Business Decision Making Specialization

Business Decision Making Specialization

Gain Advanced Business Decision-Making Techniques. Master strategy, economics, and data skills to solve complex business challenges and drive success

Instructors: Liad Wagman

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6 course series

Get in-depth knowledge of a subject

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

3 months to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

6 course series

Get in-depth knowledge of a subject

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

3 months to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

How to develop and implement strategic plans for competitive advantage.
Advanced financial analysis techniques for investment and risk management.
Leadership and organizational behavior strategies to drive team performance and organizational change.

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

Shareable certificate

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Taught in English

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Specialization - 6 course series

This specialization equips learners with advanced skills in strategic decision-making, financial analysis, and leadership. Through a combination of theoretical frameworks and practical tools, learners will gain the ability to analyze complex business scenarios, optimize financial strategies, and lead teams effectively. Industry-relevant projects will allow learners to apply these skills to real-world challenges.

Applied Learning Project

Learners will engage in projects that involve real-world business scenarios, applying advanced analytics techniques and Excel functions to solve complex problems and make strategic decisions in the courses in this specialization. However, there is no required capstone project for this specialization.

Competitive Strategy

Course 132 hours4.9 (55 ratings)

What you'll learn

Analysis of a company's opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses.
Different types of competitive strategies and how to choose them.
How do today's companies achieve long term success and profitability.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Business Analysis

Category: strategy

Managerial Economics: Buyer and Seller Behavior

Course 242 hours4.6 (46 ratings)

What you'll learn

How to explain the basics of supply and demand curves.
How to characterize variable and fixed costs.
How to analyze short-run and long-run equilibria in competitive markets.

Mastering Excel Essentials to Enhance Business Value

Course 382 hours4.4 (24 ratings)

What you'll learn

Effectively input data and efficiently navigate large spreadsheets.
Employ various "hacks" and expertly apply (the most appropriate) built-in functions in Excel to increase productivity and streamline workflow.
Apply the "what-if" analysis tools in Excel to conduct break-even analysis, conduct sensitivity analysis and support decision-making.

Innovation and International Strategy

Course 440 hours4.9 (37 ratings)

What you'll learn

Disruptive Innovation
Blue Ocean Strategy
International Strategy

Skills you'll gain

Category: Innovation

Category: strategy

Business Economics and Game Theory for Decision Making

Course 541 hours4.5 (35 ratings)

What you'll learn

The economic concept of elasticity, and how to utilize it in making informed decisions on pricing products.
Sources of market power and how firms with market power set prices, segment customers, and customize prices to different segments.
Concepts in game theory, including simultaneous games, sequential games, auctions, and adverse selection issues.

A Comprehensive Excel Masterclass

Course 674 hours4.8 (59 ratings)

What you'll learn

The Comprehensive Excel Masterclass is an advanced course designed to empower students with the skills and knowledge needed to maximize the potential of Microsoft Excel in a business environment. This course goes beyond the basics and explores advanced functions, and features that will enable students to perform complex calculations, retrieve and manipulate data from multiple sources, and gain valuable insights from data. The course combines theoretical concepts with practical exercises and examples to reinforce learning.

A crucial aspect of business decision-making involves understanding the time value of money. In this course, students will be exposed to time value of money principles and learn how to utilize Excel's financial functions to analyze loans, create amortization schedules, and evaluate project valuations. By leveraging functions such as PV, FV, NPV, PMT, IRR and more, students will be able to make informed financial decisions. A significant portion of the course is dedicated to creating Excel dashboards, which are effective tools for visually presenting performance data (such as KPIs). Participants will learn how to leverage Pivot Tables to create dynamic and interactive dashboards utilizing slicers, timelines, and calculated fields to enhance data exploration and create compelling dashboards. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: - Utilize complex Excel functions and techniques to extract and manipulate data. - Evaluate the financial viability of loans using Excel's financial functions. - Apply the principles of Capital Budgeting for project selection and investment decisions. - Create advanced Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts for data analysis and visualization. - Develop interactive dashboards with Form Controls to enhance user experience. - Design custom charts for effective data visualization. - Apply Excel's latest features and updates in Office 365/Google Sheets for increased productivity. - Showcase key performance indicators (KPIs) to support data-driven decision-making in business intelligence.

Instructors

Liad Wagman

Illinois Tech

2 Courses5,465 learners

Liz Durango-Cohen

Illinois Tech

2 Courses15,457 learners

Priyanka Sharma

Illinois Tech

2 Courses5,465 learners

Offered by

Illinois Tech

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Frequently asked questions

No, it’s not required—but it is recommended that you follow the course sequence listed on the specialization landing page. This order is designed to help you build your skills progressively, from foundational concepts to more advanced topics.

No, this specialization is open to all MOOC learners. You do not need to be an admitted degree-seeking student to complete the specialization and receive a Coursera–IIT co-branded non-credit certificate.

This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.

Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.