BUS5004 

Business Analysis 

Assignment 

Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

Answer to Question- 1.....................................................................................................................4

Answer to Question- 2.....................................................................................................................9

Comparing Primary and Secondary Statistics Data.....................................................................9

Defining Primary Data.................................................................................................................9

Primary Data Examples.............................................................................................................10

Answer to Question- 3...................................................................................................................14

Answer to Question- 4...................................................................................................................17

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................21

References......................................................................................................................................22
 Introduction
This paper is prepared to demonstrate the knowledge of analysis theories and techniques that
have been taught in our class to introduce us to the various analytical techniques and models that
are been used in the modern business world. The paper is developed into four parts of answering
questions. The first part shows the survey that has been conducted on colleagues of John Lewis
Plc to see their response to introducing the holiday pay scheme; the second part shows the
contrast and significance between the population and sample; the third part and the fourth
question in their respective part shows the analysis of John Lewis Plc company’s total assets
using statistical method and importance of Management Information System in decision making
and lastly their a
concussion part for a summary.
Answer to Question- 1
The John Lewis Partnership is one of the leading employee-owned businesses in the United
Kingdom. The founder of the business founded it as an industrial democracy experiment. Having
34 John Lewis stores and a burgeoning online company, John Lewis, a prominent far-flung-
stream retailer throughout the UK, started doing business more than 150 years ago on Oxford
Street, London. It offers credit cards, home insurance, foreign exchange, and the Partners Card
through John Lewis Finance, in addition to a range of financial services. In early September
2018, the company unveiled its new visual design, emphasizing both our distinctive ownership
business model and their dedication to providing a top-notch customer experience. The company
is putting the focus on creating a selected and focused selection that is becoming more and more
distinctive to John Lewis as part of our overall strategy. The company is concentrated on
competing via innovations and uniqueness in three crucial areas – distinctive items,
individualized service, and growing into new products – in the ever-changing retail industry. A
bigger focus on its own brand lines and acquiring exclusive brands and goods that consumers can
only get from the company are key components of this strategy. Outstanding partner-focused
service and experiences are at the heart of the company's service goals. To meet the growing
demand from customers for reliable guidance and experience in home and fashion, it empowers
Partners using technologies and investment in Partner capabilities. The company is bringing an
entirely new level of individualized, carefully selected purchasing to the town center with
offerings like Individual Styling as well as the Experiences Desks, which are located in the
middle of our stores. In addition to this, the company is working on extending its selection of
financial services and solidifying its position in the marketplace for home services. These
services encompass all the company offers. The business is raising consumer awareness of its
Partnership Card, foreign exchange services, and insurance in the financial services sector.
Customers may now reserve a certified contractor for home services through the company's
Home Solution program. All workers have a stake in the firm since they are co-owners, and they
all share the responsibility to all go beyond and above for one another and its clients. The
dedication of the Partners to help empower every Partner who works here, regardless of the area
of the business within which they are employed, is based on a series of five values that the
Partners have developed.
According to a survey, beginning in Feb 2015, the John Lewis Partnership took a practical and
fair outcome for our Partners had factored in paid overtime when determining partners' holiday
compensation. To coincide as closely as feasible with the time according to the holiday pay
ruling, a one-time back payout was provided, as needed, for vacations taken starting on
November 1, 2014. 

This report conducted a survey on colleagues from John Lewis Partnership to find reactions to
the potential implementation of a holiday pay system. To conclude this issue, the organization is
interested in hearing the thoughts and perspectives of its staff members who are now employed
by the organization. To know about the colleague's response to the introduction of the holiday
pay scheme, the company must determine the population size and determine sample population
for the analysis. The organization is eager to learn the opinions and viewpoints of its colleagues
as it draws to a close on this matter. I must first decide on the population size of the colleague
and the quantity of the sample I will collect from the population in order to learn about the
perspectives of colleagues. Between 2009 and 2022, John Lewis Partnership plc has employees
of over 80,000 people in the UK. So, the survey was conducted on a sample size of 16,000 from
a population size of 80,000 people.

