Business Analytics Course
The Richmond MBA offers many courses, both required and elective, that teach students lessons which have helped them excel in their professional endeavors. However, not all are described as “one of the most enjoyable and business-relevant classes” in the curriculum. Those are the words that MBA student John Reed used when asked about Professor Steve Thompson’s Business Analytics class.
Described as challenging and hands-on, the purpose of this course is to provide the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to manipulate very large data sets, analyze complex business problems and develop evidence-based recommendations to improve firm performance. Students complete the course having developed strong analytical skills and the ability to understand and simplify large amounts of data.
“Even with a strong background in analytics, I found myself understanding more clearly how to link data together and organize it in such a way to help make my day-to-day work easier,” said Reed, Senior Sourcing Analyst at MeadWestvaco. “The class allowed us to take very messy, yet very real, company data and apply the principles we had been learning throughout the entire semester. By the end of the course, we had learned so much about the business insight gained from analyzing data and how that insight might help a company to perform at its best.”
The course is designed to introduce and explain key business analytic concepts while providing students the opportunity to complete guided exercises that are then applied in independent work outside the classroom. “Dr. Thompson took us from the most basic data element issues all the way to full-blown, building a front- and back-end database. Along the way, there was a constant reinforcement that the purpose of analysis is to make business decisions, something we did not lose sight of for our final presentations,” said Matt Hannay, Senior Financial Analyst at Markel.
Not only do students gain a better understanding of analytics and how to work with different database and spreadsheet software, they also learn how to communicate results to initiate organizational change and make business decisions. “The real benefit of the Business Analytics class was the way in which Dr. Thompson clearly articulated how to take a massive pile of data and organize and filter it and make smart business decisions from it,” Reed said. “If a business is not only going to survive, but succeed, in today's increasingly connected world, it must be able to collect data and put it to good use. Every MBA student knows this.”
Hannay agreed, saying “by far the largest takeaway for me was the need for robust and cleansed data sets before analytical work can happen. Throughout the course, the focus remained on the result of the analytics.”
At the culmination of the course, students are required to complete a project where business problems are solved using lessons learned in the class. Whether using a problem facing their current employer or helping a local firm with a business issue, students are able to provide real solutions to business matters.
MBA candidates complete the Business Analytics course having become stronger business leaders in their organization and in their field. As Hannay said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the class and would encourage anyone looking for an immediate applicability of MBA class material to take the course.”
The Business Analytics course is now available to take through the Robins School’s Executive Education. Visit our website for more information and register for fall clasess.