ISYS2056 Building Blocks of IS - Slides-Merged

ISYS2056
Business Information Systems

Information Systems Building Blocks
Week 2
Dr. Humza Naseer
CRICOS provider number: 00122A | RTO Code: 3046

Learning objectives
• Understand the building blocks of information systems
• Describe different types of information systems
• Explain information systems functional roles and responsibilities
• Explore contemporary approaches to information systems
© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 2

Building blocks of information systems
People
Network Process
Information
Systems
Data Hardware
Software

People
People include all resources that develop, manage and use information systems to
help organizations create value and improve productivity.
• End users: People who use an information system or the information it produces to
perform a job function or task. For example, a student uses a spreadsheet or a word
processing software application.
• IS specialists: People who develop and operate information systems. For example,
systems analysts, programmers, and computer operators.
• Business professionals: People such as CEOs, business owners, managers,
entrepreneurs, employees who use IS to start or expand their business to perform their
job functions such as accounting, marketing, sales, human resources, support
customers, among others.

Process
A business process is a series of steps undertaken to achieve a desired
outcome or goal.
Business process Business process

management reengineering
Customer
Enterprise resource
relationship
planning
management

Hardware
Hardware represents the physical components of an information system.
Source: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/computer-parts-6379845
Hardware
Hardware represents the physical components of an information system.
Source: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/computer-parts-6379845
Software
Software is a set of instructions that tell the hardware what to do.
End User
• System Software: Operating system

(OS) such as Apple iOS, Microsoft Application
Software
Windows, Google Android, Linux-
based OS
System
Software
• Application Software:
Spreadsheets, databases, computer
games, email.
Hardware

Data
Data are raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event or object.
Knowledge: Understanding, experience, insight,

intuition, and contextualized information
Information: Data converted into a meaningful and

useful context.
Data: Raw facts that describe an event and are not

organized in any way

Network
Network is the medium that enables communication between information systems.
Source: https://www.unixmen.com/build-information-system-free-using-tools/
Building blocks of information systems
People
Network Process
Technology
Information
Systems
Data Hardware
Software

Types of information systems
• Transaction processing Decision structure Information systems
systems
Unstructured Strategic Decision support systems
• Management management
information systems Decision support systems
Management information
• Decision support Semi-structured Tactical management systems
systems
• Analytical systems Transaction
• ML/AI systems Operational management
processing
Structure systems

Information systems functional roles and
responsibilities
Chief information officer (CIO)
Responsible for (1) overseeing all uses of
IS and (2) ensuring that IS strategically
aligns with business goals and objectives.
Chief information security

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
officer (CISO)
Responsible for ensuring the security of business Responsible for ensuring the speed, accuracy,
systems and developing strategies and safeguards availability, and reliability of the MIS.
against attacks by hackers and viruses. IS functional
roles and
responsibilities
Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)
Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)
Responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of
information within a company. Responsible for collecting, maintaining, and
distributing company knowledge.
Chief Data Officer (CDO)

Responsible for determining the types of information
the enterprise will capture, retain, analyze, and
share.
Contemporary approaches to information systems
Information Systems is a multidisciplinary field. The study of IS deals with issues and insights contributed from technical and
behavioral disciplines.
Management
Psychology science
Behavioral Technical
Information Computer
approaches Economics systems approaches
science
Operations
Sociology research
Approach of this course:
Sociotechnical Systems

Business information systems major
Business
Systems
Analysis
Design
thinking and Business IT
the digital Infrastructure
startup
Spend a few minutes
mapping your study
selections.
Business
Information
Systems
Intelligent
Information
systems
Do you notice any
Enterprise
systems
solutions and
design
trend?
Digital
Business data
Business
management
systems
Summary
• We discussed building blocks of information systems.

• We explored management levels in the organisations and their information
requirements.
• We looked at different types of information systems.
• We analysed information systems functional roles and responsibilities.
• We reviewed contemporary approaches to information systems.

Review Questions
• What are the building blocks of an information system?

• List three examples of information systems hardware?
• What is an application software?
• Describe the different roles people play in information systems?
• Suppose you had to explain to a member of your family or one of your closest
friends the concept of an information system. How would you define it? Write a
one-paragraph description in your own words that you feel would best describe an
information system to your friends or family.

ISYS2056
Enterprise Information Systems - Part 1: Overview and
Systems of Records
Week 3
Dr. Humza Naseer

Plan for Enterprise Information Systems Stream
Three weeks (Week 3 - Week 5) on Enterprise Information Systems as the major

building block of IS.
Part 1: Introduce the concept of Enterprise Information Systems and focus on Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) systems which often form the core of an organisation’s IS portfolio.
Part 2: Tailoring and extending the ERP, specialised Enterprise Information Systems (e.g.,SCM,
CRM), and current IS innovation trends.
Part 3: Enterprise Information Systems used to analyse and manage information i.e., analytical
systems.

Assessment Task 1
Assessment Task 1: Test [individual] Weighting: 30%
The test will assess your knowledge about Excel spreadsheets and lecture materials from
Week 1-3. This test is taken online (during the students' workshop class time for the week) and
is comprised of a combination of multiple-choice questions, some analysis of an Excel
spreadsheet and short answer questions.
Due Date: Week 4 during the students' Workshop class (Melbourne time)
Test Duration: 90 mins
Submission: Via CANVAS

Learning objectives
• Introduce the Gartner Pace Layers concept
• Understand that an organisation’s IS portfolio consists of a wide variety of larger
and smaller systems, that evolve and are replaced at a different pace
• Discuss Enterprise Information systems as large-scale software applications
• Define Enterprise Resource planning

Information Systems – Pace Layers
• Some complex, large-scale systems remain largely unchanged for years once
implemented; others may target very focused requirements within a single
functional area and evolve, appear, and are decommissioned in a matter of
months or weeks.
• The rate of change has implications on how much involvement and effort from IS
function is required/feasible in guiding the selection and implementation process.
• One helpful way of thinking about this issue is “Pace-Layered Application
Strategy” (Gartner)

Information Systems – Pace Layers
An organisation’s information systems do not change at the same rate
Next Competitive Advantage
“I do not know
exactly what I want,
I need to System of Innovation New Ideas
experiment.”
“I know what I
want, but it needs to
be different from my System of Differentiation Better Ideas
competitors.”
“I know what I want,

and It does not have System of Records
to be unique.” Common Ideas
• Unique processes • Standardization

• Current competitive • Operational Efficiency
advantage • Compliance
Garnter’s Three IS Pace-Layers
• Systems of Record: support the core of business transactions and manage critical master
data with a slow rate of change, common functions between organisations and often
subject to regulatory changes.
• Systems of Differentiation: applications utilising unique company processes or industry

specific capabilities, with medium-cycle change requiring frequent reconfiguration to
accommodate changing business practices or customer requirements.
• Systems of Innovation: new applications built on an adhoc basis to address new business
requirements or opportunities, with a short life-cycle using departmental or outside
resources and consumer-grade technologies.

Enterprise Information Systems
• Enterprise Information Systems are large-scale software hosted on server(s) and delivered
to end-users over a network to directly support or inform the execution of business
processes. Today, most enterprise-scale systems are packages developed and sold by
specialist vendors (rather than built in-house).
• Such systems are usually complex and costly to implement (fit Gartner's “systems of record”
definition).
• In order to innovate and differentiate themselves from competition, organisations often build
smaller, targeted solutions to extend and/or complement these enterprise information
systems or to experiment with new technologies. (We will discuss some key technologies
which organisations are currently experimenting with towards the end of next week’s
lecture.)

Enterprise Information Systems – Ecosystem
Business Analytics
Reporting
Applications
C S
ERP
U Package all
U
Sales and Delivery Financial
S Applications the things P
Applications
T P
O CRM
Central
L
M Database I
E Service Applications
E
Manufacturing
R Applications
R
S Some ERP include
S
CRM as a function,
but CRM is also a Human Resource
standalone Human Resource
Applications SCM
software Applications
© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems Source: Davenport and Harris (2017) 9
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• An Enterprise Resource Planning system is a packaged business software system that allows a company
to:
• Automate and integrate the majority of its business processes
• Share common data and practices across the entire enterprise
• Produce and access information in a real-time environment.
• Core focus was initially on “back-office” functions, particularly Finance and Manufacturing (successor of
Material requirements planning (MRP)
• ERP could be thought of as a “generalist” system that lies at the core of the application architecture of
most large organisations.
• Major vendors include:

ERP Five Views
• What is an ERP system? Depends on whom one asks. We will consider five
different perspectives:
• Top Management View (value proposition)
• Architectural View (fit with the IT platform)
• Functional View (what can the system do)
• Process View (mapping to org. processes)
• User View (getting my job done)
• Note: When communicating about IS issues, IS professionals have to tailor their

message to align with the view of the relevant stakeholder(s).

