CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN BERNARDINO

College of Business and Public Administration

Department of Information and Decision Sciences

ADMN 601 01 Dr. Harold Dyck

Data Driven Decision Making Office: JB - 533
Spring Quarter, 2018 Off Ph: 909-537-5765
E-mail: hdyck@csusb.edu Cell: 909-615-5682

SYLLABUS

OFFICE HOURS: M&W 4-6 pm, or by appointment.

TEXT: "Fundamentals of Predictive Analytics with JMP" by Ron Klimberg and B.D. McCullough,
SAS Institute Inc. (2016), Epub ISBN# 978-1-62960-801-3 or Hardcopy ISBN# 978-1-62959-
856-7
OVERALL COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVE:
Catalog description: Advanced problem-solving qualitative and quantitative techniques to find,
frame and solve difficult issues.

Business analytics is the process of transforming data into insight for making better decisions.
Any organization in the public or private sector that wishes to gain a competitive advantage uses
(or should be using) data-driven decision making/analytics.

Who uses data driven decision making? Well, let’s start with Dell, the computer company which
uses a “configure-to-order” business model in which the customer chooses the exact
configuration of computer to assemble and ship. For years Dell has used analytics of its past
customer purchases to evaluate millions of combinations of possible product configurations
which make up the majority of notebook and desktop sales. And what about educational systems
like CSUSB and the K-12 system? Teachers and administrators collect and analyze input,
outcome, and satisfaction data to help improve student success. Online retailers like
Amazon.com track what customers buy, how they navigate through the site, how much they
were influenced by various types of promotions, etc. – all of which helps to improve the bottom
line. Sports teams like the Oakland A’s use analytics of player performance to assemble
competitive sports teams (if you are interested, watch the movie “Moneyball”). And Netflix uses
what previous customers have purchased to customize what they offer to current customers.

Data driven decision making uses statistical, operations research, and management tools to drive
business performance. In this course you will review the basic statistical concepts, learn data
visualization and storytelling through data, and use advanced statistical techniques for decision
making. This course is designed to present a sufficient amount of theory for understanding and
development; however stress is placed on application of techniques and presentation of relevant
examples. The course has been designed with the non-mathematician in mind (although some
knowledge of basic algebra is assumed). Class participation is strongly encouraged.

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CBPA MISSION AND LEARNING GOALS:
The mission of the Master in Business Administration program is to provide post baccalaureate
students with a high-quality master's level education in the field of business administration. The
program is designed to prepare students for positions of increasing responsibility and leadership
through education in the broad scope of business and through in-depth knowledge in one or more
specialized areas of business.

There are seven learning goals for the MBA program, most of which are addressed in ADMN
601. Those goals include:

#1: Specific Knowledge and Skills: Each student should obtain specialized knowledge and skills for the
creation of value through integrated operations and distribution of goods, services, and information.
In ADMN 601, the student will apply technology skills to access, organize, and analyze data to solve
business problems.

#4: Ethical Reasoning: Each student can recognize/analyze problems and choose/defend resolutions for
practical business situations. ADMN 601 will address ethical issues of data collection and cleaning.
We will discuss issues of "what to do" with the new knowledge, rather than "what is the right answer"
to the treatment of big data sets. We will consider the effects of the analysis or application of data,
and who is responsible when the predictive analytic is incorrect.

#5: Information Technology: Each student can use information technology to support the structure and
processes of the organization, and use information technology in decision-making. We will use Excel
extensively in this course, and students will be exposed to SPSS and perhaps JMP.

#6: Problem Solving: Each student can apply knowledge in new and unfamiliar circumstances and
devise innovative solutions to cope with unforeseen events. That’s what ADMN 601 is all about!

#7: Global Context: Each student understands varied cultural perspectives and global environments and
can develop innovative business solutions and practices that address complexity. Examples will be
provided in a global context.

SOFTWARE AND CALCULATOR:

We will be using Excel & JMP which are available in the labs. JMP is also available to CSUSB
students for download at no cost. You may find it convenient to have a calculator with square
root and natural logarithm functions. Cell phone calculators are NOT recommended and will
not be allowed for exams.

You may find it useful to bring your laptop to class, but you can use the computers in the
classroom if, too.

