Applied Analytics: Essential Tools and Techniques

Understanding how to transform data into actionable insights is increasingly important at ALL levels of an organization, whether you are making everyday decisions or informing future strategic plans. However, many decision makers lack awareness of commonly used analytics tools and techniques that can base these decisions in information and data. This course introduces students to methods for applying descriptive (What happened?), predictive (What might happen?), and prescriptive (What should we make happen?) analytics techniques to various business and operational challenges. Over four half-days, students will practice combining business data, common software tools, and various modeling and analysis techniques to quickly gain insights about operational performance, predict future outcomes, and develop optimal courses of action for business problems that might otherwise have gone unnoticed or have been deemed too challenging to approach.

Short Course

Applied Analytics: Essential Tools and Techniques

Overview

Understanding how to transform data into actionable insights is increasingly important at ALL levels of an organization, whether you are making everyday decisions or informing future strategic plans. However, many decision makers lack awareness of commonly used analytics tools and techniques that can base these decisions in information and data. This course introduces students to methods for applying descriptive (What happened?), predictive (What might happen?), and prescriptive (What should we make happen?) analytics techniques to various business and operational challenges. Over four half-days, students will practice combining business data, common software tools, and various modeling and analysis techniques to quickly gain insights about operational performance, predict future outcomes, and develop optimal courses of action for business problems that might otherwise have gone unnoticed or have been deemed too challenging to approach.

Current Offerings

Start

Mar 24, 2025

End

Mar 27, 2025

Schedule

March 24-27, 2025: 12:30-3:45pm Eastern

Location

Live Remote

Fee

$3100 View Discounts

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Who Should Attend

This course is ideal for individual contributors at all levels, from frontline workers wrangling data and presenting insights and options to decision-makers up to organizational leaders wanting a firmer grasp of the tools and techniques that drive the analytical products and results they consume in support of fact-based decision-making.

Program Benefits

    Improve your ability to:

    • Understand the advantages and challenges associated with descriptive (What happened?), predictive (What might happen?), and prescriptive (What should we make happen?)
    • Frame complex business problems, clarify decisions that need to be made, articulate constraints that limit decision options, and identify data needed to feed the problem-solving process
    • Use software to acquire, clean, and manipulate data in preparation for further analysis
    • Select one or more analytics techniques to address a given problem. Examples may include:
      • Applying descriptive analytics techniques like data visualization and statistical analysis to better understand a snapshot of past or current data
      • Applying predictive analytics techniques like linear and logistic regression to predict future performance, sales, etc. in support of fact-based decision-making
      • Applying prescriptive analytics techniques like optimization and decision tree analysis to transform certain and uncertain data into one or more (sometimes optimal) courses of action in place of “gut instinct” decision-making
    • Translate analytical results into actionable insights, providing decision makers with clear options based on data and sound analytical approaches

What You Will Learn

This course covers the entire spectrum of data analytics using the descriptive/predictive/prescriptive framework for business analytics. You’ll learn how to leverage data and apply analytical techniques to gain valuable insights and support decision-making in a variety of business and operational scenarios.

With these foundational skills, you will be able to better frame problems, identify and capture relevant data, and apply tools and techniques to help you and your teams more effectively tackle the toughest business and operational challenges. As a result, you will be better prepared to face your most critical decisions grounded by data—as you lead your team or organization toward improved trajectory and growth.

