Business Analytics

Master of Science (MSc) in Business Analytics.

Overview
Given the ever-increasing volume of data that businesses have access to today, there is a demand for employees who have computational, analytical and business strategy skills who can inform business decisions to increase efficiency and an organisation's value. This Master of Science in Business Analytics has been developed with the aim of providing learners with the knowledge, skills and research capability to critically analyse, implement and evaluate big data concepts and techniques in order to generate valuable insights, thereby assisting with strategic business decisions, increasing productivity, profitability and an organisation's value and market share.

Aims and Objectives
This new programme aims to provide learners with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills to critically analyse, evaluate and implement big data concepts and techniques in order to generate valuable business insights. These insights will inform strategic business decisions designed to increase productivity, profitability and an organisation's value and market share.

It has been designed with an integrated delivery from end-to-end covering a wide range of business strategy, analytics and technology topics whilst providing a focus on application and the regulation required in this area. The programme focuses on theoretical and contextual knowledge in core areas such as statistics, decision theory, business strategy and finance while also offering applied practical skills in contemporary topics such as data analytics, visualisation, modelling, simulation and forecasting, project management, big data and business application development. Learners who complete the full Master of Science programme (including the 25 ECTS capstone Applied Research Project) will also develop and enhance their research capability through critical enquiry and detailed analytical problem solving.

Overall, the programme aims to create in learners a critical understanding of core business analytics and strategic business management, while also enhancing the research capability and practical technical skills of the learners.

The specific programme objectives are to:
•Enable learners to develop in-depth knowledge and critical awareness of the current and developing business analytics field.
•Provide learners with a deep and systematic understanding of research and analysis relating to business analytics.
•Provide learners with specialised technical knowledge of the management of data and the mining of data to provide insights into business propositions/solutions/ strategy.
•Equip learners with advanced skills directly complementary and relevant to the business analytics workplace.
•Enable learners to identify, develop and apply detailed analytical, creative, problem-solving and research skills in business analytics.
•Enable learners to develop and enhance autonomous learning skills.
•Position learners with a comprehensive platform for career development, innovation and professional learning in the business management and data analysis field.

Overall, the programme aims to create in learners a critical understanding of core business analytics and strategic business management, while also enhancing the research capability and practical technical skills of the learners.

Structure
Learners will complete the taught component of the Master in Science in Business Analytics which includes nine modules forming the core of the subject knowledge and practical skills provision with the tenth module synthesising and applying this knowledge in the capstone Research Project module. This programme and the progression of the modules, facilitates the learner in end-to-end learning, demonstrating critical thinking, relevant depth of knowledge, research capability and applying practical creative, problem solving skills. In the capstone applied research module, the learner then synthesises their learning in an area of focussed interest, critically analysing relevant literature, using suitable applied research methods and research design in the production of an artefact and written report appropriate to a Level 9 Science standard.

The minimum requirement for admission to this programme is a minimum second class Level 8 honours bachelor degree in a cognate area (e.g. computer science, IT, science, mathematics, statistics, finance, economics, business (including quantitative methods), maths and management information systems, OR a non-cognate Level 8 honours bachelors award with three to five years' experience in analytics.

In addition, for applicants whose first language is not English and who have not undertaken their undergraduate degree through English the following is required:

The minimum requirement for a non-native English speaker is greater or equal to B2+ in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for admission. Non-EU applicants, residents outside Ireland/EU, must apply directly to the International Admissions Office at DBS. Further details regarding Non-EU learners can be found in the DBS Quality Assurance Handbook (QAH).

The programme teaching and learning strategy is designed to allow the learner to progress through the theoretical and practical concepts in an orderly and logical fashion. The assessment strategy is planned to ensure practical application of the core principles of the module and facilitates feedback, which underpins the overall learning experience.

The overall assessment strategy of the programme is a mixture of practical individual and/or group - project bases - continuous assessment, and where appropriate a final examination.

The programme emphasises the development and evolution of the skills and attributes relevant to the contemporary workplace, and the programme's assessment strategy reflects this clear objective.

The Master of Science (MSc) in Business Analytics has the following content:

Stage 1
Requirements Analysis
Programming for Analytics
Applied Statistics and Machine Learning
Business Strategy

Stage 2
Project Management for Business Analytics
Financial and Business Analytics
Data Mining
Business Intelligence and Visualisation
Applied Research Methods

Stage 3
Applied Project

Full-time: 1 year
Part-time: 2 years

Career Opportunities
On the basis of stakeholder feedback, the programme has been developed in order to provide learners with the skills and attributes employers in industry have identified as most desirable in the area of business analytics. The focus has been refined to develop modules that focus on the skills gap identified by prospective employers.

Respondents also saw prospective employers requiring a 'hybrid' of related skills sets, with students using the capstone Research Project module as an opportunity to research and specialise in a specific domain within the discipline.

Teamwork, problem solving and communication skills were constant themes, and respondents also emphasised the importance of project management, risk management, information technology, data analytics, business intelligence and decision modelling.

When asked what roles they would expect graduates of the programme to be able to apply for on completion of the programme various stakeholders identifies the following job titles:

Project Design and Delivery
Data Visualisation
Business (Data) Analytics
Business Intelligence
Model Development
Marketing Analytics
HR Analytics
Risk Analytics