LECTURE 3: Business Reporting and

Visual Analytics

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-

University of Nairobi
3.1 Business Reporting

-Decision makers need information to make

accurate and timely decisions.
-Information is essentially the
contextualization of data.
-Information is often provided in the form of
a written report (digital or on paper)
-A report is any communication artefact
prepared for conveying information in a
presentable form to whoever needs it,
wheneverDr.and
John O. wherever
Oredo, PhD-Universitythey
of Nairobi may need it.
3.1 Business Reporting
-It may contain information in the form of narrative,
graphics or tables.
-In business, reports include memos, minutes, lab
reports, sales reports, progress reports,
justification reports, compliance reports, annual
reports, policies and procedures.
-Functions of a report include:
▪ To ensure that all departments arc functioning
properly
▪ To provide information
Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.1 Business Reporting
▪ To provide the results o f an analysis
▪ To persuade others to act
▪ To create an organizational memory (as p an o f
a knowledge management system)
-Categories of business reports include:
1. Metric Management Reports
-In many organizations, business performance is
managed through outcome-oriented metrics. For
external groups, these are service-level level
agreements (SLAs). For internal management,
they are key performance
Dr. John indicators
O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi (KPIs).
3.1 Business Reporting
2. Dashboard Type Reports
-Presents a range of different performance
indicators on one page, like a dashboard in a car.
-Typically, dashboard vendors provide a set of
predefined reports with static elements and fixed
structure, but also allow for customization of the
dashboard.
3. Balanced Scorecard-Type Reports
-Attempts to present an integrated view of success
in an organization.
Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.1 Business Reporting
-In addition to financial performance, balanced
scorecard-type reports also include customer,
business process, and learning and growth
perspectives.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.2 Data Visualization
-Data visualization is the use of visual
representations to explore, make sense of, and
communicate data
-Although the name that is commonly used is data
visualization, usually what is meant is information
visualization. Since information is the
aggregations, summarizations, and
contextualization o f data.
-Data visualization is closely related to the fields of
information graphics and statistical graphics.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.2 Data Visualization
-The main forms o f data visualization available in
business intelligence applications include charts
and graphs, scorecards and dashboards.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.4 Types of Charts
LINE CHART
-Line charts are the most frequently used graphical
visuals for time-series data.
-Line charts (or line graphs) show the relationship
between two variables:
▪ Used to track changes or trends over time
(having one o f the variables set to time on the x-
axis).
▪ Line charts sequentially connect individual data
points to help infer changing trends over a
period o fDr.time.
John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts
▪ Line charts are often used to show time-
dependent changes in the values of some
measure e.g. changes in the number o f daily
customer service calls over a month.
-The choice of time frame to plot, as well as the
temporal scale, should depend on the horizon of
the forecasting task and on the nature of the data.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.4 Types of Charts

Data_Set_2-Temperatures and Rainfall

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts
BAR CHART
-Bar charts are effective when you have nominal
data or numerical data that splits nicely into
different categories so you can quickly see
comparative results and trends within your data.
-Bar charts are often used to compare data across
multiple categories such as percent advertising
spending by departments or by product categories.
-Bar charts can be vertically or horizontally
oriented.
-They can also b e stacked on top o f each other to
Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
show multiple dimensions in a single chart.
3.4 Types of Charts

Data_Set_1-Sales Across Markets and Categories

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts

Data_Set_1-Sales Across Markets and Categories

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts

Data_Set_1-Sales Across Markets and Categories

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts
PIE CHART
-Pie charts are visually appealing, as the name
implies, pie-looking charts.
-Because they are so visually attractive, they are
often incorrectly used.
-Pie charts should only be used to illustrate relative
proportions of a specific measure.
-For instance, they can be used to show relative
percentage of advertising budget spent on different
product lines or
Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts
-They can show relative proportions of majors
declared by college students in their sophomore
year.
-If the number of categories to show are more than
just a few (say, more than 4), one should, seriously
consider using a bar chart instead of a pie chart.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.4 Types of Charts

