英國蘭卡斯特大學財務管理留學生本科課程dissertation

 

DV Shirts is a business that sells high quality clothing for business people. Despite the name they don’t just sell shirts but also sell men’s suits, women’s suits, trousers, skirts, coats, ties, cufflinks etc. The business is run by two entrepreneurs, David and Victoria. They have succeeded in gaining a good reputation by careful sourcing of the clothing and by making sure it is all good quality. 

 

David and Victoria started off with a small shop in Manchester but they have since expanded the business by selling online through their own website. The business is doing o.k. although it has been much more difficult in the last few years with the weaker economic conditions.

 

Their accountant suggested trying some online advertising to increase website sales. To investigate this they have been experimenting with pay per click advertising. To use this advertising they specify relevant keywords. When online search engine users search using the keywords the advert is displayed on the search page. The business does not pay anything for the display of the advert. However, if the user clicks on the advert then the business pays a fee to the search engine (e.g. Google). When the user does click on the advert this takes them to the website of the business. Hopefully they will then make a purchase. 

 

When using pay per click advertising the business specifies how much it will pay for each click. This is a competitive bidding process and the more the business pays the higher up it will appear in the list of adverts. This results in getting more clicks. David and Victoria have experimented over the last 20 days with different payment amounts. The accompanying spreadsheet shows for each day the actual cost per click and the number of clicks the website received.

 

David and Victoria also tracked how many of the people who clicked on the advert then made a purchase. They found that this was about 2%. This is called the conversion rate. They know from past experience that some customers just buy once but many customers will make repeat purchases. On average they estimate that a new customer is worth about £85 in overall profit to the business (including the effect of repeat purchases).

他們的會計師建議嘗試一些在線廣告來增加網站銷售。為了研究這一點，他們一直在嘗試每次點擊付費廣告。要使用此廣告，他們指定相關的關鍵字。當搜索引擎用戶搜索使用關鍵字廣告將顯示在搜索頁面上。企業沒有支付任何的廣告的顯示。但是，如果用戶點擊廣告那么企業繳費的搜索引擎（如谷歌） 。當用戶不點擊廣告這需要他們到企業的網站。希望他們會再進行購買。

當每次點擊廣告的業務使用支付指定多少會為每次點擊支付。這是一個競爭的過程和更多的企業支付更高了它會出現在廣告列表中。這導致獲得更多的點擊。大衛和維多利亞已經嘗試在過去的20天，不同的付款金額。隨附的表格顯示了每次點擊的實際費用和點擊次數獲得了網站的每一天。#p#分頁標題#e#

大衛和維多利亞也跟蹤了多少誰點擊了廣告的人再進行購買。他們發現，這是大約2％。這就是所謂的轉化率。他們知道，從過去的經驗，有些客戶只買一次，但許多客戶會重復購買。平均而言，他們預計，新客戶值得大約85英鎊的整體盈利的業務（包括重復購買的影響） 。

 

David and Victoria are not sure whether to use pay per click advertising. If they do use it they are not sure how much to pay for each click. The system allows them to pay any amount in whole pence. Their initial aim was to get about 250 clicks per day and, based on their experiments, they are planning to pay £2.50 per click. However, they are not sure whether this is the right approach. They know that the data in the spreadsheet should be useful but they are not sure how to use it.

David and Victoria are also considering a major re-design of their website. The website design company have claimed that this might increase the conversion rate to 2.5%, or perhaps even 3%. They are not sure what effect this would have on their pay per click strategy. The cost of the re-design would be £10000, and they are uncertain whether this is worthwhile.

 

David and Victoria know that you have a lot of expertise from your university course and have asked you for some help and advice on the above issues. Using suitable analysis of the above information about the business and the data in the spreadsheet write a report advising David and Victoria on what they should do. Explain in the report any analysis and calculations that you carried out. Also include in your report what the predicted effect will be of your advice on the total profit of the business. You can assume that David and Victoria are familiar with all the statistics that have been covered in the course and so you donot need to define or explain statistical terms. State any assumptions that you make in your analysis. Also include any other advice or factors that they should take into account for their pay per click and website strategy.

