Question

Can you reply to these replies from the question?

Explain how the application of spreadsheets could differ between a product-driven organization and a service-driven organization. Conduct your own research and provide specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

“I think that a product based spreadsheet would contain information based on inventory levels, re-order levels, cost, sales price, quantity of sales and similar tracking information. A service based spreadsheet would contain information on customers, sales amount by customer, product sales by customer, frequency of sales, customer service scoring information and of course, contact information.  

I do not think the application of the spreadsheets would differ much. A dashboard showing the most movement based on inventory or customer sales, number of sales/purchased in progress, transaction times, etc. would be beneficial to both organizations. “

Reply:

“When we analyze data, do we apply different method for the two business? If we create chart to present the data, would we use same chart for the two business?”

Reply:

“all business is pursuing the same purpose: growth and profitability. But the techniques used for the two types organizations are different. For product driven company, market, unique product, and market position are most important factors, while for customer-driven organizations, efficiency, convenience, and service standard are dominant factors. Excel spreadsheets rooted in different business will select distinct ways to present data. About the variables, you have done great job demonstrating them. What I want to add is the analysis methods, For product driven business, we might use cluster analysis more frequently. For service-driven business, we might use decision tree more frequently.”

Reply:

Answer 1

Hi, I will answer the first part to your three part question:

a. The application of the two sheets differs widely. The product sheet is used to maintain inventory records, OTIF involved and general performance of the products. The service based spreadsheet is used to track customer fulfillment and customer order trends. A trend shown through sales will not be able to capture the inventory levels which the company is holding to satisfy a particular customer. Similarly the inventory trend will not show the actual sale.