Data_Set_1-Sales Across Markets and Categories

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts

SCATTER PLOT
-Scatter plots are often used to explore
relationships between two or three variables (in
2D or 2D visuals).
-Since they are visual exploration tools, having
more than three variables, translating into more
than three dimensions, is not easily achievable.
-Scatter plots are an effective way to explore
the existence of trends, concentrations,
and outliers.
Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.4 Types of Charts

-For instance, in a two-variable (two-axis)

graph, a scatter plot can be used to illustrate
the co-relationship between age and weight of
heart disease patients, or it can illustrate the
relationship temperature and rainfall.
-Often, a trend line is superimposed on a two-
dimensional scatter plot to illustrate the nature o
f the relationship.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.4 Types of Charts

Data_Set_2 -Temperatures and Rainfall

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.5 Dashboards
-Dashboards provide visual displays of
important information that is consolidated and
arranged on a single screen so that information
can be digested at a single glance and easily
drilled-in and further explored.
-Most executive dashboards show a high level
view o f the different functional groups
surrounding the products, starting from a
general overview to the marketing efforts, sales,
finance, and support departments.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.5 Dashboards

-All of this is intended to give executive decision

makers a quick and accurate idea o f what is
going on within the organization.
-The most distinctive feature of a dashboard is
its three layers of information:
1 . Monitoring . Graphical, abstracted data to
monitor key performance metrics.
2 . Analysis. Summarized dimensional data to
analyze the root cause o f problems.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.5 Dashboards
3 . Management. Detailed operational data that
identify what actions to take toresolve a
problem.
-Because of these layers, dashboards pack a
lot of information into a single
screen.
-The fundamental challenge of dashboard
design is to display all the required information
on a single screen, clearly and without
distraction, in a manner that can b e assimilated
quickly.
Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.5 Dashboards

-To speed assimilation of the numbers, the

numbers need to be placed in context. -This
can be done by comparing the numbers o f
interest to other baseline or target numbers
-Some of the common comparisons that are
typically made in business intelligence systems
include comparisons against past values,
forecasted values, targeted values, benchmark
or average values e.t.c.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.5 Dashboards

-Even with comparative measures, it is

important to specifically point out whether a
particular number is good or bad and whether it
is trending in the right direction.
-Typically, either specialized visual objects (e .g
., traffic lights) or visual attributes (e .g ., color
coding) are used to set the evaluative context.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.5 Dashboards

-Although performance dashboards and other

information visualization frameworks differ in
their purpose, they all share some common
design characteristics:
1.They all fit within the larger BI or performance
measurement systems.
2.They use visual components (e.g., charts,
performance bars, sparklines, gauges,
meters, stoplights) to highlight, at a glance, the
data and exceptions that require action.
Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.5 Dashboards

3. They are transparent to the user, meaning

that they require minimal training and are
extremely easy to use.
4. They combine data from a variety o f systems
into a single, summarized, unitied view of the
business.
5. They enable drill-down or drill-through to
underlying data sources or reports, providing
more detail about the underlying comparative
and evaluative context.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.5 Dashboards

6. They present a dynamic, real-world view with

timely data refreshes, enabling the end user to
stay up to date with any recent changes in the
business.
7.They require little, if any, customized coding
to implement, deploy, and maintain.

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.5 Dashboards

Source: www.Dundas.com (Retrieved 26-06-2019)

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi
3.6 Pivot Tables

-Excel PivotTables enable you to quickly

summarize and describe your data in many
different ways.
Lab 1: Using PivotTables to Summarize Data
(In-Class)
-Consider the following sales data for Ngumu
Hardware Stores (Data_Set_4-Sales Revenue at Ngumu
Hardware Stores). Let us use Excel PivotTables to
answer the following questions:

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi

3.6 Pivot Tables

1. What percentage of sales occurs at each

store?
2. What percentage of sales occurs during
each month?
3. How much revenue does each product
generate?
4. Which products generate 80 percent of the
revenue?

Dr. John O. Oredo, PhD-University of Nairobi