Online Foundations in Business Analytics Certificate

In the area of probability, this course covers the concepts of discrete and continuous probability distributions as well as conditional probability. It also covers basic statistics, which can be thought of as a set of tools for interpreting data. These include descriptive statistics, which permit us to describe basic characteristics of data, including the computation of means, standard deviations and ranges of a data set. This course also covers inferential statistics, which are methods for uncovering deeper insights from the data, such as hypothesis testing. Finally, the course considers data visualization as an integral part of data analysis.

This course provides a set of programming skills using the R programming language, which is widely used in business analytics for statistical computations.

This course provides a foundation of Python programming skills for business analytics including knowledge of Python data types, facilitating repeated execution through the application of loops, using conditional statements, programming the input and output of data, the use of Python packages, and the construction of functions.

This course provides a set of linear algebra tools for performing business analytics including vector-matrix multiplication, Gaussian elimination, computing determinants, computing matrix rank, computing matrix column and row spaces, performing eigenanalysis, and performing principal components analysis.

This course will include a survey of the state-of-the-art in business analytics, examining companies that have used business analytics for competitive advantage and how they have done so. This course will teach business acumen and how the field of analytics fits within the context of business. Topics will include business metrics as used for performance measurement and incentives, communicating with impact, visualization, and the functions of a company—how they interact, what data they have, and their development and deployment of algorithms. The course will also include a survey of opportunities for problem solving using business analytics in operations, supply chain, human resources, finance and marketing, as well as an introduction to the tools that are covered in the remainder of this program.