A non-mathematical course on the essentials of business analytics to equip you with hands-on experience to extract more value from your organisation’s data.

Do you have decision-making responsibilities within your organisation, but and find it a challenge to decide what data you need and how to extract the most value from it?

Are you interested in developing knowledge and life-long skills in business analytics, but are concerned about advanced mathematical aspects? 

This course - suitable for organisations of all sizes, working in any business sector - will help you learn the essentials of business analytics and the practical skills to apply it to extract more value from your organisation’s data.

You will understand how organisations create value from data and how, by applying descriptive, prescriptive, predictive, and strategic analytics you will enable your organisation to harness the value of data for decision making.

As well, we will consider the ethical and cultural challenges you will have to overcome in your use of data use for business purposes. Limiting use of theory and advanced mathematics, the course will take a hands-on approach through software training with real cases and support you to implement your own analytics project.  

Additional information about the short course

The course will run over four half-day sessions. Thereafter, we will support you to scope, plan and implement a data and analytics project to create value for your business.

Learning Aims: 

  • Explore how businesses exploit data as a core asset.
  • Equip you with the knowledge and skills for analysing and interpreting data through effective visualisation techniques.
  • Provide you a foundation of the methods for business forecasting that have wide applications in business.
  • Introduce you to key optimisation techniques and illustrate their application to address resource trade-off problems that diverse business operations face.
  • Discover how you can use analytics strategically for medium and long-term planning. 
  • Critically discuss the challenges you will face when managing and using data, including legal, cultural, and ethical issues.
  • Support you to scope, plan and implement a project to use analytics to improve an aspect of your business.

Entry requirements

  • No formal entry requirements, but to qualify for this fully-funded cohort (sponsored by Scottish Funding Council) applicants must be resident in Scotland.
  • The course will be hands-on, limiting use of theory and advanced mathematics. However, participants with a high degree of numerical confidence and familiarity with use of computer analysis tools such as spreadsheets will be best placed to benefit from the course.

How you'll be taught 

  • You will attend four afternoon sessions, face-to-face at Craiglockhart campus, comprising lectures, workshops and computer lab tutorials in-person.
  • Session 1 – Data as a core asset: 3/6/24
  • Session 2 – Visualising data 17/6/24
  • Session 3 – Key predictive and prescriptive analytics techniques 1/7/24
  • Session 4 – Strategic Analytics, ethical and cultural challenges 15/7/24
    • Post course: Analytics and Data Clinics: Upon completing the course, we will then offer you continued support to scope, plan and implement an analytics project within your business through our data clinics.

Assessments

There will be no assessments although quizzes will be used in the sessions to reinforce learning.

Dates

3rd June, 17th June, 1st July & 15th July.

Course Content

  • The value of data 
  • Visualising data 
  • Business Forecasting 
  • Optimisation 
  • Strategic Analytics, ethical and cultural challenges
  • Support for Analytics project scoping, planning and implementation

Fees

This session will be fully-funded by Scottish Funding Council. Open only to residents in Scotland.

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