Introductory description

With the ever growing mass of digital data available in every business, large amount of information remains hidden in the data. This information can now be extracted with the help of data analysis (descriptive analytics) to provide a sound and objective support for forecasting predictions (predictive analytics) and related decisions (prescriptive analytics) in business. Business analytics & visualization is the art and science of extracting information from business data and presenting it with suitable graphical tools to provide a sound and objective basis to the decision process.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS - Introduction to basic business analytics with Excel; Data manipulation

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS - Forecasting Methods & Measures of Forecast Error

PRESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS - Linear programming

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Perform preliminary statistical analysis of data and evaulate results.
• Consolidate key insights and predictions by modelling time series data.
• Identify prescriptive analytics optimization problems in different settings.
• Communicate solutions effectively and efficiently to a critical audience of non-specialists.

Indicative reading list

Sharda, R. (2018) Business intelligence: managerial perspective. Fourth, Global edition.
Harlow, England: Pearson.

Cox, D. R. and Donnelly, C. A. (2011) Principles of applied statistics. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

Ross, S. M. (2021) Introduction to probability and statistics for engineers and scientists.
Sixth edition. London, United Kingdom: Academic Press.

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

Students will be able to demonstrate a high competency level in:

Data Analysis;
Data Visualisation;
Statistical Analysis;
Advanced MS-Excel Usage;

Transferable skills

Team Working;
Communication skills ;
Problem solving;