Master of Science (Management)

MIS4015S Analysis for Business

WELCOME MESSAGE

Dear Student,

As co-ordinator of the Analysis for Business module, I wish to welcome you to the module.     In  recent years, analytics  have  become  increasingly  important  in  business,  especially  in supporting decision making with impact. Business Analytics means using data, mathematical modelling, statistics and computational techniques such as machine learning to achieve the strategic  goals  of  an  organisation,  for  example,   by  supporting  the  development  of understanding  of  a   business’s  operations  and   its  customers,   making  predictions,  and supporting evidence-based decision-making. However, you don’t necessarily need to have deep expertise in any of the quantitative technical areas to effectively manage and leverage Business Analytics within an organisation. Of course you will need to work with, and manage colleagues with these skills (more on that in the module).

The objective of this module then is to provide a management-level perspective on Business Analytics. To develop an understanding of what is Business Analytics, and its potential to make  a  positive  impact  on  an  organisations  competitiveness,  and  how  to  set  out  as managers  to  effectively  leverage  and  manage  Business  Analytics  while  considering, amongst other  issues, the  regulatory environment and ethical concerns and  implications surrounding the adoption of analytics and the use of personal data.

The Study Guide is designed to support your learning. There is not a single textbook for this module,  rather  we  point  to  a  number  of  chapters  in  several  books  and  provide  some additional useful texts for background and extended reading.

To gain the most benefit from this module, I strongly encourage you to be active learners: ask  questions,  make  relevant  points,  and  actively  engage  in  class  discussions.  The assessment in this module includes a final written exam, and a group work assignment. When working on the group work assignment outside of the scheduled class times, please strive to leverage online environments such as Zoom, Google Hangouts or Microsoft Teams. I hope you find this module challenging and rewarding. Should you require clarification on any matter pertaining to the module, please do not hesitate to contact the lecturer.

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

This Study Guide is designed to provide you with details of this module; the learning outcomes; plus delivery and assessment arrangements. The Study Guide consists of 6 parts.

Part 1 gives background details to the subject area are provided and the broad aims of the module are set out.

Part 2 consists of the module outline. In this part the (a) module learning outcomes, (b) the themes and topics to be explored are explained along with the (c) learning supports to be used.

Part 3 gives details of the module delivery arrangements. It sets out the session arrangements and the expectations in relation to your prior preparation and student engagement. The provisions for online provision are outlined in terms of class delivery and any module work with class mates.

Part 4 provides details of the assessment techniques used in this module explaining the assessment components, their rationale.

Part 5 explains the UCD grading policy and grade descriptors drawing on the university document are given for each assessment component for the module.

Part 6 presents the concluding comments.

Accessing Live Zoom Classes

The first and last lessons which  comprise  of  module  introduction  and  conclusion respectively will be delivered via UCD’s integrated Zoom classroom.

Kindly  access  the  zoom  class   by  logging  into  Brightspace,  go  to  “ MIS4015S- Analysis for Business-2023/24 Summer”, click “My Class”, “Zoom” .

Please always login using your UCD email address and your name. Your name should be visible to the lecturer and other students to facilitate collaboration.

Please join your online session no later than five minutes before the advised time of your session.

Engagement tools on Collaborate

Throughout the online sessions for this module, you will be frequently asked to engage with both your lecturer, and with your fellow students.

The lecturer may send you into breakout groups and you discuss some class content in  smaller groups before your findings are discussed with the whole class. You may use the “Share Screen”function (if enabled) to show some summary points of the breakout group discussions.

If you select“Chat”, a chat window will open and you can communicate with the whole class or with your lecturer. If you would like to send a private message to your lecturer, please select your lecturer’s name instead of everyone.

By clicking on “Reactions”, another menu will open. This menu allows you to raise your hand if you have a question or would like to comment. If you see a hand icon in the left upper corner of your screen, your hand is currently raised. You can lower your hand by clicking on this icon a second time. The lecturer can also lower your hand.

When you join a Zoom session, you will be muted, and your camera is turned off. But for  better engagement in the class, it is advised to keep your camera turned on. Please only  unmute yourself if you would like to speak to avoid background noises. You can change your  audio and video setting by clicking the small arrow beside the “Unmute” or “Start Video” icon.

Background Details

The World Economic Forum estimated that by 2020 the “entire digital universe is

expected to reach 44 zettabytes….If this number is correct, it will mean there are 40 times more bytes than there are stars in the observable universe” . (Jeff Desjardins, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/how-much-data-is-generated-each-day-cf4bddf29f/ )

Even if it is simultaneously easy to be impressed, and a challenge to comprehend, by how much data is being generated, this volume alone represents only one

important and complicating attribute of data (i.e., Volume), which is the raw material upon which Business Analytics operates. The sheer volume of data represents both an opportunity and a whole new set of technical challenges (e.g., how to capture,

store, manage and find signals in such vast amounts of data). In this module,

amongst many other important concepts central to Business Analytics, you will learn  about the five V’s of data (Volume, Variety, Velocity, Veracity, and Value), and how an organisation might set out to manage the adoption of Business Analytics. What

capabilities are required. What processes might be employed to ensure the effective operationalisation of analytics, while developing an awareness and understanding of the wider regulatory and ethical landscape in which Business Analytics operates.

Module Aims

The objective of this  module  is to  provide a  management-level  perspective on  Business Analytics. In particular,

. To develop an understanding of what is Business Analytics.

. To develop an understanding of the potential of Business Analytics to make a positive

impact on an organisations competitiveness.

.  Outline  how  to set out as  managers to effectively  leverage  and  manage  Business Analytics.

.  Develop an understanding of the regulatory environment, and ethical concerns and

implications surrounding the adoption of analytics and the use of personal data.

In particular, we will place an emphasis on the importance of the addition and adoption of a

Business Analytics Process (es) as part of the suite of business processes that exist within

an organisation. To this end,  in addition to the final exam  (60%), there  is a group work

assignment on Business Analytics Process (40%), where you will work in groups to explore

how to apply an exemplar process to a real-World business.

PART 2: MODULE OUTLINE

Module Title: Analysis for Business

Module Code: MIS4015S

No. of ECTS: 10

Module Learning Outcomes

On completing this module, students will be expected to be able to:

- To describe and discuss what is Business Analytics.

- To describe and demonstrate the potential of Business Analytics to make a positive impact on an organisations competitiveness.

- To describe, apply and to evaluate how to set out as managers to effectively leverage and manage Business Analytics.

-  To  describe  and  evaluate  the   regulatory  environment,  and  ethical  concerns  and implications surrounding the adoption of analytics and the use of personal data.

Module Texts:

. Davenport T.H., Kim J. (2013). Keeping up with the Quants. Harvard Business Review Press. (eBook from UCD Library)

. Schmarzo B. (2016). Big Data MBA. Wiley. (eBook from UCD Library)

. Davenport T.H., Harris J.G., Morison R. (2010). Analytics at Work. Harvard Business Review Press. (eBook from UCD library)

. Knaflic C.N. (2015). Storytelling with Data. Wiley (eBook from UCD Library)

. Watch the 2011 movie Moneyball (DVD/BluRay available and relatively inexpensive. May be on Apple TV). Alternatively, read Lewis M. (2003). Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game. Norton.

Learning Materials

For  this  module,  please  read  the  assigned  chapters  from  the   Module  Texts  and  the additional assigned readings provided as pdf’s and links within the slides pdf’s. Please refer to the preparatory readings outlined in the Module Delivery Schedule in Part 3 as a general guide as to when you should read the various texts.