numerous challenges that
organizations must overcome to harness the full potential of their data. Risk managers
may face a number of obstacles in their efforts to gather and apply analytics.
Fortunately, there is a solution. This chapter addresses some of the major problems
with data analytics and the probable solutions. The main issues covered in this study
are data volume, real-time analytics, data validation, poor data quality, lack of support,
ambiguity, financial restrictions, talent scarcity, and security. It will need a holistic
strategy that includes strategic planning, modern technology, and cooperative efforts to
address these difficulties. Organizations must traverse these challenges to extract
valuable insights and make educated choices from their data, from adopting scalable
infrastructures for data processing to developing a competent staff and putting in place
strong security measures.

Types of Data Analytics

Data analytics is broken down into four basic types:

1. Descriptive analytics: This describes what has happened over a given period
of time. Have the number of views gone up? Are sales stronger this month than
last?
2. Diagnostic analytics: This focuses more on why something happened. It
involves more diverse data inputs and a bit of hypothesizing. Did the weather
affect beer sales? Did that latest marketing campaign impact sales?
3. Predictive analytics: This moves to what is likely going to happen in the near
term. What happened to sales the last time we had a hot summer? How many
weather models predict a hot summer this year?
 4. Prescriptive analytics: This suggests a course of action. For example, we
should add an evening shift to the brewery and rent an additional tank to
increase output if the likelihood of a hot summer is measured as an average of
these five weather models and the average is above 58%,

Data analytics underpins many quality control systems in the financial world, including
the ever-popular Six Sigma program. It's nearly impossible to optimize something if you
aren’t properly measuring it, whether it's your weight or the number of defects per
million in a production line.

The sectors that have adopted the use of data analytics include the travel and
hospitality industry where turnarounds can be quick. This industry can collect customer
data and figure out where problems, if any, lie and how to fix them.

Healthcare combines the use of high volumes of structured and unstructured data and
uses data analytics to make quick decisions. Similarly, the retail industry uses copious
amounts of data to meet the ever-changing demands of shoppers. The information that
retailers collect and analyze can help them identify trends, recommend products, and
increase profits.

Case Study: Learning Business Operations with Business Analytics

1. Understanding the Business Problem

Stakeholder Interview: To understand GlobalMart's challenges, the following questions

would guide the interview with stakeholders:

 What are the current operational inefficiencies you're experiencing across

departments (sales, inventory, marketing, etc.)?
 What are the biggest pain points related to customer satisfaction, and how do
you currently measure customer satisfaction?
 What challenges do you face in forecasting demand, and how do you currently
manage inventory?
 How is your marketing budget being spent, and what has been the return on
investment for past campaigns?
 Do you have any particular insights into your customer reviews and complaints
that you would like to address?
Key Objectives:

1. Increase Customer Satisfaction by Identifying Reasons for Delayed

Deliveries:
o Focus on delivery performance, tracking delays, and customer complaints
related to late deliveries.
o Use data to assess delivery timelines, reasons for delays, and customer
dissatisfaction.

2. Forecast Demand for Better Inventory Management:

o Utilize historical sales data, trends, and seasonality to predict future
demand for products.
o Leverage predictive analytics to help plan inventory levels, ensuring
products are available without overstocking.

3. Optimize Marketing Spend by Identifying High-Performing Campaigns:

o Evaluate the performance of previous marketing campaigns by analyzing
conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and return on investment
(ROI).
o Identify trends in customer behavior that can be influenced by targeted
marketing campaigns.
Mapping Business Problems into Data Problems (Business Analytics Process):

1. Customer Satisfaction & Delayed Deliveries:

o Data Problem: Lack of visibility into delivery performance, tracking
customer feedback, and identifying root causes of delays.
o Data Source: Delivery logs, customer satisfaction surveys, customer
reviews.

2. Demand Forecasting & Inventory Management:

o Data Problem: Inaccurate or inefficient demand forecasting leading to
overstock or stockouts.
o Data Source: Historical sales data, seasonal data, product categories,
market trends.

3. Marketing Optimization:
o Data Problem: Inefficient marketing spend with unclear attribution of
success to campaigns.
o Data Source: Marketing campaign data, social media metrics, conversion
rates, and customer engagement metrics.
2. Collecting and Analyzing Data

Data Sources:

 Structured Data: Transaction data (sales, product details, inventory records,

delivery times), marketing data (campaign data, performance metrics).
 Unstructured Data: Customer reviews, feedback (through social media, survey
responses, online reviews), and customer support tickets.

