COIS11011— Foundations of Business Computing
Assessment details for ALL students Assessment item 1— Developing Computing and Business Skills —Term 2 2020
Due date:
Electronic submission of TWO files (1 Spreadsheet file and 1 Word file) via Moodle by 11:45 pm AEST, Thursday, Week 5, 13 August 2020 ASSESSMENT
Weighting: 20% of total unit assessment Length: No set length 1
Objective
The objective of this assignment is to test and enhance your ability to use Microsoft’s Office suites applications such as Word processor and Spreadsheet. By completing the activities, you should possess a sound understanding of applying acquired practical knowledge to identify problems, analyze data and organize information in the form of a business report using these applications. Topic Title: University’s Solar Power Strategy Background University wants to place solar panels on the roof of all buildings at all campuses, and we need your help to determine which solar panel is best by performing some analysis and preparing a report of your findings.
This assignment requires you to produce 2 files: a report (Word document) and a spreadsheet (Excel workbook) that analyze a range of solar panels and recommends product(s) based on selected criteria. All documentation should be written, prepared, and presented to the highest standards. For this assignment, pretend that you are working as a consultant and your role is to advise a senior management committee.
Note:
• You can use non-Microsoft software, such as Open Office or Star Office, but make sure you save your work in Microsoft Office format and that you only submit the Microsoft Office format files.
• None of the solar panel data below is real data, and the calculations specified are simplified versions for this assignment. Your Tasks: File #1: The Spreadsheet 1. Setup Spreadsheet Download the solar power data file “solar_power.xlsx” from the Moodle unit website. Copy the data contained in this xlsx file into a blank spreadsheet and construct the Solar Power Analysis Worksheet using the steps below.
Titles Area Format a titles area as follows in Sheet 1. In Row 1, type your name and student- ID, and the current date. Merge rows 2–4, cols A-L into a single cell to hold the title. Type the title “CQUniversity Solar Power Analysis Worksheet” and centre the title horizontally and vertically, and make the title font bold, 18 points. 3. Columns and Calculations In addition to the columns of data from the supplied “solar_power.xlsx” file, add the following columns:
• Area (sqM)
• Electricity Generated (KW/Year)
• Value of Electricity Generated ($/Year)
• Efficiency (%) • Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Tons/Year)
• Gross Return per Year (%)
• Overall Score To perform the calculations, some constants are required, and these should be entered in cells with appropriate labels in the spreadsheet: Constant Value Number Days in Year 365 Average Sunlight per Day 7 Price of Electricity ($/KWh) 0.15 Greenhouse Reduction Factor 0.873 The calculations for these items are as follows:
• Area (sqM) = Length (mm) * Width (mm) / 1,000,000
• Electricity Generated (KW/Year) = Output Capacity (W) * Number Days in Year * Average Sunlight per Day / 1,000
• Value of Electricity Generated ($/Year) = Electricity Generated (KW/Year) * Price of Electricity ($/KWh)
• Efficiency (%) = Output Capacity (W) / (1000 * Area (sqM))
• Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Tons/Year) = Electricity Generated (KW/Year) / 1000 *
• Greenhouse Reduction Factor
• Gross Return per Year (%) = Value of Electricity Generated ($/Year) / Price ($)
• Overall Score = (1 x Efficiency (%) / Maximum Efficiency (%) for all Solar Panels analyzed + 1 x Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Tons/Year) / Maximum Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Tons/Year) for all Solar Panels analyzed + 1 x Gross Return per Year (%) / Maximum Gross Return per Year (%) for all Solar Panels analyzed) / 10 Note: each of the components of the calculation of Overall Score above is multiplied by 1 above because they are all of the equal weightings.
If we wanted to weight components differently, then we would change the multiplier for the components. For example, to weight the Gross Return component twice as high as the other components, we would multiply this component by 2 instead of 1.
To help you understand these calculations (and check your work), here is a screenshot showing a small part of the spreadsheet data and calculations for one of the panels that you will be provided (Note: if the list of solar panels or the solar panel data changes, the maximums at the bottom of the table will change, and this will affect other calculations, such as the Overall Score)
• Add rows with formulas to calculate:
✓ Totals: for Electricity Generated (KW/Year) and Value of Electricity Generated ($/Year).
