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    • Decision Making

    Decision Making Courses Online

    Explore decision-making techniques for personal and professional growth. Learn to make informed and strategic decisions using data and analysis.

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    Explore the Decision Making Course Catalog

    • I

      IESE Business School

      Think like a CFO

      Skills you'll gain: Financial Statement Analysis, Financial Statements, Income Statement, Corporate Finance, Accounting, Cash Flows, Operational Analysis, Financial Accounting, Capital Budgeting, Financial Modeling, Financial Reporting, Financial Analysis, Balance Sheet, Financial Management, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Operating Expense, Financial Market, Profit and Loss (P&L) Management, Business Valuation, Equities

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      6.2K reviews

      Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

    • C

      California Institute of the Arts

      Fundamentals of Graphic Design

      Skills you'll gain: Typography, Design Elements And Principles, Graphic Design, Visual Design, Design Software, Logo Design, Digital Design, Color Theory, Photo Editing, Adobe Creative Cloud, Creativity

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      18K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: Free
      Free
      S

      Stanford University

      Game Theory

      Skills you'll gain: Game Theory, Strategic Decision-Making, Mathematical Modeling, Graph Theory, Bayesian Statistics, Behavioral Economics, Probability, Economics, Markov Model, Algorithms

      4.6
      Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
      ·
      4.8K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • U

      University of Colorado Boulder

      Business Communication

      Skills you'll gain: Business Writing, Conflict Management, Teamwork, Constructive Feedback, Business Correspondence, Decision Making, Cooperation, Business Communication, Collaboration, Diversity Awareness, Recognizing Others, Mediation, Writing, Organizational Skills, Interpersonal Communications, Concision, Team Motivation, Tactfulness, Performance Review, Employee Performance Management

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      10K reviews

      Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

    • I

      IESE Business School

      Foundations of Management

      Skills you'll gain: Financial Statement Analysis, Financial Statements, Income Statement, Organizational Leadership, Organizational Change, Product Management, Accounting, Team Motivation, Cash Flows, Operational Analysis, People Management, Financial Accounting, Marketing, Brand Management, Brand Strategy, Balance Sheet, Financial Analysis, Business Analysis, Business, Complex Problem Solving

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      5.2K reviews

      Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

    • D

      DeepLearning.AI

      Unsupervised Learning, Recommenders, Reinforcement Learning

      Skills you'll gain: Unsupervised Learning, Machine Learning Methods, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Applied Machine Learning, Data Ethics, Machine Learning, Machine Learning Algorithms, Supervised Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Statistical Machine Learning, Artificial Neural Networks, Deep Learning, Anomaly Detection, Dimensionality Reduction, Algorithms, Collaborative Software

      4.9
      Rating, 4.9 out of 5 stars
      ·
      4.6K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

    • I

      IBM

      Machine Learning with Python

      Skills you'll gain: Supervised Learning, Feature Engineering, Jupyter, Unsupervised Learning, Scikit Learn (Machine Learning Library), Python Programming, Predictive Modeling, Machine Learning, Dimensionality Reduction, Classification And Regression Tree (CART), Matplotlib, NumPy, Regression Analysis, Statistical Modeling

      4.7
      Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
      ·
      17K reviews

      Intermediate · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: Free
      Free
      J

      Johns Hopkins University

      Business Analytics with Excel: Elementary to Advanced

      Skills you'll gain: Risk Modeling, Operations Research, Regression Analysis, Microsoft Excel, Business Analytics, Risk Analysis, Business Process Modeling, Business Modeling, Data Modeling, Resource Allocation, Statistical Analysis, Process Optimization, Financial Analysis, Predictive Analytics, Transportation Operations, Complex Problem Solving, Linear Algebra

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      3.7K reviews

      Intermediate · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • Status: Free
      Free
      W

      Wesleyan University

      Social Psychology

      Skills you'll gain: Social Sciences, Psychology, Persuasive Communication, Behavior Management, Conflict Management, Interpersonal Communications, Cultural Diversity, Research, Ethical Standards And Conduct, Experimentation

      4.7
      Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
      ·
      5K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months

    • G

      Google

      Google Business Intelligence

      Skills you'll gain: Business Intelligence, Data Modeling, Dashboard, Database Design, Extract, Transform, Load, Data Integration, Stakeholder Engagement, Data Warehousing, Data Presentation, Performance Tuning, Data Pipelines, Data Visualization Software, Business Reporting, Data Integrity, Business Analytics, Real Time Data, Requirements Elicitation, Scalability, Business Process, Data-Driven Decision-Making

      Build toward a degree

      4.8
      Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
      ·
      2.7K reviews