Figure 1: Survey Graph for Response to Holiday Pay Scheme

Importance of The Sampling and Population Procedures
Population
A population is described as a comprehensive group of elements that all belong to the
same category. A population is any collection of people who have anything in common
such as gender, interests, grades, occupation, colour preference, habits, identity,
citizenship, etc. It may be represented as consisting of all individuals or objects with the
necessary characteristics for understanding. In analysis, a population is referred to as a
comprehensive set of components, and this definition is applicable. All participants of a
survey conducted on John lewis Partnership company are researchers commonly
referred to as "population." It is a term that is frequently used to describe a set of
populations of humans or the entire set of people living in a specific location of a state
or nation, working for an organization, or engaging in any other activity. This may be
done with any data as a parameter, given it meets the criteria and has a specific quality.
The population is a large concept that can help to predict the results of the study that
relates to the actual outcome of a test being conducted. But testing a population may
require more time and resources. Sometimes testing all of the population items may not
be possible due to the large size population.

Sampling Methods
A sample set is a part or element of the entire population set that has been randomly
selected to represent the entire population. It is regarded as a reflective depiction of the
entire population while conducting any type of study. The sample may be examined
during this stage of the research to look into the traits or behaviours of the information
regarding the entire population. Sample population is commonly used to the test data
over an entire set of populations which requires less effort and money. The steps that
will probably be taken when doing sampling are shown in Figure 2.
 Figure: 2 Sampling Process Steps
Source:(Google)
Sampling can basically be separately viewed in two basic categories
● probability or random sampling and,
● non-probability or non-random sampling.
Researchers must determine which sapling techniques are to be used when developing
a sample size for a study. Several kinds of sampling procedures are depicted in Figure
3
 .

Figure: 3 Sampling Techniques

In this paper, the survey conducted on the John Lewis Partnership company, I have
selected data from a sample of 16,000 people employed in the company to find their
perspective on introducing a holiday pay scheme holiday. Since there are more than
80000 employees in the company, it is very time-consuming and costly to analyze all of
the elements of the population. Hence, I have taken a sample size of 16000 to conduct
the survey. The method used in selecting the sample size is the non-probability method.
Under the non-probability method, I have used the Judgement method to select the
sample size for the survey (Foster, 2012). The survey conducted on the colleagues
deduced to an outcome that there is a significant positive agreement for the introduction
of a holiday pay scheme in the company. This facilitates the employees to enjoy more
benefits and reduce the company’s employee turnover.
Answer to Question- 2
Comparing Primary and Secondary Statistics Data
Since, in the current century, there are many published sets of information available in the world,
it is easy to get access to secondary data contrasting to primary data, which is relatively hard to
get. Both primary data and secondary have their role when research is being conducted that can
not be ignored. To conclude, primary data, as well as secondary data, may have their merits and
demerits for preference when researching work. Since these criteria must be considered, it is up
to the researcher to decide which is best while doing the study. In order to choose an improved
data category for research activity, it is crucial to understand the similarity and distinctions
between various data types.

Defining Primary Data

For the sake of other investigations, primary data is frequently collected especially for research
projects and may be made publicly available. This material was not obtained from an original
source, but rather directly from a source of information. Primary data is often reliable, accurate,
and objective since it was acquired with the goal of addressing a particular study topic (Breen,
2019). It is noteworthy that original data is rarely usually collected because of the high costs. A
simple representation of primary data is information that has been obtained by businesses
through product development, competitive analysis, and market research (Primary Research
Group, 2014). The primary data sources are typically chosen and modified with a specific
purpose in mind—achieving the objectives or goals of a particular research endeavour.
Investigators, researchers, privately sponsored research institutes, etc. make up the majority of
people who collect original data. Future and current clients make advantage of this directly
gathered data. The purpose of the research and the intended audience must be established before
choosing a source for gathering data. It is necessary to initially decide on the sample population
and survey goals while doing a market study, for example. The best data collection technique
will depend on the population being surveyed, as a group living in a remote area without an
internet connection will gain more from an offline survey than from an online survey.
Primary Data Examples
● Market Analysis

For a corporate strategy market research plays a crucial role  that entails obtaining an
understanding of the specific clients and market (Macinnes, 2017). The data of market analysis is
very valuable because it is developed particularly to fit the needs of the organization. A company
conducting market analysis on a new device, such as a phone, will need to collect data from the
target market, such as daily phone usage, feature preferences, purchasing power, and so on; as
the product differs, data from the previous survey is not used.

● Thesis from Student

Students get information from the original source when undertaking academic studies or a thesis
experiment, i.e., a student doing studies on the effect of routine fruit juice consumption on a
person's diet will need to choose a sample group of at least two individuals, providing with fruit
juice every day, and track any change in their weight (Ren Carmona, 2016). The information
acquired during this procedure is crucial.

