Business Analytics for Managers

Know­ing how to extract real busi­ness val­ue from the data gen­er­at­ed by your orga­ni­za­tion is a valu­able tool for all man­agers. Top­ics may include: foun­da­tion­al infor­ma­tion on what is meant by ana­lyt­ics; the var­i­ous types of ana­lyt­ics — descrip­tive, pre­dic­tive and pre­scrip­tive; mov­ing from busi­ness intel­li­gence to busi­ness ana­lyt­ics; the­o­ries and trends in data ana­lyt­ics; and the lat­est best prac­tices and tools avail­able in busi­ness ana­lyt­ics, includ­ing their advan­tages and disadvantages.

Course at a glance
  • Be in the loop: big data analytics was identified in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report as the top technology adoption trend for organizations in North America.
  • Course aimed at mid-level management who are developing and implementing new business analytics projects within their organization.
  • Online lecture and discussion-based course.
What you will learn

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Describe the features and benefits of an analytics program.
  • Recognize analytics management trends.
  • Identify key stakeholders and roles that should be part of your program.
  • Develop a plan to build an analytics program to support your organization.
  • Identify strategies for maintaining an effective analytics program.
  • Describe questions answered by analytics.
  • Distinguish decision-making, environmental and organizational analytics trends.
  • Recognize attributes of Analytics 3.0.
  • Distinguish stages of the roadmap of analytical progress.
  • Recognize types of barriers of an analytics program.
  • Discuss challenges to building a data sciences team.
  • Identify factors affecting analytics program success.
  • Describe progression points for analytics success factors.
  • Describe considerations for defining and communicating value.
  • Discuss the role of the analytics program owner.
  • Recognize the steps for managing the analytics model life cycle.
  • Describe the importance and approaches to deliver the measurement framework.
This course has no prerequisites

Students from all educational backgrounds welcome. You can register for this course without applying and enrolling in a program.

Take note:

  • All reading materials will be available through eClass, the University of Alberta’s eLearning management tool.
  • Students will prepare and submit an analytics case study utilizing techniques learned in class (80% of final mark). Participation and active learning will be make up 20% of the final mark.
Currently counts towards:

Applicants intending to enrol in a program are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to lock in their course requirements since they are prone to change.

*If you are already enroled in this program, please refer to your specific program requirements as outlined at the time of your admission: Bear Tracks > Academic Advisement.

When will
this course be offered?

New course schedules are released each June and November.

Course not yet scheduled

This course is not currently scheduled, but may be offered in an upcoming term.

New course schedules are announced each June and November.


Sign up for updates

Interested in future offerings of this course? We can let you know when this course becomes available.