Course Description

The increasing complexity of industry and commerce and global trends such as big data, the analytics revolution, or digitization mean that companies must take a more sophisticated approach towards their decision-making. The quality of decisions is often based on “hard data” to select the best course of action. Also management consultants are often required to focus strongly on quantifying their recommendations wherever they can.

However, managers often fail to understand some of the underlying (statistical) principles and they rely too often on their guts. In consulting, especially junior consultants – the level which is usually charged with extensive analytical tasks at top management consultancies – frequently face a number of challenges when being assigned analytical jobs.

The course addresses some quantitative skills and merges techniques in Microsoft Excel with basic statistical analysis skills. The course considers various types of research and analysis methods. Throughout the course, key ideas, concepts, and techniques will also be discussed extensively in class. The lectures provide both basic concepts and informative material along with some critique of the main ideas. We will use many examples that relate to international business. 

Please Note: Students should be aware that the course is not suited for students who already have a strong background in Excel and in statistical analysis.

Aims

Main aim of the course is to deliver a set of key quantitative skills that the students can use in the future. This not only covers how to conduct a specific quantitative analysis but also to understand its value and importance in today’s business life, as well as its associated problems when it comes to preparing, managing, analyzing, and communicating data and results of analyses. 

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

• explain how data supports management decision-making processes.
• differentiate between types of business data and methods of data collection.
• apply core techniques for data analysis and knowledge generation, with a focus on MS Excel.

Cognitive and Subject-Specific Outcomes

• conduct basic descriptive and inferential analyses in Excel.
• transform raw data into actionable insights through structured evaluation.
• code and analyze primary datasets using appropriate statistical tools.
• prepare and deliver professional presentations of analysis results tailored to decision-making audiences.
• reflect on how personal biases and broader social contexts influence sampling, interpretation of data, and managerial judgment.

Key Skills

• demonstrate analytical skills for interpreting and evaluating complex datasets.
• engage critically in class discussions to evaluate data-driven arguments in international settings.
• collaborate effectively in diverse teams during the group case study to solve a complex, internationally relevant business problem.
• develop universal argumentation skills that support clear, data-based reasoning across cultural and organizational contexts.

This course is organized as a face-to-face module. There is no online or hybrid setup. 
Students will fail the course if more than 20 % of total class time is missed. In any case, missed class time is taken into account in the participation grade. 

The course is taught using a combination of lectures, exercises, readings, case analyses and class discussion.

Grading:

• Final exam 50%
• Group case study 30%
• In-class participation 20%

Final exam: The exam will include theory questions and exercises. The material relevant for the exam is the entire course material and all readings.

Group case study: Analysis of a case study in Excel. The case study will be assigned and discussed at the end of the course. The case needs to be purchased by students (approx. EUR 5–10).

In-class participation: Active class participation is expected. Both quality and frequency of contributions will be evaluated.

The final grade will be based on the following total points out of 100: 

• 90-100:            1
• 80-89:              2
• 70-79:              3
• 50-69:              4
• <50:                 5 (Failed)

An obligatory entry exam constitutes the beginning of the major International Business. Please note that you will not be able to participate in this course if you do not pass the entry exam, are not accepted as student of the major International Business, and have not completed the two basic courses (1-2) Foundations and Applications. Students who do not fulfil those requirements will automatically be deregistered from this course.

Incoming/Exchange students do not need to fulfil those requirements. 

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