Summarize Data:

 Central Tendency Measures:

o Mean, Median, Mode: To summarize customer satisfaction scores,
average delivery times, product return rates, and sales.
o For example, analyzing customer satisfaction might involve calculating the
mean satisfaction score across various touchpoints (online store, in-store,
delivery).

 Categorical Data Summaries:

o Identify top-selling products, seasonal trends, and regional variations in
product demand.
o Example: "Top-selling electronics in Q1" or "Regional variations in grocery
sales."

 Visual Summaries (Charts, Graphs):

o Use bar charts and pie charts to visualize the breakdown of customer
satisfaction scores, top-selling products, and sales performance.
 o Line graphs can be helpful in tracking the trend of customer complaints
over time, delivery delays, or product return rates.

Descriptive Analytics:

 Identify Patterns in Sales and Delivery Timelines:

o Look for trends or seasonal fluctuations in sales for different categories of
products.
o Identify recurring delivery delays: Are certain products consistently
delayed? Are delays more common in certain regions or time periods?

 Highlight Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

o Customer Satisfaction Score (CSS), Delivery Lead Times, and Product
Return Rates.
o For instance, a product’s CSS might correlate with how fast it is delivered.
Analyzing this could help pinpoint where improvements in delivery
processes should be made.
3. Data Analysis Report (Deliverables)

Descriptive Analytics Report:

 Key Insights:
1. Customer Satisfaction: Analysis of customer satisfaction surveys reveals
that 35% of dissatisfaction is due to delivery delays, primarily in
electronics. This could be tied to stock-outs or delayed shipping from
suppliers.
2. Sales Patterns: Electronics sales peak during the holiday season, but
grocery sales are steady throughout the year, with regional variations.
 3. Delivery Timelines: A recurring delay is noted in the North region,
particularly around promotional events. Data reveals delays in shipment
due to high demand, indicating a need for better demand forecasting.
4. Return Rates: Higher return rates are noted for certain product categories
(e.g., electronics), likely due to mismatch between customer expectations
and product quality.

 Predictive Insights:
1. Demand Forecasting: Using time series analysis, we predict a 25%
increase in sales for home electronics during the upcoming holiday
season.
2. Marketing Optimization: Predictive models show that targeted social
media campaigns drive 40% higher conversion rates compared to
traditional email marketing, suggesting a shift in marketing budget
allocation.

 Prescriptive Recommendations:
1. Operational Efficiency: Recommend focusing on improving delivery
logistics in the North region, increasing stock for popular electronics, and
optimizing routes to minimize delivery times.
2. Inventory Management: Implement predictive models for demand
forecasting to adjust inventory levels more dynamically, particularly for
high-demand periods.
3. Marketing Spend: Shift 30% of the marketing budget towards social
media and influencer campaigns, as they show higher conversion rates
and lower acquisition costs.

4. Evaluation Criteria

1. Application of Concepts:
o Depth of Analytics: A comprehensive analysis using descriptive,
predictive, and prescriptive analytics will demonstrate the understanding of
the key techniques.
o Business Context: Connecting analytics with business objectives
(customer satisfaction, demand forecasting, and marketing optimization)
shows a deep understanding of how data analytics directly impacts
business outcomes.

2. Problem-Solving:
o Creativity in Insights: The ability to identify trends that others might
overlook, such as specific delivery challenges in certain regions or the
underperformance of specific marketing channels, reflects creative
problem-solving.
 o Actionable Recommendations: Recommendations that are directly
applicable and can drive improvements in business operations will be
critical in assessing the effectiveness of the solution.

By applying business analytics to GlobalMart's operational challenges, the company can

streamline its processes, forecast demand more accurately, and allocate marketing
resources effectively, leading to increased profitability and customer satisfaction.

Case Study Title: Learning Business

Operations with Business Analytics
Case Study Tasks

1. Understanding the Business Problem

 Conduct a stakeholder interview to understand GlobalMart's challenges.

As a Business Analytics Consultant, I would start by interviewing key stakeholders

at GlobalMart, including senior management, the operations team, the marketing
team, and customer service representatives. The goal would be to understand the
pain points in the business and gather input on the company's key challenges. Key
interview questions might include:

 For Senior Management:

o What are the primary business objectives and KPIs for this year?
o How is the company currently measuring customer satisfaction, and what
challenges do you face in improving it?
o What are the key areas where you believe analytics could help improve
operational efficiency?

