Introduction to Business Analytics

Introducing you to business analytics. In this course, you will learn how to implement a diverse range of analytical techniques in practice to manage a successful analytics project in a large blue-chip corporation.

with Randy Rosseel

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Course Overview

Business analytics offers a unique perspective on how world-class organizations use data-driven decision making as a tool for success. Throughout the course, you will develop the practical skills you need to manage a successful analytics project. The step-by-step modules take you all the way from stakeholder and process mapping, through end-to-end processes and benchmarking, to hands-on analytical techniques, including historical analysis, variance analysis, trend analysis, value-based analysis, correlation, time series, regression, as well as machine and deep learning analysis. Once you finish the course, you will have a good idea how these techniques can be applied in practice, allowing you to thrive in any corporate environment.

54 High Quality Lessons

13 Practical Tasks

5 Hours of Video

Certificate of Achievement

Skills you will gain

business analyticsdata analysisdata visualizationtheory

What You'll Learn

Do you want to know how worldwide top business corporations build and use data-based decision-making systems to succeed? Enroll in this course and take your analytical thinking to the next level!

Manage expectations of different stakeholders

Prepare annual and long-term business plans

Define business intelligence

Identify key values and metrics

Improve your understanding of various analysis methodologies

Create powerful data visualizations

Curriculum

Setting the scene Free

4 Lessons 16 Min

The first section of the course teaches you the fundamentals of how companies develop short- and long-term expectations, why that is necessary, and how businesses set up a system to monitor their performance.
What does the course cover? Free Managing expectations of different stakeholder groups Free Preparing an annual business plan and a long-range plan Free Analytics vs analysis Free
Understanding your business Free

5 Lessons 17 Min

Here, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the mechanics of the entire process through practical examples. You will learn more about the various groups of stakeholders, their expectations, and how these are translated into the long-range plan and the annual business plan.
Into to Section 2 Free Stakeholder mapping Free Defining business intelligence Free End-to-end process mapping (part 1) Free End-to-end process mapping (part 2) Free
An in-depth view of end-to-end processes in a corporation

5 Lessons 12 Min

An in-depth view of end-to-end processes in a corporation - Hire-to-Retire (H2R), Record-to-Report (R2R), Order-to-Cash (O2C), Source-to-Pay (S2P)
Hire-to-retire (H2R) Source-to-Pay (S2P) Record-to-report (R2R) Order-to-Cash (O2C) Global process owners - Conclusion
Target setting

6 Lessons 35 Min

This section is dedicated to target-setting. You will learn how to identify key value drivers, what are metrics, and what distinguished metrics and KPIs. This part of the course also explains internal and external benchmarking, as well as the importance of the Master data governance function.
Identifying a firm's key value drivers Metrics vs KPIs Define your metrics The benchmarking exercise The importance of data The master data governance function
Maturity stages in analytics

5 Lessons 24 Min

An introduction of the different stages of analysis and a high-level overview of the types of analytics techniques that can be implemented in each of these stages within a company’s day to day activities. This section provides you with an excellent holistic framework about the descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive types of analytics implemented by businesses in different industries around the world. Once you complete the section, you will have a good understanding of what can be done in different situations and how these analytics can create value for your organization.
Into to Section 5 Descriptive analytics Diagnostic analytics Predictive analytics Prescriptive analytics
Analytics techniques in practice

16 Lessons 96 Min

A closer look into the topic where you will improve your understanding of trend analysis, comparative analysis, and value-based analysis through relevant practical examples. Further on, the section covers time-series correlation and regression analysis, and you will get familiar with some of the more advanced techniques that are rapidly increasing in popularity, such as business decision trees, machine learning, and natural language processing.
Into to Section 6 Trend analysis Trend analysis in Excel Comparative analysis Comparative analysis in Excel Value-based analysis Value-based analysis in Excel Correlation analysis Correlation analysis in Excel Time series analysis Time series analysis in Excel Regression analysis Regression analysis in Excel Machine learning analysis Types of machine learning Conclusion
Analytics life cycle

10 Lessons 49 Min

This last section focuses on project management and reveals some critical success factors which you can bear in mind when working on your own analytical project. We will go through a Step-By-Step plan showing how to execute a project by reviewing each of the six phases of the analytics project's lifecycle: the hypothesis development phase, situation analysis, current state analysis, the blueprint and design phase, the build and test phase, and the deploy and operationalize phase.
Into to Section 7 Hypothesis development Situational analysis Building a RACI matrix What makes for a successful project? Current state analysis Blueprint and design Build and test Build and test: step-by-step Deploy and operationalise: operationalise-and-operationalise
Data visualization for business analytics

1 Lesson 8 Min

In this section, you will learn how to create powerful data visualizations to communicate your message. As BI tools are winning popularity, people are less interested in getting information from long pages of text. You will understand how to tell a story in a format that is easy to read and, quite importantly, gives your audience clear answers without the help of an analyst.
Data visualization
Practical case study

2 Lessons 23 Min

In this section of the course, we will blend the knowledge acquired in the previous lessons with a practical exercise that shows how the principles covered so far can be applied in a real-life situation. We will study how the Supply Chain division of a company works and how business analytics helps run operations smoothly.
Practical case study (part 1) Practical case study (part 2)