Accountancy Data Visualization Competition

Business decision-making is becoming increasingly data-driven. When properly analyzed and interpreted data can give an organization a competitive advantage. Companies such as Amazon and UPS are examples of this.

In this competition, students will analyze three years of sales data from a small coffee distributor – LeGrind Coffee. The objective is to use data visualization to tell a story to explain why LeGrind's profit margin has decreased over the years. LeGrind suspects the change in profit margin can be explained by changes in their product sales mix. Can you tell the story of how product sales mix is influencing LeGrind's profit margin? Can you explain to LeGrind management why they should or should not be concerned about the changes in profit margin?

Here are a few concepts you will need to understand to succeed at this case:

  • Profit margin = Profit / Revenue = (Revenue - Cost) / Revenue
  • Product sales mix is the percentage of total sales that a single product represents. For instance, assume you sell Product A and Product B.
    • Total Sales of Product A = 100 units x $4 per unit = $400
    • Total Sales of Product B = 200 unites x $3 per unit = $600
    • Total Sales = $400 + $600 = $1000
    • Product A's Sales Mix = $400 / $1000 = 40%
    • Product B's Sales Mix = $600 / $1000 = 60%

How would a change in product sales mix influence the overall average profit margin of the company?

Software

  • Students may use any data visualization software they like to create the graphs that will be part of their data visualization story. However, we recommend one of the following:

What To Expect

  • You can compete individually or as part of a team.
  • Registration is due no later than Friday, Feb. 16, 2024.
  • The case data and instructions will be distributed to participating teams on or before Monday, March 4, 2024.
    • You will receive data about LeGrind Coffee's sales, customers, inventory and cash receipts. You will need to understand, combine, and prepare this data to analyze LeGrind's profit margin over time and explain why it is changing.
  • You will submit a copy of your presentation by Friday, April 5, 2024.
  • You will present your analysis to a panel of judges on Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Presentation

  • Presentations will be limited to 15 minutes. You will be given 10 minutes for the presentation and two to three minutes for questions from the judges.
  • Your presentation should be a in PowerPoint file.

Submission Requirements

Please email a copy of your PowerPoint presentation to Matt Pickard at mpickard@niu.edu by the end of the day on Friday, April 5, 2024.
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