Top management view
Source: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/operations/articles/erp-reporting-strategy.html
Architecture View – without ERP
Accounting and
Finance
Customer
Relationship Human Resource
Management
Supply Chain
Management Inventory
Management
Sales and Marketing

Architecture View – With ERP
Accounting and
Finance
Customer
Relationship Human Resource
Management
ERP System
Supply Chain
Management Inventory
Management
Sales and Marketing

Process and functional view of an organisation
Functional View Process View

Information Flows
Product Development process
Product Development
Purchase Order process
process
Order Fulfillment process
Information Flows

Functional View

Process View Requirement
determination
Payment Source
processing determination
Invoice Procurement Vendor

processing selection
Process
Purchase
Good order
receipts
processing
Purchase
order
monitoring

User View

Summary
• An organisation’s application portfolio consists of a wide variety of larger and

smaller systems, that evolve and are replaced at a different pace.
• Enterprise Information Systems are large-scale software hosted on server(s) and
delivered to end-users over a network to directly support or inform the execution
of business processes.
• Enterprise Resource Planning is a packaged business software system that sits at
the heart of the application architecture of many large organisations and allows a
company to automate and integrate the majority of its business processes, share
common data and practices across the entire enterprise, and to produce and
access information in a real-time environment.

Review Questions
• What is an Enterprise Information System (EIS) and how does EIS deliver value to
organisations?
• What is Gartner's Pace-Layered Application Strategy and why should organisations use it?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of packaged enterprise applications as compared
to in-house built “legacy systems”?
• Critically discuss the following statement:
“Information systems are the most valuable asset of an organisation. When poorly managed,
they hinder the performance of day-to-day business activities, prevent the solving of business
problems, and limit the ability to compete and innovate.”
Discuss this statement relative to the implementation of Enterprise Information Systems of
Records.

ISYS2056
Introduction to Business Information Systems
Dr. Humza Naseer

Learning objectives
• Discuss how to compete in the information age
• Describe core drivers of the information age (data, information, business analytics,
and knowledge)
• Explain how information systems enable business operations.
• Define Information systems

Competing in the information age
• The movie Avatar took more than 4 years to create and cost $450 million?
• Lady Gaga's real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta?
• Customers pay $2.6 million for a 30-second advertising time slot during the Super Bowl?
• Amazon is not a technology company; its original business focus was to sell books, and it now
sells nearly everything.
• Netflix is not a technology company; its primary business focus is to rent videos.
• Zappos is not a technology company; its primary business focus is to sell shoes, bags, clothing,
and accessories.
What about business managers, executives, and employees?

Core drivers of the information age
Business
Data Information Knowledge
Analytics

Data
Classifications of data:
• Structured data
• Unstructured data
• Semi-structured data
• Big data

Data
Order Sales Unit Total Unit Total

Business Questions: Date Customer
Representative
Product
Qty Price Sales Cost Cost
Profit
• Who are my best customers? 4-Jan Walmart PJ Helgoth Doritos 41 $24 $ 984 $18 $738 $246
• Who are my least-profitable customers? 4-Jan Walmart Roberta Cross Ruffles 90 $15 $1,350 $10 $900 $450
• What is my best-selling product? 5-Jan Safeway Craig Schultz Ruffles 27 $15 $ 405 $10 $270 $135
6-Jan Walmart Roberta Cross Ruffles 67 $15 $1,005 $10 $670 $335
• What is my slowest-selling product?
7-Jan 7-Eleven Craig Schultz Pringles 79 $12 $ 948 $6 $474 $474
• Who is my strongest sales representative?
7-Jan Walmart Roberta Cross Ruffles 52 $15 $ 780 $10 $52-0 $260
• Who is my weakest sales representative?
8-Jan Kroger Craig Schultz Ruffles 39 $15 $ 585 $10 $390 $195
9-Jan Walmart Craig Schultz Ruffles 66 $15 $ 990 $10 $660 $330
10-Jan Target Craig Schultz Ruffles 40 $15 $ 600 $10 $400 $200
11-Jan Walmart Craig Schultz Ruffles 71 $15 $1,065 $10 $710 $355

Information
Information is data converted into a meaningful and useful context.
Information delivery:
• Reports
• Dashboards
• Scorecards

Information
Data sorted by customer “Walmart” and sales representative “Roberta Cross”
Sales
Unit
Order Date Customer Represe Product Quantity Total Sales Unit Cost Total Cost Profit
Price
ntative
Roberta
26-Apr Walmart Fritos 86 $19 $1,634 $17 $1,462 $172
Cross
Roberta
29-Aug Walmart Fritos 76 $19 $1,444 $17 $ 1,29-2 $152
Cross
Roberta
7-Sep Walmart Fritos 20 $19 $380 $17 $340 $40
Cross
Roberta
22-Nov Walmart Fritos 39 $19 $741 $17 $663 $78
Cross
Roberta
30-Dec Walmart Fritos 68 $19 $1,292 $17 $1,156 $136
Cross
Roberta
7-Jui Walmart Pringles 79 $18 $1,422 $8 $632 $790
Cross
Roberta
6-Aug Walmart Pringles 21 $12 $252 $6 $126 $126
Cross
Roberta
2-Oct Waimart Pringles 60 $18 $1,080 $8 $480 $600
Cross
Roberta
15-Nov Walmart Pringles 32 $12 $384 $6 $192 $192
Cross
$481 $155 $8,629 $113 $5,051 $2,286
Roberta Cross's total sales to Walmart were $8,629 resulting in a profit of $2,268.
(Profit $2,286 = Sales $8,629 – Costs $5,051)
Business Analytics
Business Analytics is information collected from multiple sources such as suppliers, customers, competitors,
partners, and industries that analyzes patterns, trends, and relationships for strategic decision making.
Techniques for business analytics:
•Techniques that describes past performance and history

Descriptive Analytics •Example: Summarising past events such as sales and operations data or marketing
campaigns
•Techniques that extract information from data and uses it to predict future trends
Predictive Analytics and identify behavioral patterns.
•Using past sales data to predict future sales
•Techniques that create models indicating the best decision to make or course of
action to take.
Prescriptive Analytics •Airline using past purchasing data as inputs into a model that recommends the best
pricing strategy across all flights allowing the company to maximize revenue

Knowledge
Knowledge includes the skills, experience, and expertise, coupled with information
and intelligence, that create a person's intellectual resources
Key organisational concepts:

• Knowledge workers
• Knowledge assets
• Knowledge facilitators

Comparison of data, information and knowledge
Data Information Knowledge
Definition Simple observation of the Data endowed with Information from the human mind
state of the world relevance and purpose (includes reflection, synthesis,
context)
Characteristics • Easily structured • Requires unit of • Hard to structure
• Easily captured on analysis • Difficult to capture on machines
machine • Data that have been • Often tacit
• Often quantified processed • Hard to transfer
• Easily transferred • Human mediation
• Mere facts necessary
Example Daily inventory report of Daily inventory report of Inventory manager's knowledge of
all inventory items sent to items that are below which items need to be reordered in
the CEO of a large economic order quantity light of daily inventory report,
manufacturing company levels sent to inventory anticipated labor strikes, and a flood
manager in Australia that affects the supply of
a major component

Information needs across different managerial levels
Top management Middle management Supervisory and lower-level

management
Time Horizon Long: Years Medium: Weeks, months, Short: day-to-day
years
Characteristics • Highly aggregated • Summarized • Very detailed

• Less accurate • Integrated • Very accurate
• More predictive • Often financial • Often nonfinancial
Source Both internal and external Primarily internal with External
limited external
Decision • Extremely judgmental Relatively judgmental Heavily reliant on rules
• Uses creativity and
analytical skills

Challenges of typical organization and the IS solution
Organisations are typically organized by department or functional areas
Accounting
Records, measures, and reports
monetary transactions.
Sales Finance
Perform the function of selling Tracks strategic financial issues,
goods and services including money, banking, credit,
investments, and assets.
Business
Decisions
Operations Management
Manages the process of Human Resources
converting or transforming Maintains policies, plans, and
resources into goods or services. procedures for the effective
management of employees.
Marketing
Supports sales by planning,
pricing, and promoting goods or
services.

