Module COMP41815: Introduction to Business Analytics

Department: Computer Science

COMP41815: Introduction to Business Analytics

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To introduce students to the key concepts of programming in python
• To examine how data structures affect the ease of implementation and efficiency of computer programs
• To give students an in-depth understanding at an advanced level of data structures appropriate to business analytics
• To examine and understand how companies attempt different business and corporate strategies to achieve or maintain a competitive advantage
• To give students an in-depth understanding at an advanced level of strategy formulation and implementation under conditions of changing political, economic, sociocultural, and technological conditions, industry competition and firm resources
• To provide an in-depth understanding and critical evaluation of specialist techniques to aid analysis of the competitive and contextual environment.

Content

• Programming in python
• Data structures and their impact on execution time
• Contested nature of the effective organization
• Approaches to organizational effectiveness
• Exploration of Taylorism and its relevance today
• Shifts in control over time
• Workforce patterns of change and engagement
• Process models of change
• Types of change and sources of resistance to change
• Analysing the strategic environment
• Devising and implementing strategic plans
• Supply chains, networks, layout and flow
• Planning and control
• Improvement and risk management
• Cognitivist and behavioural approaches

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this module, students should:
• Understand the core constructs of imperative programming and how they are used in python
• Have a critical appreciation of the main strengths and weaknesses of a range of programming data structures and how to use them
• Understand various corporate strategies of effective organisation and maintaining a competitive advantage

• By the end of this module, students should:
• Be able to write computer programs in python
• Be able to select appropriate data structures for modelling business scenarios
• Be able to use appropriate tools to manage source code
• Be able to critically assess and examine various corporate strategies
• Be able to critically analyse the non-market environment of business on firms, such as the strategic constraints and opportunities presented by socio-cultural and political developments
• Be able to conduct an in-depth industry analysis and gain advanced understanding of its strengths and limitations

• Effective written communication
• Planning, organising and time-management
• Problem solving and analysis

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Learning outcomes are met through classroom-based workshops, supported by online resources. The workshops consist of a combination of taught input, groupwork, case studies, discussion and computing labs. Online resources provide preparatory material for the workshops typically consisting of directed reading and video content.
• The formative assessment consists of classroom-based exercises involving individual and group tasks on specific computer science topics.
• The summative assessment is a individual written report on the design, implementation, analysis and testing of a program to solve a specified business problem

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Classroom-based exercises involving individual and group analyses and presentations on specific business analytics topics relevant to the learning outcomes of the modules. Oral and written feedback will be given on a group and/or individual basis as appropriate.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University