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CLASS ASSIGNMENTS:
Reading and Online Homework: There will be weekly reading and homework assignments in
this course. Be aware that analytics is a subject which cannot be learned merely by listening to
lectures -- you must jump in and work examples (the more the better!) to understand the material.
You should read the assigned chapters before the start of class. Then try the homework
immediately after the lecture if possible. I suggest that if you have trouble with a particular
example, work more examples to cement the concepts. I am here to help! Be sure to pay
attention to due dates!

Article Reports: Students will work in teams on two written two page article reports and for
class presentation. The purpose of the article reports is to keep abreast of current thinking,
practice and technology. These reviews are designed to demonstrate that outside learning is
taking place and possibly to help prepare the teams for the course paper/project. One possible
source is Fierce Big Data (http://www.fiercebigdata.com/) which has interesting short articles
about data driven decision making in a variety of industries, from health care to finance to supply
chain management and much more. But that’s just one source. See what you can find
(especially if it is relevant to your selected project topic).

Paper/Project: Students will work in 4-to-5-person teams to prepare a paper for the course.
There are at least three options for the project/paper:
 Download a data set which includes important information for decision makers. Perform
an analysis of the data, being sure to include appropriate statistical procedures for the
types of data included. The analysis should demonstrate your knowledge of the course
material (descriptive statistics, data visualization, linear regression or time series analysis,
and/or data mining) and must be practical to decision makers. A short statement of the
hypothesis/problem under study should be included, with literature cited where
appropriate.
 Conduct interviews of executives at two or more companies to determine how they use
data driven decision making in their organizations. You might want to select a small
company (which might not yet use it) and a major company (which hopefully DOES take
advantage of this important field). Be ready to provide recommendations for how the
techniques under study in the course could be of benefit to the organization.
 Write a research paper on some aspect of data driven decision making. As a few
examples, the paper might be a synthesis of articles about a particular technique, or
research on cutting edge technologies used in the field, or the ethics of data mining. You
get the idea.

Each team should submit a one-page abstract, stating the title, purpose, and a tentative table of
contents for their paper by no later than Wednesday, May 2nd. If time allows, teams will
discuss with the class their progress sometime in late May. Each team will make a 20 minute
presentation of their work on the last class meeting before the final (June 11th). The written
report from the team is due at that time. Final is Wednesday, June 13th.

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The 15 – 18 paper page should be double spaced and typed, and submitted both in electronic
format and in hard copy. All ideas, quotes, etc., must be referenced. When in doubt, reference!
Although the paper should be proofread for grammar and punctuation, the paper will be graded
mostly on content and development of ideas. A table of contents is sometimes helpful, but you
don’t need a fancy cover. Novel ideas are welcome but should relate to the course. Computer
projects, surveys and experiments are always welcome. The paper should show that learning
took place for this course. Personal experience/anecdotal evidence should be minimized. You
need to develop original ideas synthesized with the ideas of others and supported with scholarly
references, but don’t regurgitate material from another work. Real world examples make the
paper more relevant. Give the name of companies with dates and results.

EXAMS:
Exams include a midterm and a non-cumulative final. The format will be a combination of
working out problems similar to the homework and short essays interpreting the results of
computer printouts. Exams will be closed book, however I will allow each student to bring one
page of notes/formulas/anything you want, one side only. Of course you may use a calculator
(but NOT a cell phone calculator). NO MAKEUP EXAMS WILL BE GIVEN unless
arrangements have been made in advance. If this causes a problem for you, let me know in
advance!

GRADING:
Your course grade will be determined as follows:
Percentage
Midterm 25% of total grade
Final Exam 25% of total grade
Homework 25% of total grade
Project & Presentations 25% of total grade
100%

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COURSE OUTLINE:
The following course outline is meant as a general guide only. It may be adjusted based on the
students' understanding of the material and background in basic statistics.