Process and functional view of an organisation
Functional View Process View

Information Flows
Order Fulfillment process
Information Flows

What are information systems?
Information systems (IS) are defined more broadly as the combination of technology (the
"what"), people (the "who"), and process (the "how") that an organization uses to produce and
manage information.
Information technology (IT) focuses only on the technical devices and tools used in the
system. In this context of this course, IT refers to all forms of technology used to create, store,
exchange, and use information.
Management
Information Systems
People Technology Process Data

Source: Pearlson et al. (2016)

Summary
• We discussed how to compete in the age of information

• We explored core drivers of the information age including data, information,
business analytics and knowledge.
• We also focused on Information needs across different managerial levels.
• We looked at the process and functional view of the organization.
• We defined what are information systems and what are its key components.

Review Questions
• What is data and how it is important to a business?

• Discuss information needs of different managerial levels?
• What is the relationship between data, information, business analytics, and
knowledge?
• Why is it important for an organization to operate cross-functionally?

RMIT Classification: Trusted
Business Analytics Using Excel

Part One: Introducing Excel
1. Cell and Page Formatting

Your task: Format raw data so it can be easily read and understood
Spreadsheets will often contain large amounts of data and information, which can be very
hard to read and interpret. Formatting allows you to use colours, fonts, alignment, layout
and a range of options to make the spreadsheet more visually appealing and easier to read
and understand.
Morita Loans has a meeting every three months at the end of the quarter to review the
performance of their sales consultants. During the meeting, the sales data is reviewed using
a spreadsheet and the consultants discuss ideas for the next quarter. Your task is to prepare
the spreadsheet that will be used during the review meeting.
Open the file ‘MoritaLoans-PartOne-1’ - this is a spreadsheet containing data exported from
the Customer Relationship Management software used by the company. Your first task is to
format the spreadsheet, so that it can be presented in the meeting. It must be visually
appealing and easy to read.
It is up to you to choose appropriate formatting, but here are some options that you can
use.
Fonts Don’t see the button you need on

the ribbon? Try making the Excel
window bigger (full screen) or
clicking the pop-out button in the
bottom right of a ribbon tab
Format the font of a cell by using font type, size, bold, italic, underline. Use the border
button and fill colour to visually separate different sections of the data and highlight the
most important parts.
Alignment
Use the Alignment section to:
• Align text to the top, middle or bottom of a cell

• Align text to the left, middle or right of a cell
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• Wrap text, so that it shows on multiple lines within the cell, instead of one very long
line
• Merge and Center, by selecting several cells at once (with text in the first cell) you
can show the text across the middle of several cells (as if they were one)
Number Format
Use the Number section to show numerical data properly. For example 0.5 is the same as
50% or ½ – but it will confuse people if it is not formatted properly. Make sure you are
familiar with formatting for:
• Currency and accounting, which includes a $ sign (or other currency symbol),
commas, a decimal point and two decimal places
• Percentages, i.e. %
• Text, which is the default formatting which can show any characters including letters
• Number of decimal places displayed
Copying Your Formatting
The Format Painter is a very useful tool. It will copy formatting from one cell to another. To
use it:
• Select the cell with the existing formatting

• Click the Format Painter button
• Click the cell/s which you want the formatting copied to
Column width and row height.

You will need to adjust the height and width of your cells to accommodate the data and
formatting in the spreadsheet. There are several ways to do this:
• Click and drag on the border between column headings

• Double click on the border between column headings, and it will automatically set
the width
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• Right click on a column heading and choose Format Width…
You can also select several columns at once and change their width.
The above applies to changing the height of rows as well.
Here are two common problems with formatting.
#### is displayed when a

number is too wide for the
cell. Widen it to see the data.
The text is too wide for the cell.

It can’t be seen because the cell
to the right contains data.
Formatting for Printing

Spreadsheets are often only viewed on a computer, but it is also common to print
spreadsheets. There are a few considerations when formatting for printing.
Change to Page Layout (bottom right) to see how the spreadsheet will look when you print
it.
Use the Page Setup section in the Page Layout Tab to make adjustments to:
• portrait versus landscape layout,

• paper size (e.g. A3 instead of A4), and
• margin size.
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Add headers and footers, by clicking in the area at the top and bottom of the page and add:
• a heading, in a large font, in the centre of the top of the page saying “XYZ Report”;
• a page number, on the bottom right or by clicking ‘Page Number’ in the ‘Design’
ribbon where there are multiple pages; and
• the words “Printed on” and then the date, in the bottom left.
You can also use Print Preview, by clicking File then Print, to check your layout.
Your final layout may look something like this:
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1. Formulas
Mathematical Formulas
Your task: Calculate the Sale Revenue for each loan
Open the spreadsheet ‘MoritaLoans-PartOne-2’ and open sheet ‘Q2 201819’.
We will use formulas, in columns N, P, Q and R to calculate the Sale Revenue for each loan.
First, complete the formula in Column N, by following these steps:
• Click on cell N2
• In the formula bar type = (Formulas always start with an = sign, it indicates to Excel
that it’s not data in that cell)
• Click on cell L2 (or just type L2)
• Type * (which means multiplied by, or times)
• Click on cell M2 (or just type M2)
• Press enter
You should now see the bank commission calculation result showing in cell N2. Next, copy
this to the rest of the cells in Column N using one of these methods:
• Click on the fill handle (the square on the bottom right of the cell) and drag to the
bottom cell and let go
• Double-click on the fill handle
• Select cell N2, press copy on the menu ribbon, select the rest of the cells, press paste
on the menu ribbon
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• Now use the steps above, to complete the formulas in columns P, Q and R – using
the information in the table below.
Heading Cell to Enter Formula Formula

Net Amount P2 =N2*O2
GST Q2 =P2/11
Sale Revenue R2 =P2-Q2
• Don’t forget to copy the formulas to the bottom of the data set.
Sum and Autosum

Your task: Calculate the total Sale Revenue, for the quarter
Autosum is an Excel feature that quickly creates a formula which calculates the grand total
at the end of a set of numbers.
To calculate the grand total of sales revenue:
• Click on cell R34

• Click the AutoSum button, in the Editing section of the Home tab on the ribbon
• Press enter
You should now see a grand total at the bottom of the dataset.
• Format the grand total with bold text and a line on the top and bottom of the cell, to
make it easy to read.
Review the formula that has been created by clicking on cell R34. You will learn how to
create more formulas in later activities.
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Functions have inputs, called arguments.

Formulas and functions always SUM has only one argument which is the
start with = cell range of R2 to R33.
This function is called SUM, its purpose is

to “add all the numbers in a range of cells”.
Status Bar Calculations

Your task: Find the highest and lowest Sale Revenue
When you select a range of cells, Excel immediately shows you some calculations in the
status bar (at the bottom right).
You can use these calculations if you want to find the sum, count or average of a data range
without creating a formula in a cell.
Note that Sum shows the

same value as your function
in cell S18, but only while
you have the range
selected.
You can customise which calculations are shown by right clicking on the status bar and
ticking or unticking the options.
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• Add minimum and maximum to
the status bar, so that you can see
the highest and lowest Sale
Revenue for the period.
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1. Summarising, Outlining and Organising Data

Sorting Data
Your task: Organise the data to show the biggest loans first
The sales consultants want to see the data in order from highest to lowest order, based on
the loan amount. To do this:
• Open the spreadsheet called ‘MoritaLoans-PartOne-3’ and click on worksheet ‘Q2

201819’
• Select a cell which is part of the data that you want to sort (e.g. cell A1)
• Select the Custom Sort button, found under Sort & Filter in the Editing section of the
Home tab.
• Select the options as shown on the screen shown below, so loan amounts are sorted
from largest to smallest
Your data set will now be reorganised.
Sub-Totals
Your task: Use sub-totals to see totals for each Loan Type
Subtotals can be used to summarise data and perform simple analysis of large amounts of
data. Follow these steps to create a subtotal for each loan type.
• Select the data (from A1 to R33)