Descriptive Analytics

  • Identify and acquire data from various sources
  • Explore, clean, and prepare data for analysis
  • Create data visualizations and derive meaningful insights
  • Apply statistical techniques to identify outliers in data sets
  • Track performance through Statistical Process Control
  • Use samples to make inferences about data populations

Predictive Analytics

  • Identify useful predictors from available data
  • Apply statistical techniques to predict numerical quantities
  • Apply statistical techniques to predict quantities that change over time
  • Apply statistical techniques to predict categorical data
  • Evaluate the performance of prediction models

Prescriptive Analytics

  • Formulate and solve optimization problems to determine best courses of action
  • Formulate and solve decision problems given uncertain information
  • Apply decision tree analysis to determine outcome scenarios

Value For You and Your Organization

Data has the power to transform business, but only if effectively managed, analyzed, and applied. This starts with leaders who can instill a 'culture of data' among their teams. In this course, Penn State experts will share a comprehensive overview of how to get the most out of data, reinforced by case studies and exercises. You'll learn a step-by-step process that will lead to the extraction of robust information from data to support your organization's greater goals.

The Penn State Difference

Efficiently expand your skillset through focused courses tailored to future-oriented professionals.

Extended Learning

Accelerate learning before the course begins by accessing suggested pre-program readings and assignments through your personal learning portal. Continue to master the content after the program by downloading course decks, class recordings, and in-depth exercises.

Practical Lessons

The course illustrates core principles through relevant real-world case studies. You'll explore how organizations from various sectors, sizes, and locations overcome complex business challenges. An emphasis on step-by-step solutions will help you apply the lessons to your own organization.

Expert-led

Learn from Penn State's award-winning faculty, who have years of experience applying academic mastery to global organizations. Professors craft each course by distilling cutting-edge research into an accessible, applicable format. Questions and participation are always encouraged so that you fully leverage their expertise.

Peer Networking

Your classmates will come from all industries, organizational types, and locations, revealing to new perspectives and approaches. Group-based exercises and interactive breakout rooms encourage participants to learn from one another and network across sectors.

Faculty

This course is led by expert faculty, with extensive academic and industry leadership experience, who are committed to sharing unique insights into your organization.

Customize This Program

All programs can be tailored to your organization and team, and be delivered to groups of 10 or more. Contact us about custom program possibilities. Customize Request Info 800-311-6364
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Additional Details

Our Learning Solutions Associate will be happy to hold a seat for you in this program. A reservation does not commit you to the program until you submit the registration form online. To reserve your spot, click the ‘Save my Seat’ button next the program’s offering, listed above.

Discount Rates

  • 10%: Live Remote delivery

Eligibility

Tuition discounts are available for:

  • DoD or government employees
  • Penn State alumni
  • Individuals who commit to earning a Professional Certificate
  • Teams of three or more attending from the same organization
  • CSCR Corporate Sponsors and other affiliated groups (with valid discount code)

After registration, you will receive access to your personal learning portal. There you can find the following information:

  • Pre-program assignments, which prepare you for the program before the start date
  • A list of program faculty and fellow registered participants
  • Travel coordination and support, if applicable

Transfers

If an accepted Penn State Executive Programs applicant finds it necessary to transfer to another session of the same program, one transfer will be allowed with no charge if arranged more than six (6) weeks prior. Additional transfers, transfers to a different program, or transfers arranged less than six (6) weeks prior incur a charge of 10% of the current program fee.

The sponsoring company may identify a replacement candidate, but the replacement candidate must be accepted for the program through an admissions review.

Refunds

The following refunds will apply for withdraws if Penn State Executive Programs is notified in writing within the time period stated:

  • Full refund with notification received more than six (6) weeks prior to start of the program
  • 50% refund with notification received between two (2) and six (6) weeks before the start of the program.
  • No refund with notification received two (2) weeks or less prior to the start of program.

Note: The registered participant or their agent must confirm all notification of withdrawals, transfers and substitutions in writing. If written notification is not received, the full program fee will be assessed.

Cancellations

The University may cancel or postpone any course or activity because of insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen circumstances. If a program is canceled or postponed, the University will refund registration fees but cannot be held responsible for any other related charges, or expenses, including cancellation/change charges by airlines or travel agencies. In the case of postponement, as an alternative to a refund, program fees may be transferred to another session of that program.

If you have any questions or concerns about our cancellation policy, please contact us to discuss further.