Harvard Business Analytics Ranking: 1
The digital revolution has brought untold opportunities to the world and its peoples. Web technologies have enabled global commerce and are democratizing wealth. Reams of data make it possible to extract even the most minute insights about a business’s growth, operations or sales. Software and hardware bring connectivity into even the darkest corners of the globe, from distant villages to underground construction sites.
Sponsored School(s)
The only problem? The sheer amount of information means it is sometimes difficult to put that information to good use, which is where business analytics professionals come in. Combining the best of both data manipulation and business, the Business Analytics program teaches you to collect, prepare and draw meaningful insight from data – and earn a great salary while doing it.
So what is the program like? Read on to learn more.
What Is Business Analytics?
According to Technopedia, “Business analytics (BA) refers to all the methods and techniques that are used by an organization to measure performance. Business analytics are made up of statistical methods that can be applied to a specific project, process or product.” Moreover, “Business analytics are performed in order to identify weaknesses in existing processes and highlight meaningful data that will help an organization prepare for future growth and challenges.”
In other words, business analytics is a collection of methods that companies use to make sure they’re making the best use of time, energy and resources. For obvious reasons, this isn’t a skill every worker has. That’s why businesses are increasingly bringing analysts in today. And if you have a Harvard certificate, you have a much better chance of being one of the chosen.
Who Teaches the Business Analytics Program at Harvard?
The Harvard Business Analytics program is a joint effort between:
- Harvard Business School (HBS)
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
- Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS)
Taught by some of the most esteemed professors at the university, it is geared toward imparting lifelong analytical skills in a short amount of time.
What Courses Does This Program Teach?
Specifically, the program seeks to help you “build your capabilities in technical, analytical, and operational areas that can be used to advance your firm’s position in the global market.” Students will learn to analyze and manage data, as well as use cutting-edge technologies and practices that are critical in today’s economy: blockchain, digital strategy, and AI/ML. They will also learn to interpret findings and gain meaningful insights that they can take back to their companies for the purpose of better decision making. Specific courses include:
- Digital Strategy and Innovation
- Foundations of Quantitative Analysis
- Leadership, Innovation, and Change
- In-Person Immersion at Harvard Business School Campus in Boston
- Operations and Supply Chain Management
- Programming and Data Science Systems
- Leadership and People Analytics
- Data-Driven Marketing
- Data Science Pipeline and Critical Thinking
- In-Person Immersion at Harvard Business School Campus in Boston
Each of these courses lends different skills to help business analysts maximize efficiencies and outcomes at companies in a wide range of industries. Each also imparts specific skills that will make your resume more impressive and making getting a job after graduation that much easier.
What Skills Will You Gain?
Because data manipulation and management is such a specific skill set requiring such a deep level of knowledge, Harvard has outlined its most important skills. It guarantees that students who do well in the program will graduate with these abilities, setting them up to handle both the tiniest data details and make the best big-picture recommendations. Specific skills include:
- Speaking the language of data scientists
- Understanding the programs and algorithms that data scientists use to retrieve information and create insight from it
- Interacting with data architecture
- Performing valuable quantitative analysis
- Clarifying ambiguity and lending meaning to formerly meaningless raw data
- Leveraging data and analytics to drive innovation and strategy across entire companies
- Looking for and leveraging competitive advantages in the market
- Using data to take advantage of economic opportunities
- Use data to forecast the future and make better decisions based on it.
Depending on their interest areas, students may have an opportunity to deepen their education in certain areas. They will learn not only the academic and theoretical side of data management, but will interact heavily with the real tools and programs they’ll need to do their jobs once they graduate and get a career in the field.
Best of all, the length of the program makes it both simple and affordable.
How Long Is It?
Harvard’s Business Analytics program is only 9 months long. For a graduate certification, that’s pretty amazing. In that short amount of time, you can either create a bridge between your undergraduate career and your work life, or instead take it between jobs to enrich your career prospects. Either way, it prepares you to manage data at an advanced professional level, which enhances your career prospects and sets you up for a lifetime of higher earning potential. As long as you love data and lifelong learning, there’s no downside.
Want to learn more about this degree and what it can do for you? We invite you to get in touch and ask any questions you may have today, or let us help you get started with the enrollment process now!