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• Click Subtotal in the Outline section of the Data tab.
• Choose At each change in ‘Loan Type’
• Choose Use Function ‘Sum’
• Choose Add Subtotal To ‘Bank Commission’
• Leave Replace current subtotals and Summary below data ticked (As shown below)
• Press OK
You should now have a subtotal for each loan type (the name will show in bold text) and the
bank commission will be subtotalled in column N. You can use the + and – buttons, on the
left, to show of hide the individual loans that add up to make each subtotal.
Show or hide individual The new subtotals

rows within each subtotal
Filtering
Your task: Use filtering to see only first home buyers
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Filtering is a way to quickly analyse data, by focussing on one aspect of the data, while
removing other elements. The Morita Sales Consultants have been focussing on selling
home loans to first home buyers, so they want to look at the loans that they sold to these
customers during the quarter. To create filters:
• Select the data headers (cells A1 to R1)

• Select Filter in the Sort & Filter section of the Data tab.
You should now see filter buttons next to each column heading. To use your filter:
• Select the filter button next to Client Type

• Only select First Home Buyer
• Press OK
You will now see only the loans, from this quarter, which were sold to first home buyers.
Note: You can clear your filter by clicking on Clear Filter From Client Type under the drop
down menu next to the data heading, or by pressing Clear on the ribbon.
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Conditional Formatting
Your task: Highlight the highest and lowest Sale Revenue figures
In the sales review meeting, the consultants want to be able to quickly find the loan sales
which contributed the least and most revenue. This allows them to see if they are spending
the right amount of time and effort on the right sales opportunities.
To use conditional formatting to visually highlight the data:
• Select cells R2 to R36 (all cells with data, except for the header and grand total)
• Select Top 10 Items… in the Styles section of the Home tab.
In the pop-up window:
• Change the number to top 3

• Change the drop-down to Green Fill with Dark Green Text
• Press OK
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You should now see the top three loans visually highlighted in green.
To highlight the lowest three amounts, repeat the process:
• Select cells R2 to R36 (if they’re not still selected)

• Select Bottom 10 Items… in the Styles section of the Home tab.
• Change the number to 3
• Leave the option Light Red Fill with Dark Red Text
You will now see the three highest and three lowest loans highlighted so they can be quickly
found.
Conclusion
Skills Developed
• Understand introductory mathematical formulas available in Excel
• Understand how to manipulate data in Excel
• Understand introductory conditional formatting available in Excel
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Revision Activities
These short activities will help you to revise what you have learnt in part one.
Conditional Formatting
Your task: Use icons to show high, medium and low Sale Revenue figures
There are a wide variety of ways to use conditional formatting on your data. In this activity,
you will use icons to visually analyse data.
To do this:
• Open the Excel file called ‘MoritaLoans-PartOne-4’ and click on worksheet ‘Q2
201819’
• Select cells R2 to R36
• Select Manage Rules under the Conditional Formatting button on the Home tab of
the ribbon.
You will see the two existing formatting rules. To add a new rule:
• Press New Rule…
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To create the rule:
• In the Rule Type box, select ‘Format all cells based on their values’
• Then, in the Edit the Rule Description box change Format Style to Icon Sets
• Leave other settings at their default
• Press OK
• Press OK on the Rules Manager window
You may need to make column R wide enough to show the icon in addition to the data and
existing formatting.
You should see icons which indicate whether the data is in the top, middle or lower third of
the data set, similar to below.
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Mathematical Formulas
Your task: Highlight any loans where the settlement amount was different to the loan
amount
In this activity, you will use a mathematical formula to calculate the difference between the
settlement amount and the loan amount, format it appropriately, and highlight any results
that are negative numbers.
To do this:
• Create a new heading in cell S1, called Settlement Variation

• Use the format painter copy the formatting from cell R1
• In cell S2 create a formula for Settlement Amount – Loan Amount i.e. =K2-L2
• Copy the formula down to all relevant cells
• Use conditional formatting to highlight any cells showing a negative value.
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The consultants can now see any loans where

the loan amount was too low to cover the
settlement amount. These cases can be
investigated further.
This is the end of Part 1. If you would like to see an example of a finished spreadsheet, you
can look at the Excel file called ‘MoritaLoans-PartOne-5’.
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Part Two: Simple Analytical Techniques in Excel
Introduction
This is part two of ‘Business Analytics Using Excel’ which has four parts in total, where you
will learn how to use Excel to perform business analytics. Each part of the series is designed
to be started in your tutorial class, where you can ask your tutors and fellow students for
help, and completed as homework. Each part must be finished as homework, before the
next class. If you don’t complete each part on time, the following activities will be difficult
to complete, as they rely on knowledge from earlier parts.
In part two, you will learn how to:
• Apply data validation using a drop-down list

• Use Excel functions, including their arguments
• Apply absolute and relative cell referencing, using cell locking and range names
• Create simple data visualisations using Excel charts
1. Validation List Box

Your task: Use a drop-down list to add a region to each loan sale
Morita Loans divides Greater Melbourne into four regions, to make it easier to allocate sales
consultants from the local area. Their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software
does not capture this information, so it must be added to the spreadsheet during your
analysis.
A drop-down list will help the sales consultants in two ways:
1. it will improve data accuracy by only allowing valid region names to be entered, and
2. it will make data entry easier, because values can be selected from a list instead of
being manually typed.
To setup the validation list box:
• Open the spreadsheet called “MoritaLoans-PartTwo-1”

There are two steps to this activity. First to create the list of valid options, and second to
create a drop-down list which uses this list.
Create the list of valid options:
• Open sheet “Reference”

• Select cell T1 and type ‘Geographies’ (this is just a heading)
• Then, in cell T2 enter ‘Northern’
• In cell T3 enter ‘Western’
• In cell T4 enter ‘South Eastern’
• In cell T5 enter ‘Outer South Eastern’
You’ve now created the list of valid options.
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Now, to create a drop-down box which uses this list:
• Open the Q2 201819 worksheet.

• Right click on the header of column E and click Insert
A new column will be inserted to the left.
• Add a heading of “Region” in cell E1

• Click on cell E2
• Click on Data Validation… under Data Validation in the Data tab of the ribbon.
In the dialog box that appears:
• Select List in the Allow box

• Click on the button on the right of the Source box
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This button allows you to select the area which contains the list. To do this, after you have
clicked the button shown above:
• Click on the Reference worksheet tab

• Select cell T2, drag to cell T5, and let go (You should see similar to below)
• Press Enter
• Check that your Source field is the same as below
You could have typed this text in manually, but it’s

generally easier to use the mouse as per the instructions
here! This is a cell range. ‘Reference’ is the name of the
worksheet and cells T1 to T5 is the range of cells
containing your list. The $ signs indicate absolute
referencing’, which you will learn about shortly. It means
the reference will not change, when we copy and paste
the drop-down list to another cell.
• Press OK
You will now have a drop-down list in cell E2, to allow the user to select the relevant region
for that sale.
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Finally, you need to apply this list to the rest of the cells in column E. To do this:
• Copy cell E2
• Select cells E3 to E33
• Right click (the selected area) and choose Paste Special
• Select Validation
• Press OK
You will now have drop-down list boxes for all the cells in the column selected.
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2. Create a Sales Summary

Your task: Create a summary ‘dashboard’ of sales performance for the quarter
Dynamic Linking
Have a look at the Reference worksheet. It contains information that will be useful for many
different tasks in our spreadsheet, such as: consultant names, geographies that Morita sells
in, lender names, commission rates etc.
We want to use dynamic linking, so that the geographies in our dashboard are linked to the
geographies in the Reference worksheet. That way, if the geographies change – the
dashboard will automatically be updated. To do this:
• Open the spreadsheet called “MoritaLoans-PartTwo-2” and open the Dashboard

worksheet tab
• Select cell D11
• Type =
• Click on the Reference worksheet
• Click on cell N2 (the first geography in the list)
• Repeat these steps, so that each geography is linked and looks like the picture below
This function dynamically links the cell

to cell N5 on the Reference worksheet.
That’s what ‘Reference!N5’ means.
The worksheet name must be there,
otherwise it would be linked to cell N5
on this worksheet!
• Try changing a geography name in the Reference worksheet, and see what happens
in the Dashboard
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Using the NOW function
• Select cell C4
• Click the Insert Function button (This opens the function dialogue box, which is
shown below)
• Type ‘now’ in the search box

