From Data to Charts

3
Some Healthy Habits
This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:
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6
2,311
3,150
505
685
493
876
265
282
415
483
405
463
365
400
618
800
1,225
2,660
313
552
239
340
946
1,289
2001 2010
$8,100
$11,980
Japan
Industrialized Socialist
Developing Socialist
Developing Countries
France
West Germany
U.K.
Brazil
Canada
U.S.A.
Projected market demand for our product, by country, 2001-2010
US$ millions
Growth is mainly driven by developing countries
Percent Annual Growth
4.4
3.5
3.4
6.6
0.7
1.7
1.5
1.0
2.9
9.0
6.5
4.0
3.5
Other Western Countries
Italy

9
Description Impact Probability Proximity
• Current demand forecasting methodology has some key weaknesses,
which mean that the forecasts generated under-estimate the level of
interest that the Promotion Campaign is expected to generate
D D D
Priority
H
• Broadband demand is higher than current
forecasts indicate because:
— The impact of advertising on demand does
not scale with size and breadth of campaign
— FOH and BOH estimates are underestimated
— Level of underlying demand is not well
understood because
1) forecasts used for operations planning are
ADSL specific while the campaign is
broadband focused and
2) demand is only forecast for ADSL
enabled exchanges
• If broadband demand is not confirmed and
proposed P&A campaign adjusted to reflect
this, underestimated demand at launch will
result in:
— Reduced customer satisfaction
— Reduced customer service levels
— Increased and unanticipated review of
service delivery budgeting (e.g. call centre
staffing and training)
Context /Impact
• Revise ADSL demand forecasting
methodology to address key issues
— Above the line impact advertising impact
on market size
— Below the line advertising forecasting
• Agree new FOH and BOH enquiry/sales
conversion ratios with service delivery team
and incorporate into demand model
• Once changes are incorporated, build in new
reports to assess level of Broadband demand
generated and to identify incremental impacts
of proposed campaign
• Develop a revised P&A campaign scope
which:
— Ensures size and breadth of promotion
campaign in consistent with organisation
capability to deliver
Mitigation Strategy Timeframe
15 Sept
22 Sept
Resp.
• Star Tel
Business
Case Co-
ordinator
• Star Tel
Business
Case Co-
ordinator,
Star Tel FOH
• Star Tel
Business
Case Co-
ordinator,
Star Tel
Marketing
Manager
• Star Tel
Marketing
Manager
Mitigation strategies took the following form

12
1996 1997 1998
1999 2000 2001
US$ Millions
$1.2
Major product’s share
$1.8 $0.9
$2.0 $2.9 $3.4
Our company’s sales trends, 1996 - 2001

15
0% 5% 10% 15%
Our Company
Competitor B
Competitor D
Competitor A
Competitor C
In 2001, our company ranks first in return on investment

18
50%
8
Yes
Percentage of Total: 100% = 16
Results of recent opinion poll of 16 top management executives
12.5%
37.5%
2
Undecided
6
No
“Should the political and social climate of
developing countries influence our
decision to expand into this market?
Source: Recent opinion poll of 16 top management executives

21
Meaningful leads checklist
Sentence (including verb) that describes the key
message, not the data!
Example: “Our market share is growing”,
not “Market share trends by company.”
Lead is one line long at maximum!
Lead explains the message from data, but does not fill
data gaps!This document is a partial preview. Full document download can be found on Flevy:

24
It is key to first be clear about the specific point you want to make
1. Determine
Your Message
2. Identify The
Comparison
3. Select The Chart
Form
• The data does not determine the chart
• Rather, it is your message, what you want
to show, the specific point you want to
make

27
Publishing Industry, 1970-1980 (Cont’d)
Earnings, Before Interest and Taxes, $ Millions
1970
30.3
16.0
3.8
7.9
22.5
43.4
30.0
153.9
1971
29.2
16.9
4.5
8.5
24.4
40.0
31.2
154.7
1972
28.2
18.6
5.3
9.3
31.8
47.1
34.0
174.3
1973
29.5
21.1
5.7
12.9
39.4
60.9
36.5
206.0
1974
-30.6
24.3
6.7
12.1
39.1
66.5
36.8
154.9
1975
7.8
30.9
8.0
14.1
35.1
71.8
39.0
206.7
1976
-50.7
33.8
9.9
16.2
41.3
87.6
39.0
177.1
1977
16.1
42.0
11.2
19.5
47.5
109.7
46.7
292.7
1978
17.1
49.6
9.4
26.2
54.2
134.2
52.9
343.6
1979
19.2
54.6
14.1
27.4
39.3
157.7
52.1
364.4
1980
29.4
55.8
15.5
19.5
34.2
179.0
64.3
397.7
Grolier, Inc.
Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
Harper & Row
Publishers, Inc.
Houghton Mifflin Co.
Macmillian Inc.
McGraw-Hill Inc.
Prentice-Hall Inc.
Total

30
The second step is to identify the comparison included in the
message
1. Determine
Your Message
2. Identify The
Comparison
3. Select The Chart
Form
• Component
• Item
• Time series
• Frequency distribution
• Correlation

33
Meaning Typical Keywords
Each comparison usually involves a set of typical keywords
Share, percentage of total, accounts for X
percent, half of total, …
Percentage of a total
Component
Ranks, larger than, smaller than, equal to, …Ranking of itemsItem
Trend, change, grow, rise, decline, increase,
decrease, fluctuate, …
Changes over timeTime Series
X to Y range, concentration, frequency,
distribution, occurrence, center, …
Items within ranges
Frequency
Distribution
Related to, increases with, decreases with,
changes/varies with, correlated, …
Relationship
between variablesCorrelation

