Online Master of Science in Business Intelligence & Analytics (MSBI&A)

This course explores data-driven methods that are used to analyze and solve complex business problems. Students will acquire analytical skills in building, applying and evaluating various models with hands-on computer applications. Topics include descriptive statistics, time-series analysis, regression models, decision analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, and optimization models.

This course focuses on the design and management of data warehouse (DW) and business intelligence (BI) systems. The course is organized around the following general themes: business value of data, planning and business requirements, data architecture, data design, implementation, business intelligence, deployment, data integration and emerging issues. Practical examples and case studies are presented throughout the course. This course also includes hands-on application in various software packages.

This course covers basic concepts in optimization and heuristic search with an emphasis on process improvement and optimization. This course emphasizes the application of mathematical optimization models over the underlying mathematics of their algorithms. While the skills developed in this course can be applied to a very broad range of business problems, the practice examples and student exercises will focus on the following areas: healthcare, logistics and supply chain optimization, capital budgeting, asset management, portfolio analysis. Most of the student exercises will involve the use of Microsoft Excel’s “Solver” add-on package for mathematical optimization.

This course focuses on understanding the basic methods underlying multivariate analysis through computer applications using R. Multivariate analysis is concerned with datasets that have more than one response variable for each observational or experimental unit. Topics covered include principal components analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modeling, multidimensional scaling, correspondence analysis, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, discriminant function analysis, logistic regression, and other methods used for dimension reduction, pattern recognition, classification, and forecasting. Through class exercises and a project, students apply these methods to real data and learn to think critically about data analysis and research findings.

In this course, students will learn how to analyze social network data and apply the analyses to develop marketing strategies. The course focuses on network concepts, including graph-theoretic fundamentals, centrality, cohesion, affiliations, equivalence, and roles, as well as design issues, including data sampling and hypothesis testing. Theoretical areas covered include embeddedness, social capital, homophily, and network growth. Another focus of this course is on marketing applications of social network analysis, in particular the use of knowledge about network properties and behavior, such as hubs and paths, the robustness of the network, and information cascades, to better broadcast products and search targets After taking this course, students should be able to statistically analyze and describe large scale networks, model the evolution of networks, and apply the network analyses to marketing research.

This course will focus on Data Mining & Knowledge Discovery Algorithms and their applications in solving real world business and operation problems. We concentrate on demonstrating how discovering the hidden knowledge in corporate databases will help managers to make near-real time intelligent business and operation decisions. The course will begin with an introduction to Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Databases. Methodological and practical aspects of knowledge discovery algorithms including: Data Preprocessing, k-Nearest Neighborhood algorithm, Machine Learning and Decision Trees, Artificial Neural Networks, Clustering, and Algorithm Evaluation Techniques will be covered. Practical examples and case studies will be present throughout the course.

This course uses advanced technologies, such as IBM's Blue Mix and Google's TensorFlow, as building blocks, allowing student teams to exercise their ingenuity to develop applications that use AI and machine learning in entirely new business application areas. The products of cognitive computing are beginning to appear in the marketplace, while so-called "deep-learning" AI applications are finding their way into healthcare, energy management, security, marketing and financial services.

The field of Big Data is emerging as one of the transformative business processes of recent times. It utilizes classic techniques from Business Intelligence & Analysis, along with new tools and processes to deal with the volume, velocity, and variety associated with big data. As they enter the workforce, a significant percentage of BIA students will be directly involved with big data either as technologists, managers, or users. This course will build on their understanding of the basic concepts of BI&A to provide them with the background to succeed in the evolving data centric world, not only from the point of view of the technologies required, but in terms of management, governance, and organization. Tools will include Hadoop, Hbase, and related software.

Covers marketing analytics techniques such as segmentation, positioning, and forecasting, which form the cornerstone of marketing strategy in industry. Students will work on cases and data from real companies, analyze the data, and learn to present their conclusions and make strategic recommendations.

Introduces the tactical and strategic issues surrounding the design and operation of supply chains, to develop supply chain analytical skills for solving real-life problems. Topics covered include: supplier analytics, capacity planning, demand-supply matching, sales and operations planning, location analysis and network management, inventory management and sourcing.

The care and use of data are essential to all enterprises. As they enter the workforce, our students are increasingly expected to understand the entire value chain for data intensive products and services. This course builds on their previous studies in data engineering/data science/management, to train them to think critically about the process, tools, techniques, technologies, and governance for an entire data pipeline, from data through application, and to execute and document such a pipeline. The students will be presented with a combination of data and required business application information and will create case studies of a complete data pipeline. The data/application combinations will require students to think critically about all of the components of a complete project pipeline; to program such a pipeline using appropriate technology; and to write a clear, detailed report on the project, including the reasons for the decisions that were made and the alternatives that were considered.

This course surveys applications of artificial intelligence to business and technology in the digital era, including autonomous transportation, fraud detection, machine translation, meeting scheduling and facial recognition. In each application area, the course focuses on issues related to management of A.I. projects, including fairness, accountability, transparency, ethics and the law.