• Press Go
• Select NOW in the list, press OK
This window helps you to find a function if you

are not exactly sure which function you need, or
what the function does. It tells you the name,
and tells you exactly what the function does.
You will now see the current date and time in cell C4. We only want the date, not the time.
To change the formatting:
• Select cell C4
• Select Short Date under Number Formatting in the Home tab of the ribbon.
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You will now see the date in cell C4. The date will refresh automatically. (You might see it
refresh, every time that you change a cell in the Workbook)
MAX MIN and AVERAGE Functions

Your task: Determine the average, highest and lowest loan revenue amounts
You will now use three functions to find the largest and smallest loan revenue amounts, and
the average loan revenue amount for the quarter.
To calculate the largest sale revenue amount:
• Select cell C7, on the Dashboard worksheet tab

• Click the Insert Function button
• Search for the max function (Type ‘max’ and press Go)
• Read the description of what MAX does
• Press OK
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You will see a second pop-up window. This function has one or more arguments (inputs)
and this screen is used to configure the argument/s. The argument (input) is a set of values.
You will use one single range of numbers as the only input. To configure the argument:
• Click on the button to the right of Number1 box
• Click on the Q2 201819 worksheet tab

• Select the cells from S2 to S33 (all the data for the Sale Revenue amounts)
• Press Enter
• Press OK
You will now see the largest sale revenue amount in cell C7
We will now repeat the process, but using the MIN and AVERAGE functions.
To calculate the smallest sale:
• Select cell C8
• Search for the MIN function (Type ‘min and press Go)
• Read the description of what MIN does
• Press OK
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In the second popup box:

• Press Enter
Note that once you have selected the

input for argument one, the result of
the function is already shown in this
screen. It helps you to understand if
• Press OK
you are building your function
You will now see the smallest value in cell C8 correctly, as you go.
Finally, repeat the process for the average value.

To calculate the average sale amount:
• Select cell C9
• Search for the AVERAGE function (Type ‘average’ and press Go)
• Read the description of what AVERAGE does
• Press OK
In the second pop-up box:

• Press Enter
• Press OK
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Your dashboard should now look like this. (Note that you may have different values,
because your version of the spreadsheet may contain different data, compared to when
these instructions were written)
Morita Loans Quarterly Dashboard Summary
Report Date 31/07/2019

Reporting Period Q2 2018-19
Largest Sale $ 9,482.73

Smallest Sale $ 177.05
Average Sale $ 4,389.28
Outer South
Total Northern Western South Eastern
Eastern
Number of Loans
Value of Sales
COUNT, SUM, COUNTIF and SUMIF Functions

Your task: Calculate the number and total value of loan sales, broken down by region
You will now use four new functions to summarise the number of and value of loans per
region and in total, for the quarter.
To calculate the total number of loans:
• Select cell C12, in the Dashboard worksheet tab

• Search for the COUNT function (Type ‘count’ and press Go)
• Read the description of what COUNT does
• Press OK
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• Press Enter
• Press OK
You will now see the total number of loans (32), for the quarter, in cell C12.
You will now calculate the number of loans, for each region. To calculate the total number
of loans for the Northern region:
• Select cell D12

• Search for the COUNTIF function (Type ‘Countif’ and press Go)
• Read the description of what COUNTIF does
• Press OK
The COUNTIF function has two arguments: the range from which to count, and the
condition that must be true to include the cell for counting. To configure the two
arguments:
• Select the button to the right of the Range box

• Select the Q2201819 worksheet tab
• Select cells E2 to E33 (the cells which show the regions for each loan)
• Press Enter
• Select the button to the right of the Criteria box
• Click on cell D11 (in the Dashboard worksheet tab)
• Press OK
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You will now see the number of sales in the Northern region, in cell D12. You now need to
use the same function in cells E12, F12 and G12. You could follow the instructions above,
but it would be faster to copy and paste the function. If you copy and paste the current
function, it won’t work, because the pasted function will refer to the incorrect range in the
Q2 201819 worksheet. It will refer to cells in row F (instead of E) when you copy the
function to cell E12. This is called relative cell referencing, and you need absolute cell
referencing.
To create an absolute cell reference, so that this function can be copied:
• Select cell D12

• Click on Insert Function
• While the contents of the Range box is selected, press F4 (You may need to hold
down the function button, or another button, to use the F4 key)
• Alternatively, you can type a $ symbol in front of E, 2, E and 33 – so that it reads ‘'Q2
201819'!$E$2:$E$33)
• Press OK
• Use the fill handle, to copy the formula from cell D12 to E12, F12 and G12
$ signs indicate absolute cell referencing.

It means the Range will be the same,
when you copy and paste the function.
No $ signs indicate relative cell

referencing. When you copy and paste
the function, it will use the new/different
cell as an input to the function.
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Next, you will create the functions to determine the total value of sales and value of sales
for each region. Instead of using $ signs for absolute cell referencing, you will create a range
name, which can be a more effective option in some cases.
You will create two range names, which will then be used in your functions. To create the
range names:

• Select cells E2 to E33
• Click in the Name Box (shown below)
• Type ‘Region’
• Press Enter
Now, repeat the process for the second range:
• Select cells S2 to S33

• Click in the Name Box
• Type ‘SaleRevenue’
• Press Enter
You have now defined two region names, which you can use when creating the functions to
calculate Value of Sales per region.
To calculate the total value of sales:
• On the Dashboard worksheet, select cell C13

• Click on Insert Function
• Find the SUM function
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• Press OK
In the second pop-up window:
• In the Number1 box, type SaleRevenue (Your newly defined range name)
• Press OK
You will now see the total sale figure for the quarter in cell C13.
To determine the Sale Revenue for each region, you will use the SUMIF function. It is similar
to the SUM function, but will only add up values when a condition is met. To create this
function:
• Select cell D13

• Find the SUMIF function
• Press OK
• In the Range box, type Region

• In the Criteria box, click on D11
• In the Sum_range box, type SaleRevenue
• Press OK
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You will now see the value of sales for the Northern Region.
• Copy and paste the function from cell D13 to cells E13, F13 and G13
Because you used range names for absolute cell referencing, the function is re-usable when
you copy it to these cells.
You will now have a completed dashboard, which looks similar to the picture below.
Morita Loans Quarterly Dashboard Summary
Report Date 1/08/2019

Reporting Period Q2 2018-19
Largest Sale $ 9,482.73

Smallest Sale $ 177.05
Average Sale $ 4,389.28
Outer South
Total Northern Western South Eastern
Eastern
Number of Loans 32 7 5 6 14
Value of Sales $ 140,457.07 $ 26,957.55 $ 21,535.20 $ 27,462.77 $ 64,501.55
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Your spreadsheet may have different data to what is shown in these graphics, but you can
check your own work to see if your answers are correct. (See picture below)
NOTE: When you are creating

functions in a spreadsheet, you
should check your work for
errors. In this above spreadsheet,
you can highlight cells D12 to G12
and check that the SUM in the
taskbar (bottom right of Excel)
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Charts
To enhance the dashboard report, the sales consultants at Morita Loans would like to create
charts to visually represent the information that is shown on the dashboard. They would
like to see a pie chart showing the number of loans in the different regions and a bar chart
showing the value of loans in the different regions.
Your task: Create a pie chart showing the number of loans in each region
To create the chart:

• Open the Dashboard worksheet
• Select cells D11 to G12
• Click Pie under 2-D Pie, in the Charts section of the Insert tab on the ribbon.
• Move the chart to an empty space on the sheet

• Double click on it to see the various options that you can configure
• Click once on the legend, then click legend options and choose Right, to move its
location
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• Double click on the chart title and change it to “Q2 2018-19 Sales Revenue per
Region”
• Click on the pie itself
• Right click on a slice of pie and select Add Data Labels
You should now have a pie chart which looks similar to below.
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NOTE: Graph formatting is a personal choice, but here are some guidelines to follow.
• Always include a heading that the viewer will understand easily