Date Topics Readings HW

Ap 2 Welcome and intro to analytics Ch 1
Ap 4 Review of some basic stats: Z scores, CLT, Ch 2
hypothesis tests
Ap 9 Basic stats review cont’d Ch 2
Ap 11 Dirty Data Ch 3
Ap 16 Data Discovery Ch 4
Ap 18 Simple linear regression Ch 5
Ap 23 Regression output Ch 5
Ap 25 Multivariate regression Ch 5
Ap 30 Regression topics Ch 5
May 2 Review
May 7 Exam chapters 1-4
May 9 Logistic Regression Ch 6
May 14 Logistic Regression cont’d Ch 6
May 16 Cluster analysis: k-means & hierarchical Ch 9
clustering
May 21 Cluster analysis cont’d Ch 9
May 23 Classification trees & Regression trees Ch 10
May 28 Memorial Day (No Class)
May 30 k-Nearest Neighbors Ch 11
June 4 Neural Nets Ch 12
June 6 Text Mining Ch 15
June 11 Course projects presented, paper due
Jun 13 Final Exam chapters 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 15

CLASS EXPECTATIONS AND FORMAL POLICIES

Class decorum:
The general principal governing all classes is that no person's behavior may distract others from learning. Class
sessions can be more relaxed, pleasant, and productive when members observe these basic courtesies:
 Arrive on time for class – always. If there is a problem doing so, advise me of it and try to resolve the issue
quickly.
 Do not leave a class session before class ends. It is disruptive, rude, and disrespectful to your classmates and to
me.
 Your cell phone ringer must be off, and your cell phone must be out of sight during all class session time.
Texting during class time is not acceptable.
 Unless you are taking notes on your laptop, turn it off! Checking e-mail and watching videos during class is
disruptive to the class.
 Talking to your neighbor means that you aren’t listening to the classroom discussion, and you are keeping
others from listening. Please don’t do it.

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Policy on disability:
If you are in need of an accommodation for a disability in order to participate in this class, please let me know
ASAP and also contact Services to Students with Disabilities at UH-183, (909) 537-5238. It is the student's
responsibility to seek academic accommodations for a verified disability in a timely manner.

Policy on plagiarism (From CSUSB’s 2014 – 2015 Bulletin of Courses, pp 110 – 111):
Representing someone else’s work as your own is an offense covered by the student handbook with penalties
ranging from loss of points for the assignment to expulsion from the university. “Plagiarism and cheating are
violations of the Student Discipline Code (see Appendix of the CSUSB Catalogue of Programs) and may be dealt
with by both the instructor and the Judicial Affairs Officer. Definition and procedures for addressing cheating and
plagiarism are found below. Questions about academic dishonesty and the policy should be addressed to the Office
of the Vice President, Student Affairs.”

Definition of plagiarism/cheating: “Plagiarism is the act of presenting the ideas and writings of another as one's
own. Cheating is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work through the use of any
dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means.”

Cheating includes but is not limited to:

 Copying, in part or in whole, from another's test, homework, software, or other evaluation instrument;
 Submitting work previously graded in another course unless this has been approved by the course instructor or
by departmental policy;
 Submitting work simultaneously presented in two courses, unless this has been approved by both course
instructors or by the department policies of both departments;
 Using or consulting during an examination sources or materials not authorized by the instructor;
 Altering or interfering with grading or grading instructions;
 Sitting for an examination by a surrogate, or as a surrogate;
 Any other act committed by a student in the course of his or her academic work, which defrauds or
misrepresents, including aiding or abetting in any of the actions defined above.

Plagiarism is academically dishonest and subjects the offending student to penalties up to and including expulsion.
Students must make appropriate acknowledgements of the original source where material written or compiled by
another is used.

Procedure. Allegations of academic dishonesty may be handled directly by the instructor or may be referred by the
instructor to the Judicial Affairs Officer. If handled by the instructor, the instructor has the following
responsibilities:
 To preserve the evidence in support of the allegation;
 To notify the student of the allegation and of the evidence on which it is based;
 To provide the student a reasonable opportunity to challenge or rebut the allegation;
 To notify the student of the action being taken.

The instructor may employ any of the following sanctions:

 Verbal or written reprimand;
 Assignment of appropriate task or examination;
 Change of grade, including assigning a punitive grade to the work involving the dishonesty, or for the
course, project, thesis, or any other summary evaluation of the student's academic work.

If the student does not wish to accept the sanction proposed by the instructor, the student may request and require
that the allegation be referred to the Judicial Affairs Officer. In that event, the procedures specified under Executive
Order 970 (Student Disciplinary Procedures of the California State University) shall be observed. The instructor
shall not impose any sanction other than the sanction(s) imposed through the disciplinary procedure.

Final comment: Cheating is unfair to me, to your classmates, and to yourself…DON’T do it! Be aware that I may
ask for picture ID during exams.
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