In this graduate-level course, explore the foundation of business analytics and how to make decisions based on data by examining how organizations use data-driven decision-making to create a competitive advantage, and learn how to translate analytics results into illuminating visualizations to tell a data-driven story that leaders can use to make decisions.
Today's world of business relies more on data than at any other time in history. Data can help companies generate smarter business decisions, capture information, and enhance their overall decision-making processes.
Today is a challenging time for businesses. Leaders and managers are responsible for delivering services and products to customers and stakeholders, which requires them to make strategic and operational decisions every day. It isn't easy to find a company or leader who wouldn't want to use data to make decisions, since data is much more reliable than intuition. Without data, managers may base decisions on biases and false assumptions that cloud judgment and ultimately lead to poor decision-making.
For example, Google created a department of People Analytics to help make human resource (HR) decisions using data. Google used data from performance reviews and employee surveys to answer its most challenging questions. Its data revealed that managers with specific performance characteristics improved employee happiness, which increased longevity at Google and, in turn, improved employee productivity.
- Unit 1: Introduction to Data-driven Decision-Making
- Unit 2: Transforming to a Data-Driven Decision-Making Enterprise
- Unit 3: The Role of Leadership
- Unit 4: Types of Data
- Unit 5: Deriving Data Insights
- Unit 6: Creating Effective Visualizations
- Unit 7: Database Marketing and Customer Relationship Management
- Unit 8: Data-Driven Uses and Misuses
- Describe the importance of relying on data analytics to drive organizational decision-making;
- Distinguish between the three continuums needed to successfully implement data-driven decision-making;
- Explain the role of leadership and its importance in data-driven decision-making;
- Differentiate between data types and describe the various levels of analytics;
- Analyze the analytical process for organizing and summarizing data used to drive decision-making based on customer trends;
- Apply best practices for creating effective visualizations for different audiences;
- Describe business strategies that can be improved through data-driven decision-making; and
- Analyze how insights revealed from business data are used to drive business strategy.