• Always include a legend, if the data is not already labelled
• Show the values of the data, so that more information can be understood from the
graph
• Don’t use a pie graph if you have many categories – the slices of pie will be too hard
to read
• Don’t let different parts of the graph overlap, so that it is hard to read
• Always ask yourself “will the viewer understand this chart without help?”
Your task: Create a bar chart showing the value of sales per region
To create the chart:
• Select cells D11 to G11 and D13 to G13, to do this:

o First select D11 to G11
o Press and hold the control key
o Select cells D13 to G13
o (You will see the two cell regions highlighted, as below)
• Select the Clustered Column chart, in the 2-D Column section, Charts section, of the
Insert tab on the ribbon
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You will now see a simple bar chart in your sheet. You need to make some formatting
changes to the chart. Formatting is a personal choice, but some suggestions are to:
• Move the chart to a good space on the sheet

• Double click on the chart title and change it to “Q2 2018-19 Sales Revenue per
Region”
• Add axis labels, by clicking on the chart and selecting Add Chart Element, Axis Titles,
Primary Horizontal (under the Chart Tools Design tab on the ribbon)
o Name the horizontal axis “Region”
o Name the vertical axis “Sale Revenue”
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• Change the numbers on the vertical axis, so there are no decimal places (they are
not needed, and simplicity is important when creating data visualisations)
o Click on the vertical axis data labels (the numbers)
o In the Format Axis side-bar, change decimal places to zero
Your chart should look similar to the example below.
Q2 2018-19 Sales Revenue per Region

$70,000
$60,000
$50,000
Sale Revenue
$40,000
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
$-
Northern Western South Eastern Outer South
Eastern
Region
Conclusion
Skills Developed
• Understand one technique for data validation
• Understand simple Excel functions, including their arguments
• Apply absolute and relative cell referencing, using cell locking and range names
• Understand simple data visualisation techniques using Excel charts
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Revision Activities
These short activities will help you to revise what you have learnt in Part Two.
Additional Functions
The sales consultants want to see the breakdown of loans per consultant. They want to
know how many loans were finalised in total, and by each consultant. They also want to see
graphs which show the value of these loans, broken down by sales consultant.
Your task: Create formulas which calculate the number of loans in total, and per sales
consultant.
CountIF and CountA Formulas

You will add a new section to the dashboard showing the loan numbers, per sales
consultant.

• Click on the Dashboard worksheet
• Select cell C16
• Press Insert Function
• Find the CountA function, read the description, and press OK
• Press the button to the right of the Value1 box
• Click on the Q2 201819 worksheet
• Select cells S2 to S33, press Enter
Note that because this cell

range already has a range
name defined, it is
automatically used by Excel
• Press OK
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You will now see the total number of loans, in cell C16. Note that this is the same result that
you are displaying in cell C12, but using a different formula. There are often different ways
of achieving the same result in Excel.
To calculate the breakdown for each sales consultant:
• Select cell D16

• Find the CountIF function, read the description, and press OK
• Press the button to the right of the Range box
• Select cells B2 to B33
• Press Enter
• Press the button to the right of the Criteria box
• On the Dashboard worksheet, select cell D15
• Press Enter
We want to re-use this formula for each sales consultant (i.e. copy and paste it to the cells
to the right) so we must choose the correct cell referencing: a mix of absolute and relative
cell referencing, in this case. The Range should always be the same, but the Criteria should
change – when the formula is copied across.
To set the correct cell referencing:
• Click in the Range box, and place the cursor on B2

• Press F4
• Place the cursor on cell B33
• Press F4
• Alternatively, add $ symbols per the image below
• Press OK
You will now see the number of loans for Kit, in cell D16
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• Copy and paste the formula to cells E16, F16 and G16
You will now see the number of loans for each sales consultant. You should highlight cells
D16 to G16 and check the Sum in the bottom right of Excel. Check that it matches with your
total in cell C16.
More Charts
Your task: Create a chart displaying the number of loans per sales consultant, and their sale
revenue

• Open the Dashboard worksheet
• Select cell C17
• Type =
• Click on cell C13
Note that there is no need to recalculate this value, which is already shown on the
dashboard, but we will include it here – because it may make it easier for the sales
consultants and the managers to quickly and easily read the dashboard. Because cell C17
has been dynamically linked to cell C13, if the contents of cell C13 changes the contents of
C17 will automatically update.
• Select cell D17

• Find the SumIF function, read the description, and press OK
• Press the button to the right of the Range box
• Press Enter
• Use F4 to add absolute cell referencing to this argument
o Move the cursor to B2, press F4
o Move the cursor to B33, press F4
o Or, type the $ symbols as per the image below
o Or, select everything in the Range box and press F4
• Press the button to the right of the Criteria box
• In the Dashboard worksheet, select cell D15
• Press Enter
Note that we want relative cell addressing for this argument, so no $ symbols or range
names are required.
• In the Sum_range box type SaleRevenue (this is the range name we defined earlier,
which is all of the sales revenue data for Q2)
• Press OK
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You will now see the sale revenue for Kit in cell D17.
• Copy the function to cells E17, F17 and G17

The new section of your dashboard should look similar to the picture below.
To create a chart that shows both the number of loans and sale value:

• Press and hold the control key
• Now also select cells D15 to G17
You will now have a highlighted cell range which is non-contiguous (separated into two) as
shown in the image below.
• On the Insert tab of the ribbon, choose a ‘Combo Chart – Line on Secondary Axis’
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This will insert a new chart which shows two different types of data in one graph. The y axis
has two different data types: numbers and currency.
• Move the chart to an empty part of the worksheet

• Format the chart, by adding a title ‘Number and Value of Loans per Consultant’
• Change the number of decimal places on the currency axis to zero (See previous
instructions)
Your graph should look similar to the picture below.
Number and Value of Loans per Consultant

14 $70,000
12 $60,000
10 $50,000
8 $40,000
6 $30,000
4 $20,000
2 $10,000
0 $-
Kit Harrington Jessica Henwick Rory McCann Pedro Pascal
Number of Loans Value of Sales
This is the end of Part 2. If you would like to see an example of a finished spreadsheet, you
can look at the Excel file called ‘MoritaLoans-PartTwo-6’.
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Part Three: Advanced Formulas and Techniques
Introduction
This is part three of ‘Business Analytics Using Excel’ which has four parts in total, where you
will learn how to use Excel to perform business analytics. Each part of the series is designed
to be started in your tutorial class, where you can ask your tutors and fellow students for
help, and completed as homework. Each part must be finished as homework, before the
next class. If you don’t complete each part on time, the following activities will be difficult
to complete, as they rely on knowledge from earlier parts.
In part three, you will learn how to:
• use advanced functions, with multiple arguments to analyse data;

• create pivot tables, to quickly perform analysis; and
• use linear trend predictions to perform predictive analytics on business data.
1. Calculating Sales Staff Bonus

Sales Consultants at Morita Loans are paid a bonus at the end of each quarter, in addition to
their base salary, based on their sales performance. Bill and Huang have asked you to add
new functionality to their spreadsheet so that they can calculate the bonus payments due to
staff for quarter two.
Using IF to find loans of $1M or more

Your task: Find the customers with loans over $1 million
Bill and Huang have decided they want to reward staff who have sold loans worth $1M and
above, by paying them a $150 bonus for each such loan. They will use the spreadsheet that
you have developed and have asked you to add a new column. The column will show $150
for any loan sales of $1M or more.
To create the new column:
• Open the spreadsheet called “MoritaLoans-PartThree-1”

• Open the Q2 201819 worksheet tab
• Select cell T2
• Pres the Insert Function button
• Find the IF function and press OK
The IF function has three arguments: the logical test (which must evaluate to true or false),
value if true (what will be shown if the logical test is true), and value if false (what will be
shown if the logical test is false). To populate the three arguments:
• Select the Logical_test argument

• Click on cell M2
• Type >= (which means greater than or equal to)
• Click on the Reference worksheet tab and click on cell Q2
• Use F4 of $ signs to make the reference absolute (not relative)
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• Select the Value_if_true argument
• Type 150
• Select the Value_if_false argument
• Type 0 (zero)
• Press OK (Your arguments should look like the image below)
• Copy the formula from cell T2 to all cells down to T33, using the fill handle
You should now see the $150 bonus showing for any loans of $1M or more.
• Format the cells for ‘Accounting’
Using VLOOKUP to find the bonus rate

