NBS8641 Data Analytics for Business Insights Assessment Brief Semester 1 2025-26 | Newcastle University

NBS8641 Assessment Brief

Module Learning Outcomes

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

• Appreciate the value of analytical capability as an organisational asset.
• Evaluate a potential range of solutions from the application of data analytics.
• Defend the need for effective and planned organisational data collection.

Intended Skill Outcomes

• Apply appropriate data analytics knowledge and skills to enhance the capability to realise organisational benefits from data.
• Interpret business problems and opportunities using data analytics to organise, manage, critically analyse, visualise and communicate complex issues effectively.
• Build appropriate models to increase informed decision-making capability.

Introduction & Background

You are required to use the analytical tools taught during the module to produce a management report of 2,000 words with insights into a set of data within a particular business context. The dataset will be made available towards the end of the semester.

Company And Dataset Background

The New-Peth Shoes Ltd.[1] is an SME, based in Morpeth Northumberland, that operates online by selling, both, locally produced and imported branded shoes. The business has ambitious growth plans in rivalling some of the high street shoe stores, but due to lack of internal expertise in analytics and data driven decision making, the owner is struggling to make informed business decisions.

You have been contracted as a Business Analyst in the company and your first assignment is to produce a 2000 word comprehensive analytics report addressing the following:

• Dashboard: providing an ‘on message’ overview of the business performance, highlighting what you consider are key performance indicators (KPI’s) for this business. The actual dashboard should be capable of fitting onto one page in either portrait or landscape. [10%]
• Data driven Business Intelligence (BI) Insights, visualisations and analysis: You are required to use your knowledge and data analysis skills to develop a range of business insights, with accompanying visualisations and narrative. Your choice of the most significant elements to analyse will be driven by what you consider the New-Peth shoes could do to be successful in terms of their growth aim. There needs to be clear evidence of the rationale (reason) for including a particular insight and key visuals must be integrated into the main body of the report. [40%]
• Recommendations: as part of this section, you are expected to develop strategic forward thinking recommendations for New-Peth Shoes based on your previous analyses (in parts a) & b) above) and orientated towards the strategic intent of growth. Any recommendation made must be based on data analysis. [30%]
• Organisation & Presentation: 10% is dedicated towards the executive summary, overall structure, organisation, and professional presentation of the report. A clear and organised report structure along with professional presentation standards will determine the level of mark awarded under this section. [10%]
• Data cleaning and/or data preparation steps adopted in the production of the report to ensure the integrity of the data. This should be submitted as Appendix A of the report. [10%]

Submission instructions, structural guidelines and other information

• This is a practical report and therefore does not require the use / inclusion of academic based reference material, with the potential exception of supporting recommendations.
• If you do use reference materials to support your work then please ensure you follow the University referencing guidelines, essentially Harvard referencing.
• A 2000-word (+/-10%) report must be submitted via Turnitin link provided on Canvas.
• You are advised to use screenshots of your visuals and submit your document as a pdf. You are not advised to use the publish feature in tableau to create the visuals to include in your report nor submit in a word format.
• The report must include one dashboard (screenshot) summarising business performance on a range of key metrics.
  What is excluded from the wordcount: Cover Page, Executive summary, Content list, Reference list, Appendices, Visuals (Figures and Tables).
• Appendices. Appendix A must be used for the data prep and cleaning element – e) above. Other appendices can be included if necessary, but key visuals MUST be integrated into the report.
• Formative Feedback: formative feedbacks will be provided to students based on generic and individual questions during designated assignment support sessions. There will be dedicated assignment support sessions in addition to synchronous taught sessions. 

NBS8641 Marking Criteria