The analysis of secondary data is crucial for acquiring background information for research. However, adequate analysis requires reliable data from credible resources, which, in the case of Yorktown Systems Group, is difficult to acquire since it is not a publicly-traded company (Baarda, 2010). The data for the company’s revenues and the number of employees for 2020 against its competitors were acquired from Growjo (n.d.), which implies that the accuracy of data is questionable. Thus, the acquired data was cross-sectional rather than historical (McClaive et al., 2018). Since the data were cross-sectional, it was impossible to use for making predictions about the company’s future performance.
The first step was to acquire descriptive statics using Microsoft Excel 2016. According to Kaur et al. (2018), “descriptive statistics are used to summarize data in an organized manner by describing the relationship between variables in a sample or population” (p. 60). First, a sample of companies from the same industry (direct competitors of Yorktown Systems Group) was used. The mean revenues were $111.24 million with a standard deviation (SD) of approximately $22.7 million. At the same time, the mean number of employees was 362 with an SD of 74. This implies that Yorktown Systems Group’s revenues ($135.2 million) and the number of employees (439) were over one SD above the industry’s means. Second, descriptive statistics of Yorktown Systems Group with competitors and other local companies were acquired. The mean revenues were $118.8 million with an SD of $29.2 million, while the mean number of employees was 440 with an SD of 114. This demonstrates that Yorktown Systems Group’s revenues and the number of employees were above the mean values for the area.
After descriptive statistics were acquired, the correlation between the number of employees and revenues was assessed by plotting one variable over another (Smith, 2018). The plot demonstrated that there was an almost perfect correlation between the number of employees and the companies’ revenues in the sample of the company from the defense industry. Pearson’s correlation analysis was almost equal to 1. When the same procedure was conducted for the competitors with other companies in the area, the correlation was weaker (Pearson’s R=0.69).
References
Baarda, B. (2010). Research: This is it! Groningen.
Growjo. (n.d.). Yorktown Systems Group competitors, revenue, alternatives and pricing. Web.
Kaur, P., Stoltzfus, J., & Yellapu, V. (2018). Descriptive statistics. International Journal of Academic Medicine, 4(1), 60-63.
McClaive, J., Benson, G., & Sincich. (2018). Statistics for business and economics. Pearson.
Smith, M. (2018). Statistical analysis handbook. The Winchelsea Press