BUS5004 Business Analysis Assignment Brief 2025-26 | AU

BUS5004 Assignment Brief  

As part of the formal assessment for the programme, you are required to submit a Business  Analysis assignment.  Please refer to your  Student  Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.   

Learning Outcomes:  

After completing the module, you should be able to:  

• Demonstrate  an  understanding  of  how  to  prepare  and  present  data  and information in ways useful to decision makers
• Appraise the effectiveness of information systems  
• Identify, collect, and collate primary and secondary data from a range of sources
• Apply a range of techniques to analyse and present data
• Prepare and present data in a prescribed format

Guidance   

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline, and the exact word count of your submitted document; the appendices, if relevant; and a reference list in the Harvard AU system(s). You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below. Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.  

You must not include your name in your submission because Arden University operates anonymous marking, which means that markers should not be aware of the identity of the student. However, please do not forget to include your STU number.  

Maximum word count: 4000 words  

Please refer to the full word count policy, which can be found in the Student Policies section here: Arden University | Regulatory Framework  

Please note the following:   

Students are required to indicate the exact word count on the title page of the assessment.    

The word count includes everything in the main body of the assessment (including in-text citations and references). The word count excludes numerical data in tables, figures, diagrams, footnotes, reference list, and appendices. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count.   

Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a 10-percentage point deduction.

BUS5004 Assignment Task  

This assignment is worth 100% of the total marks for the module.  

Answer all the following questions.    

Please note the following instructions: 

• You may select any organisation upon which to base your answers, including the case study, but you are strongly recommended to select an organisation that you have worked for or one you feel you can research easily using the Internet and academic search engines.  The latter approach is acceptable where you do not work for an organisation.  It is also acceptable to base your answer on a case study.
• Where you are asked to supply MS Excel (or equivalent) material, such as graphs and/or data tables, please note these must be embedded as figures within the file and not shown as linked files (i.e., your assignment must be a single document in Word or PDF format. Turnitin cannot accept multiple files or linked files).

Question 1   

You have been asked to survey your colleagues to gauge their response to the possibility of flexible working hours being introduced at the workplace. Explain the significance of the following:  

a)  Population 
b)  Sampling techniques  

You must draw upon relevant theory, concepts, and models and appropriate organisational examples.  

To complete this task, you will need to consider, as a first step, the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the lesson on Quantitative Research, and add relevant academic sources to your answer.  

(1200 words) 
(25marks)
(LO: 3)

Question 2   

In respect of primary and secondary data, compare and contrast:   

1)  The main differences between primary and secondary data
2) The advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary data   

You must draw upon relevant theory, concepts, and models and appropriate organisational examples.  

To complete this task, you will need to consider, as a first step, the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the lessons on Quantitative Research and Qualitative Research, and add relevant academic sources to your answer. (1200 words)
(25 marks)  
(LO: 3) 

Question 3   

Drawing upon examples from either the case study organisation, your own organisation, or one with which you are familiar, select an appropriate quantitative measure (such as turnover,  profit,  available  from  annual  reports  , etc)  and  , having  obtained  values  over  many equal time periods, calculate the following:   

a)the mean 
b)mode
c) the standard deviation 

You must include all your manual calculations. Use an Excel spreadsheet to verify your calculations and embed a copy of this spreadsheet in your answer.   

To complete this task, you will need to consider, as a first step, the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the lesson on Quantitative Analysis: Coding and Descriptive Statistics, and add relevant external sources to your answer.   

(400 words) 
(25 marks) 
(LOs: 3,4,5) 

Question 4   

When it comes to making sound decisions, an effective management information system acts as an important part of the process. To what extent would you agree with this perspective and why?  

You must draw upon relevant theory, concepts, and models and appropriate organisational examples.  

To complete this task, you will need to consider, as a first step, the factors outlined in the course materials, referring as a start to the lessons on Introduction and the Role of Business Analysis in Organisations, and add relevant external academic sources to your answer. 

(1200 words) 
(25 marks)
(LO:1,2)  

(Total Marks: 100) 
(Total Words: 4000) 
(LOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

BUS5004 Submission Guidance  

Assignments submitted late will not be accepted and will be marked as a 0% fail.   

Your assessment should be submitted as a single Word (MS Word) or PDF file. For more information, please see the “Submitting an Assignment - Guide” document available on the A-Z key information on iLearn.   

You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments that show evidence of academic unfair practice. (See the Student Handbook, which is available on the A-Z key information on iLearn.)

BUS5004 Assessment Criteria: Level 5