Business Analytics

• Business analytics is a process of transforming data into actions through analysis and insights, supported by various tools such as Microsoft Excel, Google Spreadsheet, commercial software packages like SAS or Minitab, and more business intelligence suites that integrate data with analytical software.
• Business analytics uses data to understand past and current business performance and make informed decisions.
• Data Security: The security principle requires that agencies must protect data under their stewardship with reasonable measures to prevent loss, unauthorized access or disclosure.
• Limitation of use: Organizations need to delete information when it's no longer needed.
• Data Accuracy: The accuracy of personal data is integral to data protection.
• Descriptive analytics is a category of business analytics that uses data to understand past and current business performance and make informed decisions.
• Predictive analytics is a category of business analytics that seeks to predict the future by examining historical data, detecting patterns or relationships in these data, and then extrapolating these relationships forward in time.
• Prescriptive analytics is a category of business analytics that uses optimization to identify the best alternatives to minimize or maximize some objective.
• A data set is a collection of related files containing records on people, places, or things.
• A database is a collection of data.
• Data for business analytics can be used in various ways such as annual reports, economic forecasts, market research, customer data analysis, human resource management, and more.
• Data can be classified into categories such as categorical, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
• The problem-solving process involves defining the problem, gathering data, analyzing data, making decisions, and evaluating the results.
• Legal and ethical issues in business analytics include privacy, security, confidentiality, and compliance with regulations.
• A data set is a collection of data.
• Organizations need to make sure their collection practices don't break the law and they aren't hiding anything from data subjects.
• A decision model is a logical or mathematical representation of a problem or business situation that can be used to understand, analyze, or facilitate making a decision.
• Human Resource (HR) Analytics uses descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics to manage the workforce.
• Government agencies and other nonprofits use analytics to drive out inefficiencies and increase the effectiveness and accountability of programs.
• Finding the real problem and distinguishing it from symptoms that are observed is a critical step in defining the problem.
• Marketing Analytics uses descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics to manage the marketing function.
• Structuring the problem involves stating goals and objectives, characterizing the possible decisions, and identifying any constraints or restrictions.
• Business analytics is used by companies like Google to determine the characteristics of great leaders, assess factors that contribute to productivity, and evaluate potential new hires.
• Interpreting the results from the analysis phase is crucial in making good decisions.
• Make the solution work in the organization by providing adequate training and resources.
• Problems exist when there is a gap between what is happening and what we think should be happening.
• The second step in the problem-solving process is to clearly define the problem.
• Supply Chain Analytics uses descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics to manage the supply chain.
• Predictive models are used to forecast financial performance, assess the risk of investment portfolios and projects, and construct financial instruments such as derivatives.
• Analysis involves some sort of experimentation or solution process, such as evaluating different scenarios, analyzing risks associated with various decision alternatives, finding a solution that meets certain goals, or determining an optimal solution.
• Data privacy laws are designed to protect individuals’ data from being used against their wishes.
• Implementing the solution involves making the solution work in the organization, or translating the results of a model back to the real world.
• Models cannot capture every detail of the real problem, and managers must understand the limitations of models and their underlying assumptions and often incorporate judgment into making a decision.