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OMBA 102 · Unit 2 of 7

Describing Business Performance

Data, Statistics and Managerial Decisions

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Learning objectives

After completing this unit, you will be able to:

  • Choose and compute appropriate measures of center for business metrics
  • Quantify dispersion and variability with managerial interpretation
  • Use percentiles and distribution shape to describe performance
  • Visualize business data honestly and effectively
  • Design management dashboards that drive decisions, not vanity

Why this matters

Executives live in summaries: averages, trends, outliers, and dashboards. Unit 2 teaches you to describe performance accurately so you do not get fooled by means that hide skew, charts that lie, or KPI walls that obscure the one metric that matters.

Unit overview

Work through the five lessons below in order. Replicate calculations in a spreadsheet.

#LessonCore idea
1Measures of CenterMean, median, mode tradeoffs
2Measures of DispersionRange, variance, standard deviation
3Percentiles and Distribution ShapeSkew, outliers, and tail risk
4Visualizing Business DataChart choice and integrity
5Building and Interpreting Management DashboardsKPI hierarchy and alert logic

Connection to applied work

Build a one-page descriptive dashboard for your project dataset with center, spread, and one visualization per key metric. Document why you chose each statistic.

Practice

  1. For one revenue metric, report mean and median; explain any gap.
  2. Compute standard deviation for a small sample and interpret in business units.
  3. Identify the 90th percentile wait time and what it implies for capacity.
  4. Redesign a misleading chart from a news article or internal report.

Knowledge check

  1. When is median better than mean?
  2. What does high variance tell a manager?
  3. How do outliers affect decisions?
  4. What makes a chart misleading?
  5. What belongs on a decision-grade dashboard?

Key takeaways

  • Description is the first inference; do it carefully.
  • Distribution shape changes risk and staffing conclusions.
  • Visualization is argument; design it deliberately.
  • Finish lessons before assessments.

Unit assessment

Complete each section below. Score 80%+ on the quiz to finish this unit's assessment.

40% applied project35% knowledge checks25% reflections

Exercises

Apply what you learned in this unit with structured practice.

ExerciseApplied practice: Describing Business Performance45 min
Complete a focused practice exercise on **Describing Business Performance**. 1. Choose a real company, product, or situation you know. 2. Apply one core framework from this unit to analyze it. 3. Write your analysis in 300–500 words with a clear recommendation. 4. Cite at least one credible source.

Deliverable

300–500 word analysis document saved to your portfolio under OMBA 102.

Rubric

  • • Framework applied correctly (not just named)
  • • Specific evidence from a real example
  • • Clear recommendation with tradeoffs acknowledged
  • • Professional writing with source citation
ExerciseDrill: Describing Business Performance30 min
Work through the practice problems in the unit lesson without looking at notes. Then check your work against the lesson and write a short reflection: - What you got right - One mistake you caught - One concept to review before the next unit

Deliverable

Problem solutions + 150-word reflection in your OMBA 102 workbook.

Rubric

  • • Attempted all practice items before checking answers
  • • Honest reflection on errors
  • • Identifies a specific review action

Model / spreadsheet

Build or extend a spreadsheet model tied to this unit.

ModelStructured model: Describing Business Performance60 min
Create a structured analytical model for **Describing Business Performance**. Document your assumptions, calculations, and conclusions in a format appropriate to OMBA 102 (diagram, table, or written model). Connect outputs to a decision a manager would make.

Deliverable

Structured model document (2+ pages) · One-paragraph summary of key insight from the model · Screenshot or export saved to portfolio

Rubric

  • • Assumptions stated explicitly
  • • Logic is auditable (formulas or steps visible)
  • • Output answers a specific business question
  • • Sensitivity or scenario considered

Knowledge quiz

Check your understanding before marking the unit complete.

1. Northwind closed 12 deals: eleven between $15k and $45k and one at $500k. For setting a typical rep quota, which center measure is most appropriate?

2. Mobile conversion rises in every channel, but overall conversion falls because traffic shifted to a lower-converting channel. This is an example of:

3. Weekly call volumes (minutes): 8, 10, 10, 12, 60. Which statement about standard deviation is most accurate?

4. For skewed customer spend, which pair is commonly used to flag unusual high values?

5. A customer at the 90th percentile of order value means:

6. Which chart is appropriate for monthly revenue across 24 months?

7. A CEO dashboard should prioritize KPIs that are:

8. Overall conversion is 3.2%. Email: 4% on 1,000 visits; Paid: 2% on 9,000 visits. What is the weighted overall conversion?

Next unit: Probability and Uncertainty →