Chapter 3, Problem 17P

The Northwest regional manager of Logan Outdoor Equipment Company has conducted a study to determine how her store managers are allocating their time. A study was undertaken over three weeks that collected the following data related to the percentage of time each store manager spent on the tasks of attending required meetings, preparing business reports, customer interaction, and being idle. The results of the data collection appear in the following table:

1. a. Create a stacked-bar chart with locations along the vertical axis. Reformat the bar chart to best display these data by adding axis labels, a chart title, and so on.
2. b. Create a clustered-bar chart with locations along the vertical axis and clusters of tasks. Reformat the bar chart to best display these data by adding axis labels, a chart title, and the like.
3. c. Create multiple bar charts in which each location becomes a single bar chart showing the percentage of time spent on tasks. Reformat the bar charts to best display these data by adding axis labels, a chart title, and so forth.
4. d. Which form of bar chart (stacked, clustered, or multiple) is preferable for these data? Why?
5. e. What can we infer about the differences among how store managers are allocating their time at the different locations?