Project 1

After reading this book ( Making smart decisions. Harvard Business Review Press, 2011 ), May you please answer this Q’s
RQA 2

READINGS: Chapter 4 “Data-Ink and Graphical Redesign” and Chapter 5 “Chartjunk: Vibrations, Grids, and Ducks” in Visual Display by Edward Tufte

2.1) What is the ‘data-ink ratio?’ Are high data-ink ratios desirable or undesirable? Explain.

2.2) What is ‘chartjunk?’ Give two examples of chartjunk commonly observed in data graphics.

2.3) Find an example of a well made data graphic and one example of a poorly made data graphic. Explain your rationale for each in terms of principles put forth in Visual Display. These could be pasted from original sources (cite your sources) or you can develop the examples yourself.

2.4) Although Tufte’s discussion focuses on charts and graphs, how do the same principles apply to tables – i.e., rows and columns of data?

RQA 3

ARTICLE: “Evidence-Based Management” by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton in Making Smart Decisions

3.1) What does it mean for a decision to be evidence-based?

3.2) According to research studies, about 15% of medical decisions are evidence-based. (true or false)

3.3) What are three reasons given by the authors as to why it is difficult to make evidence-based decisions? Provide an example of each.

3.4) What is ‘benchmarking? What is one pro and one con of benchmarking?

3.5) Identifiy one way that the authors suggest that organizations can become more evidence-based.

RQA 4 ARTICLE: “Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions” by Andrew Campbell, Jo Whitehead, and Sydney Finkelstein in Making Smart Decisions

4.1) According to the authors, what two unconscious processes often cause decision-makers to make bad decisions? Give an example of each.

4.2) Poor decisions can result from associating past experiences to present problems. (true or false)

4.3) What are three ‘red flag conditions’ identified by the authors that increase the likelihood that decision-makers will make bad judgments?

4.4) According to the authors, what are two things organizations can do reduce the likelihood of bad decisions?

Project 1
You are an investment consultant retained to advise a mid-size university endowment fund about commercial real estate investment. You are to prepare a report which addresses several questions on real estate investment (listed in the next section) raised by the university’s investment committee.
Background
At its most recent meeting the Investment Committee of XYZ University has decided to investigate allocating a portion of the university’s endowment to commercial real estate. The committee has no previous experience of investment in this area and requires further information before committing investment funds to this sector. In particular, they wish to have your advice on the following questions:
Research questions
(1) What are the main property types in the commercial real estate market usually considered by institutional investors?
(2) If this fund wishes to allocate $200-400m to this sector, is this sufficient to build a diversified portfolio of commercial buildings?
(3) Advise the fund on the main advantages and disadvantages of investing in REITs as opposed to buying commercial real estate buildings directly.
(4) The endowment fund is already heavily invested in US equities, provide evidence on the average return, variance and correlations of direct real estate with REITs, equities (S&P500, Russell 2000) and bonds (data provided).
(5) Provide your assessment of the outlook for the commercial real estate market relative to the other classes.
This project is designed to provide experience using data on the performance of the commercial real estate market. A selection of quarterly returns data is provided in the file project_data.xls to assist with the project.

Project 1
You are an investment consultant retained to advise a mid-size university endowment fund about commercial real estate investment. You are to prepare a report which addresses several questions on real estate investment (listed in the next section) raised by the university’s investment committee.
Background
At its most recent meeting the Investment Committee of XYZ University has decided to investigate allocating a portion of the university’s endowment to commercial real estate. The committee has no previous experience of investment in this area and requires further information before committing investment funds to this sector. In particular, they wish to have your advice on the following questions:
Research questions
(1) What are the main property types in the commercial real estate market usually considered by institutional investors?
(2) If this fund wishes to allocate $200-400m to this sector, is this sufficient to build a diversified portfolio of commercial buildings?
(3) Advise the fund on the main advantages and disadvantages of investing in REITs as opposed to buying commercial real estate buildings directly.
(4) The endowment fund is already heavily invested in US equities, provide evidence on the average return, variance and correlations of direct real estate with REITs, equities (S&P500, Russell 2000) and bonds (data provided).
(5) Provide your assessment of the outlook for the commercial real estate market relative to the other classes.
This project is designed to provide experience using data on the performance of the commercial real estate market. A selection of quarterly returns data is provided in the file project_data.xls to assist with the project.