Data-Driven Decision-Making in Organizations

Data-Driven Decision-Making in Organizations --- The quantity and granularity of data available to organizations today has exploded. Many firms have integrated the analysis of these data into product design, customer engagement, marketing decisions, etc. However, the opportunity for data-driven decision-making on personnel and organizational policies and practices is equally large. This course will leverage and expand on model-based thinking from BE 300, data analysis skills from TO 301, managerial tools and processes from MO 300 and TO 313, tools for cost-benefit analysis from FIN 300 and ACC 300, and persuasive communication and oral presentation skills from BCOM 350. Students will read and discuss academic papers which apply theories from personnel and organizational economics to generate hypothesis on the impacts of managerial policies and interventions; use granular administrative data from real-world business settings to test these hypotheses; and conduct present value cost-benefit analysis to inform managerial policy. Students will develop the ability to extract insights from models and data, translate them into firm policies, and present convincing data-backed arguments for managerial decisions. Course materials will include papers and contextual details from garment, electronics and automobile manufacturing and food and retail services spanning South and Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the US.