i

PGDM@NMIMS
Batch - 04; Trimester - 04

Course: Business Analytics for
Decision Making

OVERVIEW OF COURSE

Background
o Ours is the age of prolific data. It is said that data doubles every 18 months. The
internet and the mobile channels through which customers interact with
companies is perhaps the largest contributor to this data deluge. Another reason
is that corporations invested on technology to improve processes and manage
customer relationships. CRM, ERP, SCM and Core banking applications
generate huge volumes of data. Electronic channels for business like ATMs and
credit card swipe machines also add their part. The growth of this data has
created the Analytics Industry and sophisticated techniques have become
readily available to analyze this vast volume of data. Such is the relevance of
Analytics in todays competitive space that many companies have set up
Analytics as a Strategic Business Unit (SBU). Hence, be it the assortment of
products on the retail floor, the credit worthiness of banking customers,
optimizing the channels of distribution, getting more mileage from online
presence or dynamic pricing in airline ticketing, Analytics is increasingly
becoming the key driver of competitive advantage.
o Analytics, as a science, is based on the fundamental principles of Statistical and
OR Theory. One cannot analyze huge volume of data with basic technology like
say, MS Excel alone. Tools like SAS, SPSS and the technology of storing data in
Data warehouses with Oracle or Sybase are a must for handling such volumes.
High storage and processing power is becoming increasingly affordable for most
companies. All these factors together have contributed to the creation and
phenomenal growth of the Analytics especially in India.

Specific Objectives
o To expose students to the nuances of using statistical techniques on voluminous
data for extracting insights that help him make better informed decisions.
o To train students to develop the ability of connecting a business problem to its
solution through an analytical technique
o To educate students to interpret statistical output for business implementation
o Provide hands on exposure to SAS, which is the industry leading software for
analyzing voluminous data







ii

PGDM@NMIMS
Batch - 04; Trimester - 04

Course: Business Analytics for
Decision Making
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The student should be able to understand and appreciate both common and advanced
techniques in Analytics and should be able to apply such techniques to solve business
problems. He/she will get a handle on those business situations where use of Analytics
can become a powerful differentiator. The participant should also become comfortable in
using the SAS software and should be able to apply basic Statistical theory to
understand and interpret SAS output and communicate using business parlance.

SCOPE OF THE COURSE
The study plan covering readings/handouts, classroom sessions, Group Work sessions
and Assignments corresponding to each session are outlined below.
Quizzes or surprise tests would be conducted on the same. For post contact reading,
please refer to the handouts that will be provided at the end of each session.
In addition, there will be computer lab sessions on SAS - several sessions will be
dedicated for these hands-on exercises in the computer lab
The course is spread over 20 sessions. Each session will be of 80 minutes. The
following broad topics will be covered in the course:

o Introduction to Analytics & Exploratory Analysis
o Linear Models using Regression
o Classification techniques
o Binary models using Logistic Regression
o Common analytic techniques


PEDAGOGIC TOOLS
The pedagogic tools available to each participant are:
Study Hand-outs
Study Plan Folder
SAS for hands-on exercises
Reference Books
Statistics for Business and Economics by Anderson, Sweeney and Williams
Multivariate Analysis by Anderson Black and Hair
Business Forecasting by John Hanke
Competing for Analytics by Thomas Davenport
Statistics for Management by Levin and Rubin




iii

PGDM@NMIMS
Batch - 04; Trimester - 04

Course: Business Analytics for
Decision Making
The study encompasses the following:
Classroom Lectures and Interactions
Reading of Handouts being provided
Case Analysis and submission of assignments
SAS sessions in the Lab



GRADING
Data Analysis Exercises - 10%
Assignments - 20%
Projects/ Presentations - 20%
End Term Exam - 50%



Please come prepared with the handout readings as specified for each session
and bring this study plan booklet in class
















iv

PGDM@NMIMS
Batch - 04; Trimester - 04

Course: Business Analytics for
Decision Making
SESSION 1
INTRODUCTION TO ANALYTICS
Readings
Competing on Analytics

Classroom Session
Analytics Definition and Scope
Impetus for growth of Analytics
Applications in Business
Skill sets Required
Tools for Analysis

SESSION 2
ANALYTICS PROCESS
Readings
Analytics Process

Class Room Session
Business Intelligence and Analytics
Business Issues leading to Analytics
Stages of Analytics

SESSIONS 3 & 4
ANALYTIC PROCESS: BASICS OF STATISTICS

Readings
Statistics for Business and Economics by Anderson, Sweeney and Williams(Chapters
9,10,12,13)

Class Room Session
Data types and formats
Some Basic Computations
Median, Mode, Standard Deviance, Variance, Skewness, Kurtosis
Hypothesis tests t-test / ANOVA / Chi-Square


v

PGDM@NMIMS
Batch - 04; Trimester - 04

Course: Business Analytics for
Decision Making
SESSION 5
ANALYTIC PROCESS: DATA CLEANING
Readings
A Review of Missing Data Treatment Methods
Outliers detection and Treatment
Data cleaning and preparation

Class Room Session
Data quality issues
Treating missing values
Treating outliers

SESSIONS 6 & 7
ANALYTIC PROCESS: EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS
Readings
Exploratory data analysis

Class Room Session
Objectives of Exploratory Analysis
Methods and techniques applied
Bivariate analysis for exploratory analysis
Presentation techniques

SESSION 8
BASICS OF STATISTICAL MODELING

Readings
Mathematical Modeling

Class Room Session
What is a mathematical model?
Types and methods of development
Applications


vi

PGDM@NMIMS
Batch - 04; Trimester - 04

Course: Business Analytics for
Decision Making
SESSION 9
LINEAR MODELS SIMPLE REGRESSION AND CORRELATION

Readings
Statistics for Business and Economics by Anderson, Sweeney and
Williams(Chapter 14)

Classroom Session
Linear Models
Estimation using least squares
Measures of regression



SESSION 10
PREPARING DATA FOR ANALYSIS

Readings
Data cleaning and preparation

Classroom Session
Categorical variables
Time orientation
Aggregation/ Ratios


SESSIONS 11 & 12
LINEAR MODELS MULTIPLE REGRESSION AND MODEL BUILDING
STRATEGIES
Readings
Statistics for Business and Economics by Anderson, Sweeney and
Williams(Chapter 15-16)
Case:- Luminar Insights

Classroom Session
Linear and Non Linear Models
Transformations (power, exponential, logistic, log and z
transforms)
Elasticity, Contributions and Diminishing returns


vii

PGDM@NMIMS
Batch - 04; Trimester - 04

Course: Business Analytics for
Decision Making

SESSSION 12 & 13
CLASSIFICATION TECHNIQUES

Readings
CHAID Analysis
SPSS Decision Tree
Case:- Breaking Barriers: Micro-Mortgage Analytics


Classroom Session
Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Techniques (CHAID)
Decision Trees


SESSSIONS 14 to 16
BINARY MODELS LOGISTIC REGRESSION
Readings
Statistics for Business and Economics by Anderson, Sweeney and Williams (Chapter
15.9)
Logistic Regression Analysis (C. Mitchell Dayton)


Classroom Session
Logistic Regression
Evaluation of Results (Lift Chart etc.)


SESSSIONS 17 to 20
COMMON ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES
Readings
A toolkit for Analyst
Case: Harrah's entertainment Inc.

Classroom Session
Recency, Frequency, Monetary Modeling
Market Basket Analysis
Water Fall Diagrams
Pareto Analysis