From Seattle University's 2023-2024 Graduate Catalog.
All graduate courses are 3 credits, unless otherwise noted.
This introductory level course uses the Python programming language. Topics include expressions, control logic, data structures, and functions. We will demonstrate usage of several Python data analytics modules. Students will learn how to design programs to solve problems drawn from real-world examples. Online MSBA students only.
This is an intermediate course in computational problem solving using Python with a focus on using medium to large datasets to inform business decisions and strategy. Skills developed include information visualization, simulations to model randomness, computational techniques to understand data, and informative statistical techniques. Some exposure to optimization problems and dynamic programming, computational statistics, and machine learning. Online MSBA students only.
6 CREDITS
Fundamental concepts for developing machine learning models to solve business problems by analyzing massive amount s of data to find interesting patterns that can be used to assist decision making or provide predictions. Topics covered include regression, decision trees, clustering algorithms, naive Bayes classification, evaluation metrics, model refinement, ensemble methods, neural networks and deep learning, dimensionality reduction, and association rule mining. Students are expected to analyze real-world data in business using machine learning tools. (Formerly OMBSA 5065 and 5066)
Prerequisite: C or better in OMSBA 5061 and OMSBA 5112
This course focuses on basic principles of artificial intelligence and on applications of AI in business settings, such as customer service, sales, and marketing. An introduction to core AI concepts, systems, and applications, such as natural language processing, voice recognition, robotics, vision, and machine learning is followed by discussions - and in some cases applications - of key enabling technologies. Case studies are introduced to generate business insights and to help determine when investments in AI produce significant returns. Upon conclusion, students should have a broad understanding of several AI enabling technologies, and how they can be used to support business needs. Online MSBA students only.
This course reviews key statistical concepts and provides a conceptual introduction to regression analysis. Online MSBA students only.
6 CREDITS
This course introduces the fundamental concepts of popular database systems, including structured (relational), semi-structured (NoSQL), and unstructured (big data) databases and database systems. The first half of the course is focused on the relational model and SQL queries, using MicrosoftSQL Server for practice and assignments. The second half of the course dives into the data management concepts of MongoDB and Hadoop, respectively, and provide an opportunity for students to query data structures that are distinctly different than the traditional SQL relational databases. It will also introduce the complexity of Graph databases and allow students to use query features in Power BI, which they’ll need for creating visualizations later. (Formerly OMBSA 5140 and 5142)
This course teaches the essential and practical skills necessary to communicate information about data clearly and effectively through written, oral and graphical means. Students will learn and practice with advanced visualization tools to effectively communicate. The course will build from the understanding of data to the presentation of the analysis. Data visualization “storytelling” will provide tools to effectively: communicate ideas, summarize, influence, explain, persuade and provide evidence to an audience. Visualization can convey patterns, meaning, and results extracted from: multivariate, geospatial, textual, temporal, hierarchical, and network data. During the course, students will deliver presentations using these techniques and they will also learn to critically evaluate other presentations. Online MSBA students only.
This course helps you address traditional problems in management and marketing with data and data analysis in ways that could not even be imagined a few years ago. You will think critically about how effective stakeholder management can enable the realization of business value, and understand how poor handling of data and relationships can negatively impact organizational outcomes.
Because of data, managers can measure, and hence know, radically more about their business, and directly translate that knowledge into improved decision-making and performance. The knowledge created by the data analysis can also help firms to make better financial decisions as well as predicting the reaction by the financial markets or more specifically providers of capital. For example, should we restructure our business? You would want to know: How will the investors react to the announcement of the restructuring? Will it cause a sell-off in the market, therefore, create a capital crunch? Will this decision have implications for the future performance of the company? This course will provide a basic methodology to help you answer these kinds of questions with an emphasis of performance and financial markets. We will specifically cover firm valuation with an emphasis on accounting information, dividend policy choices, and compensation policies of real-time firms that are publicly traded. The strength of the course stems from the idea that we will be using real-life business decisions, with real-data and will use real modeling experiences that have been widely used in the industry.
This course will examine the opportunities and challenges introduced by business analytics through the perspectives of the law and ethics. Rapidly evolving technologies that permit the collection, storage, aggregation, analysis, and use of data create opportunities for financial benefit and the common good, but also create challenges to legal rights such as privacy, equality, and dignity, and to ethical values, such as autonomy, trust, and virtue. The course will be framed as a contextual examination of business analytics to facilitate learning about legal and ethical standards for private organizations using data analytics techniques in various stages of the data life-cycle. This is a dynamic course which presents a rich basis for student learning and contemplation of central questions for “big data”, including issues related to acquisition and use of data; professional and social responsibility in the application of modern technologies; the efficacy of management by algorithm; and the loss of human control in using artificial intelligence. The following are examples of legal and ethical issues that may be included, subject to time constraints: in law: information privacy law such as U.S. tort law, federal statutory and administrative law, and constitutional protection of civil liberties; European Union data privacy regulation; cyber-intelligence and cyber-security regulation; contractual liability, specifically with respect to third party reliance on data analysis; the law of negligence; and agency law; in ethics: adverse effects of data collection on vulnerable populations; transparency and honesty in the cleaning, processing, and visualization of data; introduction of the machine equivalent of implicit bias in feature selection; and responsibilities when using data analysis as a tool to guide human decision-making. Registration restrictions may be bypassed by the department with permission of instructor.
Fundamentals of econometrics, and use of econometric techniques in financial and economic research and decision-making. Topics include simple linear regression, residual analysis, multivariate regression, and the generalized linear model. The course will stress computer applications. Online MSBA students only.
Techniques for applied business forecasting with emphasis on time-series methods. A survey of regression-based and time-series methods, models for stationary and non-stationary time series, estimation of parameters, computations of forecasts and confidence intervals, and evaluation of forecasts. Online MSBA students only.
Big data analytics is the application of analytic techniques to very large, diverse data sets that often include varied data types and streaming data. Big data analytics explores business and customer interactions from data that seldom finds its way into a data warehouse or standard report. This data is often unstructured data coming from sensors, devices, third parties, Web applications, and social media- much of it sourced in real time on a large scale. Using advanced analytics techniques such as predictive analytics, data mining, statistics, and natural language processing, businesses can study big data to understand the current state of the business and track evolving aspects such as customer behavior. New methods of working with big data, such as Hadoop and MapReduce, also offer alternatives to traditional data warehousing. This class will define big data and big data analytic techniques and review big data use cases. Online MSBA students only.
The Capstone is an application of data analytics in the planning and execution of a real-life development project for an industry partner. Students will work individually or in small project teams to define and carry out an analytics project from beginning to end. Key steps include: scoping the project, locating an industry partner, formalizing a question, finding data sources, determining the method of analysis, implementing the analytical procedure, and communicating the results to the client. This process will help students integrate what they have learned in multiple courses, and apply their expertise to solve a problem for a real-world enterprise. This course is typically taken during the last quarter of the student’s program of study.
Registration Restriction: Online MSBA students only.
Prerequisite Courses: OMSBA 5061, 5112, 5145, 5210, 5280, 5300, 5305, 5315, 5067, 5240 and 5270
Prerequisite or Co-requisite Course: OMSBA 5068