Introduction to Business for Analytics

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This course provides students and professionals in the analytics field with an accelerated introduction to the basics of management and the language of business.

The objective is to enhance an analytics-focused learner's effectiveness in the business world. Designed for students who possess little background in business, the course provides an introduction to the types business issues and problems that challenge management teams today.

The course is taught as a series of business disciplinary modules. The professors who teach the modules represent a diversity of functional areas, including accounting, finance, marketing, international marketing, industry analysis, and business strategy.

Topics covered include:

• basic accounting principles and theory;
• financial statement formats, usage and analysis;
• cost accounting, variance analysis, and the use of accounting data for decision making;
• capital structure and financial analysis techniques;
• methods of valuating entrepreneurial ventures, sources of entrepreneurial capital;
• the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place) and strategic considerations in market planning;
• fundamentals of industry analysis, business strategy formulation, and the use of innovation as a competitive weapon.