1. COURSE DESCRIPTION

The increasing complexity and globalization of industry and commerce and the ensuing competitiveness means 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 data management techniques in Microsoft Excel with statistical analysis skills. The course also 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 idea.

Students should be aware that the course overlaps to some extent with the course “Global Marketing Research”. However, there is much more emphasis on quantitative skill training in Excel. The course is not suited to students who already have a strong background in Excel and in statistical analysis.

2. 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.

Knowledge and Understanding:

After completing the course the student will be able to:

•    examine how data assists management in decision-making

•    understand the different types of data available to businesses, the ways data is collected, and what makes data usable to create knowledge.

•    Understand and apply specific techniques for data analysis, including techniques using Excel.

Cognitive and Subject Specific Skills:

After completing the course the student will have acquired skills as follows:

•    know where to obtain information which will aid decision making within a company

•    demonstrate that they can move beyond a simple description of data to the analysis and evaluation of data and to the transformation into information

•    know how to conduct effective secondary research with a focus on firm-internal issues

•    know how to combine data files, to set up and manage data bases, and to conduct basic analyses in Excel

•    be able to code and analyze primary data by using appropriate (statistical) software packages

•    be able to present and interpret data analysis results in a professional manner

Key Skills:

Students upon completion of the course will have the following skills

•    Analysis skills – beyond simple description

•    Discussion skills of data analysis and interpretation issues through class discussion

•    Argumentation skills – to debate and defend considered arguments in class during discussions

The course is taught using a combination of lectures, case analyses, class discussion and outside guest speakers. The readings will give you a broad picture of the importance of data management and analytics.

Grading:

• In-class participation (30% - Individual).

• Exam (70% - Individual)

Please note: The University will retain a copy of all coursework for Teaching Quality Assessment as part of the on-going quality assessment program. It is important, therefore, that students make a second copy for their own purposes.

The course is not suited to students who already have a good level in Excel and in statistical analysis.

Phillip C. Nell is a Professor at the Institutefor International Business at WU Wien. He is also affiliated with the Departmentof Strategic Management and Globalization at Copenhagen Business School. He is theformer academic director of the CEMS MIM (Master’s in International Management)program at Copenhagen Business School.

Phillip holds a European Master of BusinessSciences (EMBSc) degree and a Diplom-Kaufmann from University of Bamberg andESC Clermont-Ferrand. He received his doctorate and his habilitation from WUWien (Vienna University of Economics and Business).

Before joining academia, Phillip gained considerableindustry experience as a consultant with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. Hehas conducted projects and research in cooperation with firms such as WalterBau, Gerresheimer, Kone, Puma, Boehringer Ingelheim, ATB, and T-Systems as wellas non-profit organizations such as Diakonie, giving him lots of insights intomanagement practice.

Phillip is widely experienced both indegree-course and executive education. Besides Copenhagen and Vienna, he hastaught at ESADE Business School in Spain, Università di Padova, UniversitätLinz, and at VSE in Prague.

His research interests are centered on theorganization of the multinational corporation, the management of subsidiaries,and the role headquarters play in large and complex organizations. His researchhas been accepted for publication in Strategic Management Journal, Long RangePlanning, Journal of International Management, Journal of World Business,Management International Review, International Business Review, and ResearchPolicy.