36
7. Macmillan had the lowest return on assets of any competitor
in 1980.
8. There is no relationship between share of industry sales and
return on assets in 1980.
9. In 1980, four of the seven companies had return on assets
between 10% and 20%.
10. Macmillan’s earnings have not kept pace with the industry’s
since 1978.
11. Macmillan and Houghton Mifflin were the two companies
with earnings declines between 1979 and 1982.
12. In 1980, Macmillan accounted for 18% of total industry
sales, but only 9% of earnings.
7. ________________
8. ________________
9. ________________
10. ________________
11. ________________
12. ________________
Messages Comparisons
Work Project 2 (2 of 2)

39
All basic types of charts are frequently used
Pie chart
Bar chart
Column chart
Line chart
Dot chart
Combinations
Typical Amount in a Presentation
~ 5%
~ 25%
~ 10%
~ 10%
~ 50%
( Typically way overused!)

42
How to chart different comparisons
Component comparison
Item comparison
Time series comparison
Frequency distribution comparison
Correlation comparison

45
10% of the employees under 30 years have postgraduate degrees
Total Employees
100%
• Use in conjunction with
bar charts
• Avoiding using too
many pie charts
Over
30
years
Under
30
years
100%
High
school
graduate
College
graduate
Post-
graduate

48
20%
15%
10%
9%
8%
4%
Competitor D
Competitor B
Competitor A
Client
Competitor E
Competitor C
Client’s return on sales ranks fourth
• Use a scale or numbers,
not both
• Round-out figures
• Use color to emphasize

51
Product mix varies by area
Industry A
Industry B
Industry C
Industry D
Industry E
Industry F
A B C
Products

54
0
10
20
30
40
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Client’s return on sales ranks fourth
• Use column chart for
small set of data points
• if large set, use line chart
Millions

57
When using line charts, avoid too many lines at once
The Spaghetti Chart
A
B
C
D
E
Untangling the Mess A
B
A
C
A
D
A
E

60
1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 More than
8
The majority of shipments are received in 5 to 6 days
• Use histograms with
relatively few buckets
• Try different levels of
precision to extract
patterns
Numbers of orders
Days

63
I II III IV V VI VII
More employees in the higher salary brackets have degrees
With Degrees
Without Degrees
Total Employees
Salary Grades

66
Expected Pattern
There is a relationship between lower prices and increased volume
sold
Price
Volume Sold

69
We are well positioned in the marketplace
MarketAttractive
Company Strengths
Profit Contribution
$ Millions
> 5
1 - 5
< 1

72
Share of Industry Sales By Company, 1980
(Percent)
Houghton Mifflin
Harper & Row
Prentice-Hall
Harcourt Brace
Grolier
McGraw-Hill
Macmillan
5.3
5.6
11.5
16.4
10.2
32.6
18.4
100.0
3A. On the basis of the following data, sketch a chart to
demonstrate Macmillan's share of publishing sales in 1980
compared with that of its competitors

75
Macmillan Net Sales
3D. With this data, sketch a chart that demonstrates the trends –
on an index basis – for Macmillan’s sales and earnings
between 1970 and 1980, using 1970 as the base year
Macmillan Earnings
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
400.3
386.6
393.9
420.4
466.6
477.3
493.4
512.7
553.5
529.8
566.0
100
97
98
105
117
119
123
128
138
132
141
$ millions 1970 = 100
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
22.5
22.4
31.8
39.4
39.1
35.1
41.3
47.5
54.2
39.3
34.2
100
100
141
175
174
156
184
211
241
175
152
$ millions 1970 = 100

78
Earnings, 1979 ($ Millions)
McGraw-Hill
Prentice-Hall
Harcourt Brace
Macmillan
Houghton Mifflin
Harper & Row
Grolier
157.7
52.1
54.6
39.3
27.4
14.1
19.2
3G. With these data, sketch a chart that demonstrates the change
in earnings between 1979 and 1980 for each of the seven
companies
Earnings, 1980 ($ Millions)
McGraw-Hill
Prentice-Hall
Harcourt Brace
Macmillan
Houghton Mifflin
Harper & Row
Grolier
179.0
64.3
55.8
34.2
19.5
15.5
29.4

81
4B. This chart was intended to show that the client has built share
in acetic acid and vinyl acetate, remained constant in
polyethylene, and lost share in ethanol
Chemicals Corp. Market Share Change
1981 to 1983
Market Share, 1983
Market Share, 1981
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 5 10 15 20 25
D
AC
B
A
B
C
D
Acetic Acid
Ethanol
Polyethylene
Vinyl Acetate

84
Construction Costs For Existing And New Urban Cable Systems
Cost Per Subscriber
($)
Total Construction Costs
($ Millions)
$533
$300
Existing System New System
$40
$15
Existing System New System
4E. The intent of this chart was to demonstrate that the cost per
subscriber would not increase in proportion to total
construction costs. Sketch a chart that will show the relative
increases more accurately

87
Changing Course

90
Circular Flows

93
Forces at Work

96
Forces at Work

99
Interrelationships

102
Interrelationships

105
Interrelationships

108
Leverage/ Balance

111
Processes

1
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From Data to Charts