      Advanced · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months

    • U

      University of Washington

      Machine Learning

      Skills you'll gain: Regression Analysis, Applied Machine Learning, Feature Engineering, Machine Learning, Image Analysis, Unsupervised Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Predictive Modeling, Classification And Regression Tree (CART), Supervised Learning, Bayesian Statistics, Statistical Modeling, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Data Mining, Computer Vision, Statistical Machine Learning, Predictive Analytics, Text Mining, Machine Learning Algorithms

      4.6
      Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
      ·
      16K reviews

      Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

    • I

      IBM

      Data Science Methodology

      Skills you'll gain: Jupyter, Peer Review, Data Modeling, Data Science, Data Cleansing, Business Analysis, Data Mining, Predictive Modeling, Data Quality, Data Storytelling, Analytical Skills, User Feedback, Decision Tree Learning, Stakeholder Engagement

      4.6
      Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
      ·
      21K reviews

      Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks

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    In summary, here are 10 of our most popular decision making courses

    • Think like a CFO: IESE Business School
    • Fundamentals of Graphic Design: California Institute of the Arts
    • Game Theory: Stanford University
    • Business Communication: University of Colorado Boulder
    • Foundations of Management: IESE Business School
    • Unsupervised Learning, Recommenders, Reinforcement Learning: DeepLearning.AI
    • Machine Learning with Python: IBM
    • Business Analytics with Excel: Elementary to Advanced: Johns Hopkins University
    • Social Psychology: Wesleyan University
    • Google Business Intelligence: Google

    Skills you can learn in Business Essentials

    Analytics (37)
    Presentation (33)
    Modeling (29)
    Business Analytics (27)
    Language (26)
    Microsoft Excel (26)
    Writing (26)
    Speech (18)
    Plan (17)
    Business Communication (16)
    Decision-making (16)
    Leadership (15)

    Frequently Asked Questions about Decision Making

    Decision-making skills are the ability to evaluate several courses of action and choose which to take. This is an important life skill as well as a business leadership skill, since effective problem-solving requires deciding on a solution. However, making smart business decisions isn’t just about being decisive in an abstract sense.

    Effective decision-making is a skill that requires a combination of critical thinking and data analysis. In a business context, a familiarity with tools of financial analysis is especially important for decision-making, although the financial bottom line isn’t always the only factor to be considered in a careful cost-benefit analysis. For example, a growing number of companies consider corporate social responsibility principles and a “triple bottom line” approach that also looks at social and environmental costs and benefits.

    Beyond cost-benefit analyses, there are approaches informed by psychology that are used to make decisions as well as describe decision-making in the real world. Decision theory uses tools similar to game theory to analyze how decisions are affected by uncertainty, different timing between decisions and impacts, social and competitive situations, and other factors. And behavioral economics helps to understand how cognitive bias can influence decision-making, as in the case of the sunk cost fallacy which results in economically irrational decisions based on previous investments.‎

    Decision-making skills are essential for leadership positions in every field, whether chief executive officers (CEOs) of corporations, executive directors of non-profit advocacy groups, or government roles such as mayors and governors. These leaders are responsible for setting organizational goals and policies and, ultimately, making decisions on how to achieve them.

    According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, top executives earn a median pay of $104,690 per year, including a median pay of $184,460 for CEOs. This high level of compensation is a testament to the importance of savvy decision-making skills, which are in high demand in organizations of all kinds.‎

    Absolutely. Coursera lets you learn about decision-making and related topics like problem-solving, psychology, and leadership from top-ranked schools like the University of California, Irvine, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. And although you’ll be learning remotely, you’ll get the same course materials as on-campus students as well as opportunities to discuss these important topics in leadership with expert faculty as well as your fellow students.‎

    Everyone can benefit from learning about decision making, both in their personal and professional lives, so you may not need any previous experience or skills to study the concept. However, any type of work experience may help prepare you for your studies. Once you've worked in a field, you'll better understand why decision-making skills are important and how you can use them to advance your career or even get a new job in your field.‎

    A person who is a leader and good communicator is best suited to work in roles that involve strong decision-making skills. As a matter of fact, learning how to be a good decision maker can lead to supervisory and management positions in your field. You should also be an active listener and someone who can easily convey to other people what your thoughts and ideas are. People who are strong decision makers tend to be good analyzers, troubleshooters, problem solvers, and critical thinkers. This helps them gather the evidence they need to make a choice. Other skills needed for roles that require good decision-making skills are time management, logic, reasoning, and intuition. You'll also need to have good interpersonal skills, as well as be a good collaborator who doesn't shy away from teamwork.‎

    Decision-making studies or skills look good on any resume, so if you're looking for a new career or starting a career, learning about it may be right for you. It can also be helpful if you're looking to be promoted into a managerial position at work. Decision-making skills are very important for people in roles of leadership. If you currently work in a managerial position or any position in any field and find that you're having trouble making sound decisions at work, learning how to do so can improve your work performance. Learning it can also help you make better decisions in your personal life.‎

    This FAQ content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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