 

The maximum length of the report is 10 pages (not counting the title page). You can use any readable font and use single spacing. The report should follow the guidelines set out in lecture 11 on Report Writing. Most of the marks (85%) will be for the report content but 15% of the marks will be allocated to the presentation of the report (the format and layout of the report, the clarity of the writing etc.).However, since this is a short report:

• You do not need to start different sections on separate pages

• A contents page is not required

• No appendices should be included – put any information required in the main part of the report.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

Submission instructions

 

Your report should be submitted to the Moodle course site as a single Word document. Do notsubmit a hard copy of the report or any other files. Make sure that your report explains any analysis and calculations that you have done. For example, you may wish to copy and paste some tables, charts or other suitable information from an Excel spreadsheet.

 

The deadline for submission is 11 p.m. on  8th December.

 

This coursework is to be done as anindividual piece of work. All your analysis and the whole of your report must be your own work alone – do not discuss it with other students. Collusion between students and plagiarism are regarded as very serious offences and will be penalised severely. Please read the coursework declaration form at the end of this document and type the declaration statement on the title page of your coursework (as explained below). Please note that software to detect plagiarism and collusion will be used.

 

Remember that you may not always be able to find a free PC and so aim to complete the task with time to spare. Late work without an agreed extension will be penalised according to the University rules (deduction of marks as shown in the assessment rules table for work up to 3 days late; a mark of 0 for work more than 3 days late). Extensions may in certain rare circumstances be given but to obtain an extension you must download the extension request form from the Management Science department MSCI-FAQ Moodle site and get it signed by Dr. Roger Brooks. You are strongly advised to makeback-up copies of your work during the project – loss of work due to computer problems will notbe accepted as a reason for an extension.

 

On your title page include:

i) your name and college

ii) your library card number

iii) type the following statement (you do not need to submit the coursework declaration form itself):

 

“I have read the coursework declaration form and I accept the University rules on cheating and plagiarism. I state that the work submitted is my own and does not contain any unacknowledged work from other sources. As the author of the submitted work I am prepared to undertake an oral examination of its contents.”

 

Management Science Department - Coursework Declaration Form

 

Declaration

 

I accept the University rules on cheating and plagiarism. I state that the work submitted with this declaration is my own and does not contain any unacknowledged work from other sources. As the author of the submitted work I am prepared to undertake an oral examination of its contents.

 

Signature  …………………………………………………………….

Name in capitals  ……………………………………………………..

Library card no.  ……………………………………………………..

Course  ………………………………………………………….…….

Coursework title  ……………………………………………………..

Date  ………………………………………………………………….

 

Notes

 

1. Additional advice on plagiarism is given on the webboard at:

 

2. Cases of plagiarism may be brought to the attention of the External Examiners at the Examination Board and may also be referred to in any references to prospective employers and others which members of the department are asked to provide.

 

University rules on cheating and plagiarism in coursework

 

The following are extracts from the rules of the University (Sections 1.1, 1.3 and 1.4 from Appendix A). The complete rules can be found at:

 

“1.1 It is an academic offence for a candidate to commit any act designed to obtain for himself/herself, or another, an unfair advantage with a view to achieving a higher grade or mark than his/her abilities would otherwise secure. Any such attempt to convey deceitfully the impression of acquired knowledge, skills, understanding, or credentials shall represent a contravention of Rule 6 of the University, and may constitute grounds for exclusion. The following list details examples of such contraventions. This list is not, and does not purport to be, comprehensive.

1.2 Plagiarism occurs when a candidate appropriates the thoughts, writings or results of another, and presents these as his/her own. Assessed work undertaken outside formal and class examinations ... must be the candidate’s own work, and acknowledge both assistance given and the major source(s) involved. All forms of plagiarism are considered serious academic offences but plagiarism which involves intrusion upon the work of fellow students will normally be viewed more severely than plagiarism which involves the misuse of secondary sources.

1.3 Fabrication of results occurs when a candidate claims deceitfully to have carried out tests, research, experiments or observations as part of his/her assessed work, or presents fabricated results arising from the same with the object of gaining an unfair advantage.