Statistics in Practice
Read the “Statistics in Practice” article on p. 109, Chapter 3, and answer the following questions: Why do you think the median age of outstanding invoices was lower than the mean age of outstanding invoices? In general, which of the two descriptive numerical measures (mean or median) would you advise Small Fry Design to use? Why? Be specific in your reply. Your post is due by Wednesday.
Statistics in Practice- Small Fry Design Santa Ana, California Small Fry Design * Santa Ana, California Founded in 1997, Small Fry Design is a toy and accessory company that designs and imports products for infants. The company’s product line includes teddy bears, mobiles, musical toys, rattles, and security blankets and features high-quality soft toy designs with an emphasis on color, texture, and sound. The products are designed in the United States and manufactured in China. Small Fry Design uses independent representatives to sell the products to infant furnishing retailers, children’s accessory and apparel stores, gift shops, upscale department stores, and major catalog companies. Currently, Small Fry Design products are distributed in more than 1000 retail outlets throughout the United States. Cash flow management is one of the most critical activities in the day-to-day operation of this company. Ensuring sufficient incoming cash to meet both current and ongoing debt obligations can mean the difference between business success and failure. A critical factor in cash flow management is the analysis and control of accounts receivable. By measuring the average age and dollar value of outstanding invoices, management can predict cash availability and monitor changes in the status of accounts receivable. The company set the following goals: The average age for outstanding invoices should not exceed 45 days, and the dollar value of invoices more than 60 days old should not exceed 5% of the dollar value of all accounts receivable. In a recent summary of accounts receivable status, the following descriptive statistics were provided for the age of outstanding invoices: Mean 40 days Median 35 days Mode 31 days Robert Dant/Alamy Stock Photo Small Fry Design uses descriptive statistics to monitor its accounts receivable and incoming cash flow. Interpretation of these statistics shows that the mean or average age of an invoice is 40 days. The median shows that half of the invoices remain outstanding 35 days or more. The mode of 31 days, the most frequent invoice age, indicates that the most common length of time an invoice is outstanding is 31 days. The statistical summary also showed that only 3% of the dollar value of all accounts receivable was more than 60 days old. Based on the statistical information, management was satisfied that accounts receivable and incoming cash flow were under control. In this chapter, you will learn how to compute and interpret some of the statistical measures used by Small Fry Design. In addition to the mean, median, and mode, you will learn about other descriptive statistics such as the range, variance, standard deviation, percentiles, and correlation. These numerical measures will assist in the understanding and interpretation of data.