Your task: Use VLookUp to find the relevant commission rate
You can now see the bonus payments which are due to some Sales Consultants, but staff
also receive a standard bonus, which is a portion of the sale revenue. However, the amount
(a percentage) depends on which loan type was sold. This amount will be shown in column
U.
To create the new function, we will use VLookUp. VLookUp finds a value in a table and then
returns a corresponding result from the same row of that table. To do this:
• Open the Q2 201819 worksheet tab and select cell U2

• Pres the Insert Function button
• Find the VLookUp function and press OK
• The Function Arguments window will display. Read the description of VLookUp and
it’s arguments. (They are also summarised in the last subsection of this section, on
p. 6)
• Select the Lookup_value argument
• Select cell C2
• Press Enter
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• Select the Table_array argument
• Select the Reference worksheet tab
• Select cells D2 to E4
• Use F4 (or add $ signs manually) so that the reference to the range is absolute. You
should see Reference!$D2:$E4
• Press Enter
• Type 2 in Col_index_num
• Type false in Range_lookup
• If your Arguments window looks like the picture below, then press OK. If not, delete
the incorrect argument/s and enter it/them again.
The function that you have created finds the percentage payable. To calculate the standard
bonus, we need to multiply this amount by the sale revenue. In Excel, you can join multiple
functions together. The output of one function can be used as the input of another function
or formula. To calculate the standard bonus amount:
• Click on cell U2
• Click in the Formula Bar and place your cursor at the end of the existing function
• Type *
• Click on cell S2
• Press Enter (Your formula should look like the picture below)
• Fill the formula from cell T2 down to U33
You will now see the calculated standard bonus for each sales consultant. Finally, the two
figures need to be added to show the total bonus in column V. To do this:
• Select cell V2
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• Type =
• Click cell T2
• Type +
• Click cell U2
• Press Enter
• Copy the formula to the bottom of the data set
Your spreadsheet should look similar to the picture above.
Use SumIF to add the Quarterly Bonus for each Sales Consultant
Your task: Create a summary which adds up the bonus for each Sales Consultant
Finally, so that Bill and Huang know how much to pay to each Sales Consultant, a summary
is required which shows the total amount for each Consultant. You will add this to the
Dashboard you created previously. (The Dashboard worksheet has been updated, with a
space for this new information) To do this:

• Click on the Dashboard worksheet tab
• Select cell D18
• Press the Insert Function button
• Choose the SumIf function and press OK
• Click on the Range argument
• Select cells B2 to B33 (the range containing the broker names)
• Use F4 (or manually add $ signs) to make an absolute (not relative) cell range
reference
• Click on the Criteria argument
• Click on cell D15, in the Dashboard worksheet (the criteria we are searching for)
• Press Enter
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• Click on the Sum_range argument
• Select cells V2 to V33 (the values which will be summed if the criteria is met)
• Use F4 (or manually add $ signs) to make an absolute (not relative) cell range
reference
• Press Enter
• If your function arguments look like the picture below, press OK. If not, correct
them.
Now copy the function to the other cells:
• On the Dashboard worksheet

• Using the fill handle, drag cell D18 to cells E18, F18 and G18
Your dashboard should look like the image below.
Total Kit Harrington Jessica Henwick Rory McCann Pedro Pascal
Value of Sales $ 140,457.07 $ 54,151.30 $ 27,895.89 $ 33,359.68 $ 25,050.20
Bonus Payment $ 2,854.84 $ 1,401.91 $ 2,095.31 $ 1,689.36
Huang and Bill can now make their quarterly bonus payments to the consultants.
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Summary of VLookUp
VLookUp is a challenging function! Let’s have a look at the function that you have just
created.
VLookUp Purpose: Take a value, find that value in a table, get a different
value from the same row of the table, and return that as the output.
Lookup_value: What are you Table_array: Where

searching for? It’s normally a are you searching for
cell from the same row as it? You must select
your VLookUp function. the table, excluding
the headers, with the
lookup values in the
left most column.
Col_index_num: Which column

is the answer/result in? 1 is the Range_lookup: Do you want an exact
left most column in your table match, or are you looking for range
array, then 2, 3, 4 etc. match? False = exact and true = range.
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Pivot Tables
Pivot tables are an Excel feature that allow users to quickly analyse a large amount of data.
The data can be summarised in different ways using the mouse and buttons, rather than
writing a function for each part of the analysis – as you have been doing so far.
Your task: Create a Pivot Table to analyse Quarter 2 sales data
To create the pivot table:

• Select all the data: from cell A1 to V33
• Select Pivot Table in the Tables section of the Insert tab on the ribbon
The Create PivotTable dialog box will appear.
• Accept all default values and press OK
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A new worksheet will be created with a blank pivot table in it.
• Using the pivot table fields window

(the pivot table must be selected,
click on it if you don’t see the
window) click on or drag the
Click a value
following fields to the following
from here…
locations:
o Consultant to Rows
o Loan Type to Rows
o Sale Revenue to Values
Your fields should look like the picture to
the right. …and drag it to
one of the four
areas here.
Your pivot table should look like this.

You can see that the Sale Revenue is
added up for each of the data elements
that we added to the Rows section.
The Sale Revenue numbers need more formatting. To do this:
• Click the drop-down arrow on Sum

of Sale Revenue
• Choose Value Field Settings…
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• Click Number Format
• Choose Accounting
• Change the number of decimal places to 0 (This is optional, but suggested because
rounding to the nearest dollar is appropriate in this case)
• Press OK
• Press OK again
Your pivot table should now look like this picture.
You can sort your values from highest to lowest, by clicking on the numerical data and using
the normal sort feature.
You can quickly adjust your pivot table by moving the fields in and out of the four areas in
the PivotTable Fields window. Try out some different options and see what other
combinations are useful. You could, for example, count the number of loans:
• Click the drop-down arrow on Sum of Sale Revenue

• Choose Value Field Settings…
• Change to Count
• Press OK
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You have now created a simple pivot table, which can quickly allow you to analyse the data
set. If you want to see a finished example, you can open the spreadsheet called
“MoritaLoans-PartThree-4”.
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1. Predictive Analysis and Charts

Bill and Huang would like to look at the last six months of sales revenue and to predict likely
sales in the upcoming months. There are several ways to undertake trend analysis in Excel,
and you will use two of them.
Using the Fill Handle

Your task: Use the fill handle to predict future monthly sales from past data

• Click on the Monthly Revenue worksheet tab
• Select cells A3 to F3
• Drag the fill handle across to cell I3 and let go
Select the range… click… and drag…

release mouse.
Excel creates a linear trend forecast based on the existing data. Your spreadsheet should
look similar to the picture below.
2018
April May June July August Septermber October November December
$51,562 $45,475 $63,865 $90,907 $111,933 $89,186 $116,942 $128,785 $140,629
Charts with Trend Lines

Your task: Use the fill handle to predict future monthly sales from past data

• Click on the Monthly Revenue worksheet tab
• Select cells A2 to G4
• Insert a Clustered Column – Line on Secondary Axis chart: by selecting the second
option under Combo, in the Charts section of the Insert tab on the ribbon.
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You will see your chart inserted onto the worksheet.
• Move the chart to a good location

• Rename the chart title “Actual and Forecast Revenue and Loan Numbers”
To add trend lines:
• Click on the chart

• Click on Add Chart Element (see picture below)
• Select Linear, under Trendline
The following dialogue box will appear:
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• Press OK
A linear trend line will appear on your
graph, but it does not yet extend to future
months. To do this:
• Right click on the trend line

• Select Format Trendline…
• Change the Forecast Forward
value to 3 periods
Repeat the steps above to create a predictive linear trend line for the Number of Loans data
series.
• Click on the chart

• Click Add Chart Element on the Chart Tools Design tab of the ribbon
• Select Linear Trend Line
• Choose number of loans
• Press OK
• Right click on the new trend line in your graph
• Choose Format Trendline…
• Change the Forecast Forward value to 3 periods
Your graph should look similar to the one shown below.
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2. Decision Support Using a Pivot Table
Huang and Bill have asked you to setup a pivot table, and to use it to answer some
questions that they have about their business performance.
Your task: Setup a pivot table and answer specific business questions

