Business Analytics

In today’s business world, the ability to make data-driven decisions is critical to

success. Harvard Business School Online’s Business Analytics will teach you
basic analytical skills to collect, analyze, and interpret data. This course is not
Quick Facts
based on rote memorization of equations or facts, but focuses on honing your • An interactive, immersive,
understanding of key concepts, your managerial judgment, and your ability to and highly experiential online
apply course concepts to real business problems. program

Business Analytics begins with basic descriptive statistics and progresses to • Develop a data mindset
regression analysis. You’ll learn course concepts in the context of A/B testing for
• Gain the analytical skills to
a website, checking the accuracy of inventory, forecasting sales, and planning
interpret and communicate
staffing levels. Throughout the course, you will receive clear guidance on how to
data
implement analytical techniques in Excel. No matter your job function or career
aspirations, this course will demystify data analysis and equip you with concrete • 5 modules of study over
skills to apply to your work or further studies. This course will allow you to: 8 weeks

• Approximately 40 hours of
• Recognize trends, detect outliers, • Craft sound survey questions and total learning time
and summarize data sets concisely draw conclusions from samples of a
• Certificate of Completion
larger population
• Analyze relationships between from Harvard Business
variables • Estimate the accuracy of statistics School Online
by calculating confidence intervals
• Develop and test hypotheses to
inform managerial decisions • Perform single and multiple variable
regression analysis using Excel and
interpret the output

Who is this course for? About the Harvard Business School Faculty
Business Analytics is designed for Janice H. Hammond
individuals who are looking to master Jesse Philips Professor of Manufacturing
quantitative methods used to analyze
data and make better management Professor Hammond is a Professor in the Technol-
decisions. ogy and Operations Management (TOM) Unit and
Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community
at HBS. Her research focuses on speed and
flexibility in manufacturing and logistics systems
to respond to changing customer demand.

For more information, visit online.hbs.edu or email us at HBSOnlineAlliances@hbs.edu

© Copyright 2019. President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved.
Business Analytics Syllabus

Modules Lessons Learning Objectives

• Visualizing Data • Create visual representations of data that allow you to

• Descriptive Statistics recognize trends and detect outliers
Module 1

Describing and • Relationships Between Two Variables • Define and calculate descriptive statistics to summa-

Quiz
Summarizing rize data sets concisely
Data • Analyze relationships between two variables by
creating scatter plots and calculating the correlation
coefficient

• Creating Representative and Unbiased • Determine an adequate sample size, explain the
Samples importance of random sampling, and craft sound
survey questions to create representative samples
Module 2

• The Normal Distribution

Sampling • Draw conclusions about the larger population by cal-

Quiz
• Confidence Intervals
and Estimation • Amazon’s Inventory Sampling
culating sample statistics and applying the properties
of the normal distribution
• Estimate the accuracy of statistics by calculating
confidence intervals

• Designing and Performing Hypothesis • Develop and test hypotheses to assess the impact of
Tests changes on an entire population or estimate
Module 3

• Improving the Customer Experience differences between populations

Hypothesis

Quiz
• Quantify the evidence in favor of or against your
Testing hypothesis in order to make managerial decisions

• The Regression Line • Identify the best fit line for a data set and interpret
• Forecasting its equation
Module 4

Single • Interpreting the Regression Output • Analyze the relationship between two variables and

Quiz
Variable Linear develop forecasts for values outside the data set
• Performing Regression Analysis
Regression • Forecasting Home Video Units
• Perform a regression analysis using Excel and inter-
pret the output

• The Multiple Regression Equation • Estimate the relative predictive power of different
• Adapting Concepts from Single Regression combinations of variables by performing and interpret-
Module 5

ing a multiple variable regression analysis using Excel

Multiple • Performing Multiple Regression Analysis
Quiz

• Expand the range of your analysis by using dummy

Regression • New Concepts in Multiple Regression and lagged variables
• The Caesars Staffing Problem

For more information, visit online.hbs.edu or email us at HBSOnlineAlliances@hbs.edu

© Copyright 2019. President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved.