ACC 306 Week 4 Discussion

ACC 306 Week 4 Discussion | Accounting Assignment | Stayer University 

Week 4 Discussion

"Analysis via Pivot Tables" Please respond to the following:

• Describe a situation where pivot tables could be used to aid a business decision. Specify the question/problem management needs to resolve and explain the manner in which the pivot table results will provide a solution. You may use one (1) of the homework exercises as a basis for your response, or a company with which you are familiar.

Lastly, respond to at least one (1) post of your peers.

Here is an example. In GP 4-5, management of Boyd Air requests the Pivot Table described in Steps 10 through 17. Boyd has a database of flights that contains date, flight number, destination, departure, arrival time and arrival code (On time, Delayed). It also contains number of passengers and percentage of capacity used on that flight. What does management want to know? By origin (airport of departure), management wants to know the average percentage of capacity used, and the number of passengers. The Pivot Table provides this pivot, or sort, to look at the average and sum of these numbers. How would this information help management made better decisions? The instructions tell us management is looking at arrival status and capacities. 

The pivot table for Arrival Times and Capacities shows that HOU, probably Houston, has the highest average used capacity over the 4 months of data; February, March, April, and May. Average is calculated rather than looking at any one day or month. The question posed is , "Are the planes available being used to fly the most customers?" The number of passengers is the sum of all passengers from that destination. Could a larger plane boost Houston's number of passengers? Given that the average is 98%, there may be times when the flight is sold out, and given that it is 98% used capacity, the demand is there. Does Boyd need to increase its capacity for this origin?

Management now knows the capacity used by origin prompting the need for additional information on the planes used and the schedule of these. 

If management asked the origins with unused capacity, the data provides this answer as well. Perhaps the company is considering a price increase, or a discounted fare. Pinpointing the unused capacity will lead the analysis to more information to make decisions about fares to be charged.

The examples above are 2 separate ideas of this information being used to aid in decision making.