✓ Averages: for Efficiency (%), Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Tons/Year), Gross Return per Year (%), and Overall Score.
✓ Minimums: for Efficiency (%), Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Tons/Year), Gross Return per Year (%), and Overall Score.
✓ Maximums: for Efficiency (%), Greenhouse Gas Reductions (Tons/Year), Gross Return per Year (%), and Overall Score. Note: you must use spreadsheet functions, such as SUM, AVERAGE, MAX, MIN, etc. and Absolute Reference wherever appropriate. YouTube video tutorials are provided in the ‘Microsoft Office Learning’ section of the Moodle unit webpage to help you learn and implement the required spreadsheet and word processing skills for this assignment.
4. Chart Using the spreadsheet’s Chart Wizard, create a simple line chart that shows the Price ($) and the Gross Return per Year (%), and place this chart in a new worksheet. Include appropriate title and axis labels to make this chart understandable to anyone reading it. Hint: Because you are graphing items with different units of measure and scales, you will need to add a secondary axis. 5. Save the File You will do further operations on the spreadsheet as part of completing the Report Document.
File #2: The Report Document Write a report to summarize the analysis contained in the spreadsheet, to present the information in an easily understandable form. Maximum 2,000 words for the Report Document excludes the title page, table of contents, headers, footers, page numbers, and questions. Your report should address the following:
• Include (copy and paste) the Chart(s) you generated in the spreadsheet and then describe and summarize the information that each chart provides. For example, are there solar panels that are significantly better or worse than the others? How can you determine this from the graph? Why is this so?
• Answer these specific questions: a) Given the scoring criteria above, which solar panel would you recommend and why? b) If the scoring criteria were changed, how would this affect your recommendation(s)? Hint: You will need to explore this in your spreadsheet and then include and discuss the results in your report document. For example:
✓ If the Overall Score was calculated based on Greenhouse Gas Reductions alone, which solar panel would you recommend? Why?
✓ If the Overall Score was calculated based on Gross Return (%) alone, which solar panel would you recommend? Why?
✓ Given the increasing consideration for the environment in today’s society, if the Greenhouse Gas Reductions was weighted twice as high as the other factors in the calculation of the Overall Score, which solar panel would you recommend? Why?
✓ If the Greenhouse Gas Reductions was weighted three times as high as the other factors in the calculation of the Overall Score, which solar panel would you recommend? Why?
c) Consider the Gross Return of the best solar panel. Do you think the Gross Return calculation is realistic? Are there other costs that have NOT been taken into account? Do you think CQUniversity should invest in solar power? Or, should CQUniversity do something else with their money? Term deposit in a bank? Shares? Real estate? Something else? Explain your answer. What could CQUni do to reduce the costs of solar installation to make solar power more attractive?
• Note:
✓ You need to consider your audience and ensure that your report is easy to read, flows logically, and uses language that is appropriate to your audience and to your relationship as a consultant to that audience.
✓ If you can demonstrate, show, or illustrate something in diagrammatic form, then do so at every opportunity. For example, if you can generate other graphs or charts that help explain the points you are trying to make, then feel free to add these.
Report Document Layout and Formatting Requirements Write a report for the senior management committee. This report should be from a third-person point of view, which is standard in business reports. Your report must have the following sections in the order listed:
1. Executive Summary: Outline the purpose of the report and provide a summary of the topics and issues that are discussed, and the major findings and recommendations. This section should be on its page, and be no more than half a page in length.
2. Table of Contents (TOC): Use the word processor’s Table of Contents (TOC) feature to generate a suitable TOC that can be updated automatically. Do not manually type out a TOC. The title page, executive summary, and table of contents itself should not appear in the table of contents.
3. Discussion: In the discussion section, you discuss the major activities in which you engaged, and your findings and results.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations: Based on your findings and your evaluation, summarize your conclusions and make your recommendations to management. Be as specific as possible with your recommendations. Do not introduce new material or new arguments in this section. Ensure that what you write is logical (follows on from everything previous), and appropriate (accurate and addresses client concerns).
5. References: Not required.