 For the Operations Team:

o What are the main challenges in inventory management and order
fulfillment?
o Are there any recurring issues that affect delivery lead times or customer
complaints?
o How do you currently forecast demand, and what difficulties do you
encounter with stock levels?
  For the Marketing Team:
o How do you measure the success of marketing campaigns, and which
campaigns have been most successful in driving sales?
o What tools are being used for marketing analysis, and where do you think
optimization can occur?

 For the Customer Service Team:

o What are the most common reasons customers contact support?
o How do you track and address customer complaints, especially related to
delivery or product issues?

Define Key Objectives

Based on the findings from the stakeholder interview, I would define the key
objectives for the project:

1. Increase Customer Satisfaction by Identifying Reasons for Delayed

Deliveries:
o Explore patterns related to delayed deliveries, which may involve
analyzing delivery lead times, customer complaints, and order fulfillment
processes.
o Understand the bottlenecks in the supply chain or logistics that cause
delays and explore ways to address them.

2. Forecast Demand for Better Inventory Management:

o Use historical sales data to predict future demand trends for different
products.
o Identify factors that influence demand, such as seasonality, promotions, or
external factors like market conditions or events.

3. Optimize Marketing Spend by Identifying High-Performing Campaigns:

o Evaluate marketing campaign data to identify which channels, campaigns,
and promotions yield the best return on investment (ROI).
o Use predictive analytics to suggest future marketing strategies.

Map the Business Problems into Data Problems Using the

Business Analytics Process
1. Customer Satisfaction and Delivery Delays:
 o Data Problem: Analyzing delivery times, customer complaints, and
product return rates to find correlations between delays and customer
dissatisfaction.
o Analytics Focus: Descriptive analytics to identify patterns and outliers in
delivery timelines and customer complaints, predictive analytics to
forecast delays based on past trends, and prescriptive analytics to
recommend process improvements.

2. Demand Forecasting and Inventory Management:

o Data Problem: Using historical transaction data and external factors
(seasonality, promotions, etc.) to predict demand for different products.
o Analytics Focus: Predictive analytics to forecast demand and prescriptive
analytics to recommend inventory levels and stock distribution strategies.

3. Marketing Spend Optimization:

o Data Problem: Evaluating marketing campaign performance by analyzing
data on sales, customer engagement, and campaign costs.
o Analytics Focus: Descriptive analytics to summarize campaign
performance and ROI, predictive analytics to forecast future campaign
success, and prescriptive analytics to optimize future marketing strategies.

2. Collecting and Analyzing Data

Data Sources

 Structured Data:
o Transaction Data: This include sales data, product details, transaction
timestamps, inventory levels, delivery times, etc. Structured data allows
for easy aggregation, comparison, and analysis of sales performance,
delivery times, and inventory turnover.

o Customer Demographics: Data on customer profiles, purchasing patterns,

and location is used to segment customers and analyze regional trends.

 Unstructured Data:
o Customer Reviews: Analyzing customer feedback on products, deliveries,
and customer service.
Summarize Data Using Descriptive Analytics

 Central Tendency Measures:

Home Appliance
Central Tendency for
Mean Mode Median
Numerical Data
Product Prices: 12269 6000 12500
Product Qty: 1 1 1
Customer Age: 34 46 34

Groceries
Central Tendency
for Numerical Mean Mode Median
Data
Product Prices: 118 87.5 125
Product Qty: 17 5 15
Customer Age: 33 36 33

Electronics
Central Tendency
for Numerical Mean Mode Median
Data
Product Prices: 32147 35000 35000
Product Qty: 1 1 1
Customer Age: 34 45 34
 Apparel
Central Tendency
for Numerical Mean Mode Median
Data
Product Prices: 2224 2500 2500
Product Qty: 2 1 2
Customer Age: 32 36 32

Categorical Data Summaries:

 Top-Selling Products: Top Selling Products are Rice, Organic

Apples, Pasta, Wireless Muse, LED TV.
 Regional Trends: Dehradun is the region where the sales is
maximum followed by Rishikesh and Haridwar.

 Visual Summaries: Shown in Dashboard.

 Identify Patterns in Sales and Delivery Timelines: Shown in

Dashboard.

KPIs:
 Customer Satisfaction Scores: Global Mart’s Customer Satisfaction
Score is Good around 4.0.
 Product Return Rates: Product Cancellation rate is very low as only
4 cancellation is there.

4. Data Analysis Report: Presents Insights Derived from Descriptive and

Predictive Analytics. (Kindly See Dashboard)