| Course | WMBA 6030 Managing Business Information Systems |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 3 |
| Paper type | Memo |
| Length | About 720 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration (MBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for WMBA 6030 Week 3
Memorandum
To: Chief Executive Officer, Harwood Tent and Event
From: Director of Operations
Date: February 10
Re: Recommendation to fund job-coded crew time and check-in condition records for one season
Recommendation
I recommend spending about $21,000 this year to answer one question we cannot answer today: which kinds of events make money once crew labor, damage, loss and rented-in equipment are counted. The answer would change how we price large events and which work our account managers pursue.
The Question We Cannot Answer
Our reports show revenue by event type. They do not show cost by event type, because the three largest costs after equipment are recorded in ways that cannot be tied to an order. Crew hours are clocked by day, not by job, so we cannot tell whether a wedding tent took twelve labor hours or thirty. Damage and loss are written on paper check-in sheets and summarized monthly, so a torn sidewall or forty missing linens cannot be traced to the event that caused them. And when Harwood borrows extra tents from other rental firms for busy weekends, the invoices land in a general expense account.
As a result, we price a 300-guest wedding and a corporate tent of the same size the same way, even though our crew leads believe weddings take longer to install and come back with more damage. If they are right, we may be underpricing the event type the strategy is pursuing most actively. If they are wrong, we may be overpricing it and losing bids.
What Data Would Answer It
Table 1
Data Needed, Current State and Cost to Collect
| Data | Current state | What would change | Cost this year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crew hours by job | Clocked by day | Job code entered at clock-in on crew phones | $3,500 setup and training | |
| Damage and loss by order | Paper sheets, monthly totals | Condition recorded at check-in on tablets, linked to the order | $9,000 for tablets and an app, or included if the new rental platform is adopted | |
| Rented-in equipment by order | General expense | Each rented-in invoice tagged to the order it served | $1,500 in staff time to set up a tag | |
| Analysis after one season | None | Contribution margin by event type, size band and warehouse | $7,000 (six weeks of an analyst's time, part time) | |
Costs are estimates; the total is about $21,000, or about $12,000 if tablet check-in comes with the new platform.
None of this requires new reporting software. The analysis can be done in a spreadsheet once the data are tied to orders. Activity-based costing, as Kaplan and Anderson (2007) described it in its time-driven form, needs only two estimates per activity, the cost of capacity and the time each order uses, and our crew time is the capacity that matters most.
Is It Worth It?
The value depends on what we would do differently. Two decisions hang on the answer. First, pricing: if weddings take even 30 percent more crew time than corporate events of the same size, a modest labor surcharge on weddings would recover tens of thousands of dollars a season at our volume. Second, pursuit: if certain event types consistently lose money after damage, account managers should stop discounting for them.
There is broader evidence that decisions based on data improve performance. A study of large firms found that those making greater use of data in decisions had productivity about 5 to 6 percent higher than their other investments would predict (Brynjolfsson et al., 2011), and data-driven decision-making spread rapidly among United States manufacturing plants between 2005 and 2010 (Brynjolfsson & McElheran, 2016). Those studies concern much larger companies, so I do not claim a similar gain for Harwood. The case here rests on the two specific decisions above.
What It Will Not Tell Us
One season of data will be noisy, especially for event types we do only a few times. Crews may enter job codes carelessly at first. And the analysis will show cost differences without explaining them: if weddings take longer, we will still need crew leads to tell us why. I would treat the first season's results as a guide to pricing experiments, not a final answer.
Decision Requested
Approve about $21,000 for this season, or about $12,000 if the new rental platform is approved, with results presented in November, after the season ends and before next year's price list is set.
References
Brynjolfsson, E., Hitt, L. M., & Kim, H. H. (2011). Strength in numbers: How does data-driven decisionmaking affect firm performance? SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1819486
Brynjolfsson, E., & McElheran, K. (2016). The rapid adoption of data-driven decision-making. American Economic Review, 106(5), 133-139. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20161016
Kaplan, R. S., & Anderson, S. R. (2007). Time-driven activity-based costing: A simpler and more powerful path to higher profits. Harvard Business School Press.
The Walden WMBA 6030 Week 3 instructions
Data assignments in a business information systems course ask students to identify a question managers cannot currently answer, specify the data that would answer it, estimate the cost of collecting or cleaning that data and recommend whether to spend the money. Prompts often ask for a memo to an executive. Instructors expect the question to matter to a real decision and the cost to be specific. They do not want an explanation of databases or dashboards. Memos usually run two to three pages. A strong memo states what the data will not show as well as what it will. Students should be careful with claims from studies of large firms when writing about a small organization, and should say so where it matters.
How the WMBA 6030 Week 3 example is put together
A recommendation with its price tag leads the memo. A section explains why current records cannot answer the question: crew time by day, damage on paper, rented-in equipment as a general expense. It notes the pricing consequence and the two ways it could be wrong. A table lists four data items with their current state, the change needed and the cost. A paragraph explains that a spreadsheet will do, citing time-driven activity-based costing. A value section ties the money to pricing and pursuit decisions and cites studies of data-driven decision-making with a caution about firm size. A section lists the limits of one season's data. The decision requested gives two price points, depending on whether the new rental platform is approved, and a November date for results. The question, the value argument and the limits each get a side note.
Where the marks sit in the WMBA 6030 Week 3 rubric
Graders reward a question tied to a decision that would change if the answer were known. Specific costs for each data item, rather than a general budget, show the analysis is real. Explaining why existing records cannot answer the question justifies the spending. Linking value to concrete decisions, instead of claiming data are generally useful, earns credit. Citing evidence on data-driven decision-making with an appropriate caution about context shows judgment. Naming what the data will not reveal demonstrates honesty. Memo conventions matter: recommendation first, a subject line that states it and a clear decision request. Instructors also look for plain language without technical tutorials. Concise paragraphs and accurate APA citations finish the rubric.
WMBA 6030 Week 3 help from the desk
Choose a question a manager has actually asked and could not answer. Write down the decision that depends on it. Then list the data needed and where each piece lives now. Price the change for each item, including staff time. Students often lose marks by describing a dashboard or a database instead of a decision, or by recommending data collection without saying what would be done with the results. Another frequent gap is claiming large productivity gains from studies of much bigger companies. State what the data will not tell you. State the recommendation up front, both in the opening paragraph and in the subject line. Keep the memo short. If you would like a custom sample memo on a data question from your own workplace, send us the question and the decision it affects.
Get a WMBA 6030 Week 3 example written to your instructions
A Week 3 prompt and its rubric is all the desk needs; a matched memo comes back inside 24-48h and the first one is free. Mention whether the memo template is fixed in your classroom or the format is open, and name the organization so the data sources can be plausible. Actual system names and data problems from your workplace stay yours to add.
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WMBA 6030 Week 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free WMBA 6030 Week 3 sample paper?
This page reproduces the whole data investment memo for an event rental company.
What question does the memo want answered?
Which event types make money after crew hours, damage, loss and rented-in equipment are counted.
How much does the memo ask for?
About $21,000, or about $12,000 if tablet check-in comes with the new rental platform.
Which decisions would the answer change?
How large events are priced and which event types account managers pursue.
What will one season of data not show?
Why cost differences exist, and reliable results for event types done only a few times.