In my profession, data analysis is generally not a hands-on
activity; we tend to use data analytics performed by others,
inside and outside of the organization, to inform our work. My
taking this course is a big part of how I am preparing--I need to
be literate about not just data, but data analytics methods. I
need to be able to ask my partners good questions and be able
to judge whether their methods are sound and whether the
findings they present make sense.
People who don't have the skills and knowledge to at least
understand data analysis cannot afford to continue on without
doing something to build their knowledge because data analysis
is a vital input to all industries, from retail to medical research
to automotive engineering. Data analytics has been (and will
probably continue to be, for a while), a business advantage.
Those who understand the value of data and know how to
exploit it, get ahead. Amazon is a great example of this.
As we have learned over and over in this course, the best
projects start with strong questions or problems in mind. This is
why managers and business leaders must understand business
analytics. Even if they do not have to do the analysis, they have
to decide what problem to solve or question to answer--that is
literally their job. Secondly, leaders have to decide how to use
the insights that result from analysis. If they don't understand
the method, they won't really understand the output, its values,
or its limitations.
Zettlemeyer, F. (2022, April 19). A leader's guide to data
analytics. KelloggInsight.
https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/a-leaders-guide-to-
data-
analytics#:~:text=This%20means%20being%20able%20to,decisions
%20based%20on%20faulty%20assumptions.