• Click on the Q1 Q2 and Q3 worksheet tab
• Select the whole dataset (cells A1 to V105)
• Create a Pivot Table
• Use the pivot table to answer the following questions
Question Answer Hint

Who has made the greatest Use referred by and count of
number of referrals? settlement amount
Who has made the greatest Use referred by and sum of
total value of referrals, based settlement amount
on settlement amount?
How many loans were Put referred by in rows and sum of
referred by ABC Real Estate? settlement amount in values. Then
change sum to count.
Which region had the lowest Put region in rows and sum of sale
total sale revenue? revenue in values.
In the Northern Region, what
was the total sale revenue
for July?
What is the most popular
loan type?
How many first home buyers
received a loan?
Which lender is most popular
for home loans?
What is the total value of
loans written for the lender,
in the question above?
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Conclusion
Skills Developed
• Use of advanced Excel functions, with multiple arguments to analyse data
• Creating pivot tables, to quickly perform data analysis
• Use of linear trend predictions to perform predictive analytics on business data
Revision Activities
These short activities will help you to revise what you have learnt in Part Three and and to
learn two new Excel functions.
VLookUp
Huang and Bill are feeling particularly generous, and have decided to give gifts to their sales
consultants. The gifts will be chosen based on each sales consultant’s sales revenue for the
quarter. Higher revenue will be rewarded with a more generous gift! The gift will be a:
• movie voucher, for sales revenue up to $30,000;

• $100 Myer voucher, for sales revenue up to $50,000; or
• $500 dinner voucher, for sales revenue over $50,000.
Earlier in Part Three, you used VLookUp to find an exact match for a value in a table and
then return a corresponding value from the same row of that table. VLookUp can also be
used to search through a range of values and find a non-exact match. This example will
show you how.
Your task: Use VLookUp to find the correct gift for each sales consultant

Note that a new section has been added to the Dashboard, where the gift will be shown and
that a new section has been added to the Reference worksheet, showing the gifts and the
corresponding sales revenue required.
You will use a range name in this function, rather than using $ signs for absolute cell
referencing. To setup the range name:
• Click on the Reference worksheet tab

• Select cells Q2 to R5
• Click on the Name Box and type Gifts
• Press Enter
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Now to create the new function:
• Click on the Dashboard worksheet tab

• Select cell D19
• Use the Insert Function button and choose VLookUp
• As per the picture below:
o Add D17 as the Lookup_value
o Add ‘Gifts’ as the Table_array
o Type ‘2’ as the Col_index_num
o Type ‘TRUE’ as the Range_lookup
• Press OK
• Use the fill handle to fill the formula from cell D19 to cells E19, F19 and G19
You will now see which gift each sales consultant will receive, as per the picture below.
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Total Kit Harrington Jessica Henwick Rory McCann Pedro Pascal
Value of Sales $ 140,457.07 $ 54,151.30 $ 27,895.89 $ 33,359.68 $ 25,050.20
Bonus Payment $ 2,854.84 $ 1,401.91 $ 2,095.31 $ 1,689.36
Gift $500 dinner voucher Movie voucher $100 Myer voucher Movie voucher
Review the following page for an explanation of the Range Lookup argument in VLookUp.
If you want to see a completed example, open the spreadsheet called “MoritaLoans-
PartThree-9”.
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Range Lookup Purpose: Use TRUE to find the closest match in the first
column (sorted in ascending order).
Amount Gift
$ - None
$ 1 Movie voucher
$ 30,001 $100 Myer voucher
$ 50,000 $500 dinner voucher
…if it doesn’t find one, it

How does it work? Excel takes the matches to the largest
data from the Lookup_value value which is not larger
argument (D17 in this case) and looks than the value being
for an exact match… looked-up.
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Decision Support for Morita Customers
Part of the service that Morita Loans Offers to customers, is to help them choose a loan that
is appropriate to their needs. The Sales Consultants would like you to build a spreadsheet
that can help customers to work out how much they can borrow, based on how much they
can afford to pay back per month and alternatively, what their loan repayments will be
based on a given loan amount.
Using the PMT Function
Your task: Calculate the monthly payments for a given loan amount
This tool will help customers to understand how much their monthly loan repayments
would be based on a given loan amount.
To create the support tool:
• Open the Excel file called “MoritaLoans-PartThree-10”

• Enter the following into cells C6 to C9 (these are the inputs to the repayment
calculation)
Cell Enter
C6 600,000
C7 4.5%
C8 30
C9 =C8*12
C10 12
Now, to create the repayment calculator function:
• Click on cell C11

• Use Insert Function and choose the PMT function
• Fill out the function arguments, as per the picture below
o Rate is C7 divided by C10 (Excel requires the interest rate to be per
repayment period, not annual)
o Nper is C9 (the total number of monthly repayments for the life of the loan)
o Pv is C6 (or Present Value i.e. the loan amount at the start of the loan)
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• Press OK
You will now see the monthly repayment amount for a $600,000 loan, as a negative
number. This is correct, but to display the data as a positive number:
• Select cell C11

• Edit the formula to include a – sign after the = and before the PMT function, as per
the image below.
Using the Goal Seek Function

Your task: Calculate the loan amount, for a given monthly repayment amount
This tool will help customers to understand how much they can borrow, based on how
much they can repay every month. You will use the Goal Seek feature. Goal Seek changes
inputs to achieve a certain output.
• Using the same spreadsheet, click on Goal Seek under What-If Analysis, in the Data
Tools section of the Data tab on the ribbon.
• Configure Goal Seek according to the picture below

o Set cell is C11 (the monthly repayment value)
o To value is 2400 (this is an example)
o By changing cell is C6 (the loan amount value)
Goal seek will change the value of cell C11 and show the status in a dialog box, as per the
example below.
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You can see that a customer who wishes to pay $2,400 per month, can borrow $473,667.
Calculate monthly loan repayments
Loan Amount $473,667

Interest Rate (p.a.) 4.50%
Loan length (years) 30
Number of months 360
Payments per year 12
Monthly Repayments $2,400.00
If you wish to see a completed example of the function, open the spreadsheet called
“MoritaLoans-PartThree-11”.
As a final task, use the new tool to answer these questions.
Question Answer
How much would the monthly repayments be for a
$700,000 loan, given the following?
• Loan amount is $750,000
• Interest rate is 4.3%
• Loan length is 30 years
• Repayments are 12 per year
How much would the repayments be if the loan was
for 25 years, rather than 30?
How much can a customer borrow if:
• Interest rate is 3.99%
• Loan length is 30 years
• Repayments are 12 per year
• They can afford monthly repayments of
$1,950
How much can the same customer borrow, if the
interest rate was 6.5%?
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ISYS2056

Business Information Systems

Dr. Humza Naseer

CRICOS provider number: 00122A | RTO Code: 3046

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 2

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 3

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 4

Business process Business process

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• System Software: Operating system

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Knowledge: Understanding, experience, insight,

Information: Data converted into a meaningful and

Data: Raw facts that describe an event and are not

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© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 11

• Transaction processing Decision structure Information systems

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Chief information security

Chief Data Officer (CDO)

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 14

• We discussed building blocks of information systems.

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• What are the building blocks of an information system?

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Dr. Humza Naseer

CRICOS provider number: 00122A | RTO Code: 3046

Three weeks (Week 3 - Week 5) on Enterprise Information Systems as the major

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 2

Assessment Task 1: Test [individual] Weighting: 30%

Test Duration: 90 mins

Submission: Via CANVAS

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© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 4

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 5

“I know what I want,

• Unique processes • Standardization

• Systems of Differentiation: applications utilising unique company processes or industry

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© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 8

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 10

• Note: When communicating about IS issues, IS professionals have to tailor their

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Sales and Marketing

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Sales and Marketing

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Functional View Process View

Product Development process

Order Fulfillment process

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Invoice Procurement Vendor

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• An organisation’s application portfolio consists of a wide variety of larger and

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© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 20

Introduction to Business Information Systems

Dr. Humza Naseer

CRICOS provider number: 00122A | RTO Code: 3046

© Humza Naseer, RMIT University 2022 ISYS2056 - Business Information Systems 2