Methods for Collecting Primary Data

Through the interview technique of data, the gathering includes the interviewer, that
develops the question to collect data, and an interviewee, who is responsible for
responding to the questions developed for a topic or responder who is being
questioned.

Questionnaires and survey reports are two useful ways for collecting primary data that
consist of a set of topics for which questions are developed and distributed to a sample
of participants of research to know their replies.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Primary Data Collecting

Advantages

● Comprehensive data may be gathered.

 ● It is possible to identify non-responding and responding bias.
● It is possible to manage the samples.
● To satisfy the specific needs of the researcher, primary data is information that has been
gathered specifically at the time of research work.
● If researchers want more reliable information and up-to-date data primary data selecting
method is best to be used for research.

Disadvantages

● Needs to invest more time.

● It costs a lot to collect primary data.
● Interviewers can have biases.
● Given its difficulty in collecting and the time it consumes, the original data collection
way is not favorable to everyone.

Defining Secondary Data

Information that has been previously gathered by another party and made accessible for use by
others is referred to as secondary data (Ang, 2021). If the data that was published before was
used by another researcher in their work, it is categorized as secondary data. Secondary data are
made public for that they can be easily accessible for new research work. Therefore, it can be
said that secondary data may not always as specific as primary data for research work. If any
researchers take data from the work of other previous data, they must mention the source from
which the data has been taken. In order for definitions and theorems, and other secondary facts to
be properly referenced and cited, they are included in the thesis. Journal report published on
trades, statistical survey and research of government and commercial periodicals are a few
typical sources of secondary data. These sources are frequently unreliable in terms of
authenticity. The research work of one person can be identified as secondary data for use in other
research. When data is utilized again, it becomes secondary data for the second research it is
used for and main data for the first research it was used in. When information is used twice, it
becomes secondary information for the second research and primary information for the first.

Various Secondary Data Sources

● Secondary Data from Books

Collecting Secondary data from published books and papers is used for a very long time and
there is much information available on books that has been compiled for a long time.

● Published Sources of Secondary Data 

There may be several already existing published works that can be regarded as secondary data.
These data can be found mostly from a publishing firm or from the author itself.
Methods for Collecting Primary Data
● Data that are available ion online are as deep as an ocean, and it is hard to find any
specific data that is needed when a research study is being conducted (Mathur, 2012).
Programmers have developed bots to automatically scrape the web for pertinent data to
simplify this data-collecting procedure.
● Everybody has access to the library, which has enough resources to study any topics that
are required (Sej-Kolasa, 2016). The library can be the favourite location to find data for
research where researchers can get it easily, or they may elect to borrow the material for a
while and return them after they have gathered all the necessary information.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data Collecting

Advantages
● Researchers can quickly access the majority of the secondary data sources.
● People should pay little to no money to obtain secondary data.  The cost in this data
category is very small and sometimes freely available.
● Data can be reevaluated to provide new information, especially when done from a
different viewpoint. Data gathered from secondary sources may reveal information that
the original data gatherer was unable to discover in the past.
 ● Collecting secondary data frequently takes far less time than acquiring main data (Iyer
and Chandran Vaidiki Velanadu, 2017). The only investigation necessary for obtaining
secondary data is the act of seeking appropriate data sources.

Disadvantages
● There is a big difference between the quality of data extracted using a secondary source
and from a direct source since there are no overseeing authorities to ensure the reliability
of the data type that is being provided to researchers, which can work as a major
drawback with sources of internet.
● Before discovering the information, they want, researchers must spend a considerable
amount of time sifting through a sea of useless data. It's due to the fact that the data
wasn't gathered primarily for the research.
● Some data sources have old available data, which is not realistic anymore and needs to be
updated.
● Sometimes data that has been analyzed does not represent the authentic values and may
show as more than what it actually represents. This prejudiced activity can exist when
maintaining a brand value in front of the public because of promotion activities.

