NC State Executive Education to present framework for using big data to guide business decisions

How do decision makers channel the volume of data that's available to drive business decisions? That's the focus of a half-day seminar – "Big Data Analytics: Strategic and Operational Data Driven Decision Making" – that will be presented on Thursday, December 5, 2013, by NC State Executive Education, the executive programs unit based in the NC State Poole College of Management. 

Workshop presenters will provide a data driven decision framework that companies’ strategic decision makers can use within their organizations. NCSEE is offering the half-day seminar, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at the NC State Hunt Library’s Teaching and Visualization Lab in Raleigh, N.C. There is no charge to attend this presentation but registration is required. 

“While big data technology enables companies to aggregate and analyze volumes of data, companies’ strategic decision makers struggle with drawing insight from the data that can help them better understand their customers and their needs, and to identify where their company can fill a void in the market,” said Dan McGurrin, NCSEE director. “This workshop will provide a framework from which companies can gain vital business insight to guide strategic decision making,” he said.

Content for the half-day program is based on work with big data technology that NC State management and computer science faculty in the Poole College of Management and the College of Engineering have been doing over the past several years, perfecting a process that enables businesses to convert terabytes of aggregated data into business knowledge and insight. They have been teaching that process to the college’s Jenkins MBA students and as well as to corporate clients in NCSEE’s custom programs.

The focus of this half-day program is to show the potential for using big data to alter the business environment, not just how to manage the data more effectively, McGurrin said.

“Through our NCSEE programs and our MBA practicum projects, we show companies how to practically apply big data analytics to answer key, strategic questions,” said Dr. Michael Kowolenko, teaching assistant professor at NC State Poole College and instructor for the Jenkins MBA course on data driven decision making as well as prior NCSEE custom programs.

Additional details, including a video clip in which Kowolenko discusses data-driven decision making, and registration information are available at the NCSEE website.