Business Analytics Certificate

Spring 2023

Introduction to data mining, data science, and machine learning for recognizing patterns, developing models and predictive analytics, and making intelligent use of massive amounts of data collected via the internet, e-commerce, electronic banking, medical databases, etc. Topics include logistic regression, association rules, tree-structured classification and regression, cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and neural network methods. Presents examples of successful applications in credit ratings, fraud detection, marketing, customer relationship management, investments, and synthetic clinical trials. Introduces data-mining software (R and Python). Grading based on homework, cases, and a term project. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking undergraduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.

15.071 Analytics Edge

Spring or Fall

Develops models and tools of data analytics that are used to transform businesses and industries, using examples and case studies in e-commerce, healthcare, social media, high technology, criminal justice, the internet, and beyond. Covers analytics methods such as linear regression, logistic regression, classification trees, random forests, neural networks, text analytics, social network analysis, time series modeling, clustering, and optimization. Uses mostly R programming language with some Python. Includes team projects. Meets with 15.0711 when offered concurrently. Expectations and evaluation criteria differ for students taking graduate version; consult syllabus or instructor for specific details.

OR

15.072 Advanced Analytics Edge 

Fall 

More advanced version of 15.071 introduces core methods of business analytics, their algorithmic implementations and their applications to various domains of management and public policy. Spans descriptive analytics (e.g., clustering, dimensionality reduction), predictive analytics (e.g., linear/logistic regression, classification and regression trees, random forests, boosting deep learning) and prescriptive analytics (e.g., optimization). Presents analytics algorithms, and their implementations in data science. Includes case studies in e-commerce, transportation, energy, healthcare, social media, sports, the internet, and beyond. Uses the R and Julia programming languages. Includes team projects. Preference to Sloan Master of Business Analytics students.

In-depth treatment of the modern theory of integer programming and combinatorial optimization, emphasizing geometry, duality, and algorithms. Topics include formulating problems in integer variables, enhancement of formulations, ideal formulations, integer programming duality, linear and semidefinite relaxations, lattices and their applications, the geometry of integer programming, primal methods, cutting plane methods, connections with algebraic geometry, computational complexity, approximation algorithms, heuristic and enumerative algorithms, mixed integer programming and solutions of large-scale problems.

Introduces modern robust optimization, including theory, applications, and computation. Presents formulations and their connection to probability, information and risk theory for conic optimization (linear, second-order, and semidefinite cones) and integer optimization. Application domains include analysis and optimization of stochastic networks, optimal mechanism design, network information theory, transportation, pattern classification, structural and engineering design, and financial engineering. Students formulate and solve a problem aligned with their interests in a final project.

IAP

Uses interdisciplinary approaches and real-world examples to show how analytics inform organizational change. Takes into account the human and cultural components of organizations. Restricted to Executive MBA and Sloan Fellow MBA students.

IAP 2023 and IAP 2024

Group study of current topics related to management not otherwise included in curriculum.

Introduces students to machine learning in healthcare, including the nature of clinical data and the use of machine learning for risk stratification, disease progression modeling, precision medicine, diagnosis, subtype discovery, and improving clinical workflows. Topics include causality, interpretability, algorithmic fairness, time-series analysis, graphical models, deep learning and transfer learning. Guest lectures by clinicians from the Boston area, and projects with real clinical data, emphasize subtleties of working with clinical data and translating machine learning into clinical practice. Limited to 55.

NOTE: This course requires students to simultaneously complete a 6-unit interdisciplinary module, such as 1.C51, 2.C51, 3.C51, 6.S952,7.C51, 22.C51, or SCM.C51 (The interdisciplinary modules also count as certificate elective)

Focuses on modeling with machine learning methods with an eye towards applications in engineering and sciences. Introduction to modern machine learning methods, from supervised to unsupervised models, with an emphasis on newer neural approaches. Emphasis on the understanding of how and why the methods work from the point of view of modeling, and when they are applicable. Using concrete examples, covers formulation of machine learning tasks, adapting and extending methods to given problems, and how the methods can and should be evaluated. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments. Students cannot receive credit without simultaneous completion of a 6-unit disciplinary module. Enrollment may be limited.