 
Answer to Question- 3
JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP PLC

Figure: 4 Total assets table data 

The data table above shows the amount of the total assets in millions ( €) of John Lewis
Partnership Plc company for the last five years from 2018 to 2022. These data have been
collected from the annual report of John Lewis Plc for the purpose of analyzing the trend in the
total assets of the company to see whether the company is in a sound financial position or not.
The analysis work has been conducted using the help of excel software. And Using the software,
we calculated the mean amount of total assets of the last five years of John Lewis Partnership Plc
company. The mean value is calculated by summing the last five years' total assets amount and
then dividing the sum amount by five to find the mean value. And again, using excel, we
calculated the median value by using the formula standard deviation using the excel function.
 Figure: 5 Total assets John Lewis Partnership for the last 5 years
The above figure 5 shows the graphical analysis of the Total assets of the John Lewis Plc
Company For the last five years. We can see the amount of total assets of the company has
increased from previous years. In 2018, the money amount of total assets was 6,253.70 million
(€), which in current years has increased to 7,485.40  6,253.70 million (€). From the year 2016 to
2021, the total assets of the company had an upward trend, but in 2022 the money amount of
total assets had a slight decrease. The reason for this decrease in assets could be due to the reason
of the aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, which has obstructed ways of the market while
doing business. Also, there may other significant events, such as political conflicts between
Russia against the US, where US sanctions upon Russia restricted global trade activity, that were
placed because of war Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The conflict raised the price of commodities
and oil, which caused companies to suffer, and John Lewis Plc is no different from other
companies in the market that are facing the same troubles.
 Figure: 6  Analysis of Total Assets John Lewis Partnership for the last 5 years

Above figure 6 shows the graphical analysis of the mean median and standard deviation. The
analysis has been done using excel software. The data that has been used is from the last five
years. The mean value of total assets is over 7000 million (€), and the median value has the
largest bar among all the three bars representing the largest number of values. In contrast, the
standard deviation has the smallest bar.
Answer to Question- 4
I agree with the statement that the significant role of an effective management information
system has always contributed when making decisions. The majority of organizations that seek
future success are transforming conventional business practices into contemporary ones as a
result of the century's technological advancements. In all areas of business, decision-making
skills are becoming more and more common. In order for a business to operate successfully, it
must be not only able to create the goods that customers want but also be able to make critical
decisions that will ensure the stability and future success of the enterprise (Iyer and Chandran
Vaidiki Velanadu, 2017). To assure the accuracy and consistency of judgments with corporate
objectives, the majority of firms rely on autonomous decision processes. In this situation, it is
important to note the growing use of management information systems. From a variety of angles,
MIS is said to be profitable for business operations when it comes to how they influence the
process of making a decision, MIS yields major benefits. The ability to make decisions is said to
be facilitated by management information systems. When examining how management
information systems affect the process of decision, researchers of several individuals have shown
beneficial relationships using MIS to decision-making. Systems for managing information are
used to identify issues with a company's success. The management information system's
assistance improves the process that helps in making decisions when a problem is detected. The
data can be classified and examined in connection to economic, social, political, technical, and
legal aspects that are thought to be essential in examining the shifting behavior of customers and
market conditions. Most previous studies have found a strong relationship between company
success and information quality. The value of information is strongly correlated with how it is
used and used. Every company considers the information to play a crucial function. The
importance of data may be viewed as the foundation for decision-making. For making an
essential decision that might have an influence on the company's long-term goals, information is
proven to be crucial. By assisting managers in selecting the best information from a variety of
options, decision support systems make it easier for them to make crucial decisions. When there
is a wealth of information accessible to managers, the usage of a management information
system is regarded as imperative. Determination support systems are, therefore a firm asset, it
might be said. When making difficult judgments, the value of a decision support system
increases. It is thought that decision assistance systems improve the efficiency of complicated
decision-making.

Figure: 7 Research model

In the decision-making process, the usage of MIS has a favourable impact on how problems are
defined (H1a). MIS is employed to identify issues relating to the organisation's success after
gathering pertinent information on external and internal pressures. Numerous studies
emphasizing the expanding significance of MIS (management information systems) discovered a
favourable correlation between the speed of issue detection and such systems. The development
of new technology innovation has made it possible to identify problems, store them, and use
them later. This has helped decision support systems function more effectively.

The decision support process's ability to identify problems quickly is positively impacted by the
usage of MIS (H1b). Technology's evolving trends have radically changed how businesses
conduct themselves. Several company managers view computers as crucial productivity tools
that they may utilize on a regular basis. An MIS (management information system) is essential
for organizing various types of information into pertinent stages and producing reliable streams
of information that can be helpful for making decisions (Marble, 2014). The quality of the
information content is essential for guaranteeing the proper flow of the selection phase,
according to several studies. Because of the excellent quality of the material, decision-makers
spend less time deciding whether kind of information could be useful for solving certain
difficulties.

