Three clients, three kinds of data
You are a junior analyst. On Monday you tidy sales data for a small bakery. On Tuesday you count patient waiting times for a hospital. On Wednesday you study gifts to a charity shop.
The skills are the same. The three places are not. They have different owners, different money and different aims. A good analyst knows what kind of place they work for.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation | a group of people working for one aim | |
| Sector | the part of the economy an organisation belongs to | private sector |
| SME | a small or medium-sized business | a firm with 30 staff |
| NGO | a group that is not part of any government and helps people | |
| Not for profit | spends any money it makes on its aim, not on owners | |
| Business model | who an organisation sells to | |
| B2C | business to customer: sells to the public | a clothes shop |
| B2B | business to business: sells to other firms | a firm that sells ink to offices |
| B2M | business to many: serves a large crowd, often free to use | a search engine |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can name the type, the sector and the business model of an organisation from a short description.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
An organisation has a purpose
Every organisation exists for a reason. Some provide a product: a thing you can hold, such as a laptop or a loaf of bread.
Some provide a service: something done for you, such as repairing a laptop or teaching a class.
Many do both. A phone shop sells phones (product) and fixes screens (service).
The sectors and their types
| Sector | Who owns it and why | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Private: SME | Owners aim to make money. Fewer than 250 staff | A local bakery with a web shop |
| Private: large enterprise | Owners aim to make money. Many staff, often in many places | A national supermarket chain |
| Private: NGO | Not run by a government. Helps people or a cause | An international aid group |
| Public sector | Run by the government, paid for by taxes | A council, a state school, the NHS |
| Voluntary or charity | Not for profit. Often helped by volunteers and gifts | A food bank |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
How big is an SME?
Tip
In the UK an SME has fewer than 250 staff. A large enterprise has 250 or more. Small firms often have no data team at all, so one person may do everything.
Check: which sector?
Have a go
Check: which sector?
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.