Judgment analysis in the process of decision support benefits from the usage of MIS (H2). MIS
properly identifies, manages, stores, and selects the necessary type of information for decision-
making purposes for managers when they are in need to making the necessary decision (Nazareth
and Choi, 2015). It should be noted that the selection procedure also helps to speed up decision-
making by reducing the amount of time needed. It is also hypnotically possible to believe that
MIS, with the assistance of the selection stage, have a favourable influence on the DSC (decision
support systems) and on DQ (decision quality).

The decision support process's utilization of MIS improves the quality of decisions made (H3a).
The use of these tactics is essential for obtaining a comparative advantage. As a result, effective
information technology integration with company operations can improve firm performance,
particularly over the long term. One benefit of MIS (management information systems) is that it
takes less time to find the data you need, which boosts staff productivity. The automatic data
identification, storage, management, and collection process increases employee productivity and
satisfaction.

The decision support process's decision speed is positively impacted by the application of MIS
(H3b). Given high-quality information, MIS could be able to forecast customer happiness. More
authentic and relevant data will help researchers minimize the effort to come to a proper outcome
for a test. Because the content is of such high quality, decision-makers don't need to spend as
much time deciding what information is crucial to solving certain issues.
The link between the usage of MIS and the effectiveness of decision-making is moderated by the
quality of the information included within (H5). It is thought that the relative quality of
information's substance depends on how effectively it can be accessed. By streamlining
managers' everyday tasks, management information systems are said to gather data from both
external and internal sources. Additionally, qualitative management information systems provide
managers with more accountability when making judgments as a consequence of information
availability.
 Conclusion
In the modern world the analysis of data is a very common work that is done throughout various
decision-making processes. An organization’s success mostly depends on its ability to determine
an accurate judging decision when faced with complex problems. To solve these complex
problems researchers use data and use analysis methods on those data to come to the
comprehensible desired outcome. In this report, we tried to show the different analysis methods
that researchers use to analyze information, types of sources of data, statistical methods and the
importance of MIS when deciding more accurate decisions to solve problems.
References
Ang, C.S. (2021). Analyzing Financial Data And Implementing Financial Models Using R. S.L.:
Springer.

Anne M. H., 2013. "Quantitative Analysis Definition". About.com.

Babbie, E. R., 2019. The practice of social research (12th ed.). Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth

Cengage. 

Breen, J.O. (2019). Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Primary data. JAMA, 321(2),
p.207. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.18143.

Corrine, G., 2017. Becoming Qualitative Researchers: An Introduction (4th ed.).

Boston: Pearson. 

Cyphert, D. (2017). The Rhetorical Analysis of Business Speech: Unresolved Questions. Journal
of Business Communication, 47(3), pp.346–368. doi:10.1177/0021943610370577.

Foster, G.E. (2012). The Priest family: a collection of data, original, contributed and selected,
concerning various branches of the Priest family. Salem, Mass.: Higginson Book Company.

Haugen, D.M. and Musser, S. (2012). Population. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.

Horino, S. and Miura, S. (2014). Population viability analysis of a Japanese black bear
population. Population Ecology, 42(1), pp.37–44. doi:10.1007/s101440050007.

Hunt, D., 2018. "The Nature and Scope of Marketing". Journal of Marketing. 

Hunter, L. & Leahey, E., 2018. "Collaborative Research in Sociology: Trends and Contributing
Factors". The American Sociologist. 

Iyer, A. and Chandran Vaidiki Velanadu (2017). Management information system. New Delhi:
Knowledge Book Distributors.

Julie B., 2016. "For Tobacco, Stealth Marketing Is the Norm". The New York Times.

Kotler, P. & Gary A., 2018. Principles of marketing (Seventeenth ed.). Hoboken. 

Lamb, C. & Joseph C., 2016. Principles of Marketing. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Laudon, K.C. and Jane Price Laudon (2019). Essentials of management information systems.
Harlow, England: Pearson.

M&S (2021). Welcome to Marks & Spencer. [online] Marksandspencer.com. Available at:
https://www.marksandspencer.com/.

Mesly, O., 2015. Creating Models in Psychological Research. United States: Springer

Psychology.