External summary

In the Big Data age, organisations have or could have more information about their business environments than ever before. Accumulated very often as the by-product of routine tasks, deposited en masse by organisations and their supply chain partners and customers/consumers. This abundance of data is often overlooked by organisations as a real asset. Big data embodies an extraordinary wealth of experience from which to learn. Increasingly organisations are using such information to gain data-driven insights to out-think their competitors. The MSc in Business Analytics addresses the scarcity of properly trained analysts, who are capable of analysing and utilising big data to solve problems and make business recommendations. The programme is hosted by the Management Science & Business Economics group and delivered by its members who are known for their particular research strengths in analytics and the outstanding performance of the group in the Research Excellence Framework (REF).

Educational aims of programme

The programme will provide students with a critical understanding of a variety of business environments and decision problems and processes in both private and public sectors. In addition, it will equip students with a wealth of analytics concepts and techniques to generate valuable insight from raw data and assist with decision making. Last, but not least, it will provide students with hands-on experience in applying these concepts and using these techniques and most of the popular analytics software through their term projects, some of which will be industry projects. In sum, the programme aims at training students in both methodologies and applications of analytics to prepare them to be operational.
Specific educational aims are to:

• Enable all participants to recognise, understand and apply the language, theory and models of the field of business analytics.
• Foster an ability to critically analyse, synthesise and solve complex unstructured business problems.
• Encourage an aptitude for business improvement, innovation and entrepreneurial action.
• Encourage the sharing of experiences to enhance the benefits of collaborative learning.
• Instil a sense of ethical decision-making and a commitment to the long-run welfare of both organisations and the communities that they serve.

Programme outcomes: Knowledge and understanding

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Understand and critically apply the concepts and methods of business analytics.
• Identify, model and solve decision problems in different settings
• Interpret results/solutions and identify appropriate courses of action for a given managerial situation whether a problem or an opportunity.
• Create viable solutions to decision making problems.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in research and enquiry

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Identify, define and analyse problems and identify or create processes to solve them.
• Exercise critical judgement in creating new understanding.
• Critically assess existing understanding and recognise the need to regularly challenge all knowledge.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal and intellectual autonomy

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Identify and apply new ideas, methods and ways of thinking.
• Respond effectively to unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar contexts.
• Undertake independent learning and display independent thought, acknowledging the importance and limitations of their own knowledge.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in communication

By the end of the programme, students will demonstrate:

• Ability to present clearly and cohesively both orally and in writing.
• Capacity for synthesising written and verbal information.

Programme outcomes: Graduate attributes - Skills and abilities in personal effectiveness

By the end of the programme, students will be able to:

• Identify and evaluate social, cultural, global, ethical and environmental responsibilities and issues.
• Reflect on their ability to work in and lead teams.
• Confidently transfer knowledge from one domain to another.
• Demonstrate skills in time management.

Programme outcomes: Technical/practical skills

These skills are covered under the headings above.

Programme structure and features

Degree Criteria

MSc full-time (12 months). It consists of 180 SQCF credit points, of which 120 constitutes the

taught portion of the programme with the remaining 60 devoted to the dissertation component of

the degree.

Degree Programme Table and Modes of Study:

The Degree Programme Table can be viewed at

http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/20-21/dps/ptmscbusan1f.htm

Progression and Exit Awards

The programme conforms to the University???s taught Assessment Regulations.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/academic-services/policies-regulations/regulations/assessment

Teaching and learning methods and strategies

The Business School's strategy in learning and teaching is to deliver a dynamic, engaged, classroom experience that exposes our students to both practical and theoretical perspectives on business issues in ways that stretch and challenge them.
Teaching will take the form of class lectures and supervised discussion and lab sessions. These supervised sessions aim at putting into practice the concepts and methods presented in the lectures and learned from personalised readings. In addition, these sessions also serve as advice/support sessions so that students can seek assistance and formative feedback on their term projects work-in-progress. Furthermore, students will learn how to use state-of-the-art data analytics tools in the context of practical problems faced by business managers. Some of the material covered in lectures and discussion sessions will be research-led and based on recent publications from the academic literature. Besides attending lectures and supervised discussion and lab sessions, students will work in groups on realistic projects and present their work in class to an audience that may include practitioners and term projects??? providers. At MSc level a substantial amount of independent study and pre-reading for lectures is required of students.
Students will be expected to use relevant analytics software packages such as MATLAB, CPLEX, SAS, SPSS, Eviews, and Minitab. In particular, applicants need to ensure that their personal laptops can run MATLAB, see http://uk.mathworks.com/support/sysreq/current_release/index.html?sec=windows.
The School also maintains good relationships with a number of industry partners and professionals. There will be a number of guest lectures from practitioners, and there will be the opportunity for students to meet with practitioners to discuss issues related to research or career opportunities. Skills development, delivered by the Student Development Team, is an essential component of the programme.

Assessment methods and strategies

Assessment techniques are designed to align the individual learning strategies of students, from diverse backgrounds and heritage, educational and business experience with assessment techniques appropriate to particular disciplinary fields. We encourage assessment techniques associated with active learning pedagogy. All courses specify in the Course Handbook a minimum of three individual feedback opportunities, providing formative feedback in time to improve prior to summative assessments.
In terms of assessment, a combination of term projects, presentations and exams (e.g., offline and online exams, oral exams) is considered to varying degrees depending on the nature of the course and the choice of the actual lecturer delivering the course. Students have an opportunity to receive marks and both formal and informal feedback on coursework before the degree exams at the end of the semester. Last, but not least, for dissertations, students will be offered two alternative routes; namely, academic project-based dissertations and industry project-based dissertations.

Career opportunities

The MSc in Business Analytics will offer students the opportunity to equip themselves with concepts, methods and applications of business analytics along with hands-on experience in applying them to industry projects in different business settings. Regardless of the application area or sector, the methodological concepts and techniques with which our graduates will be equipped would allow them to choose from a large range of careers where their skills in gaining data-driven insights are hunted. In sum, we expect the programme to open a range of career pathways in analytics for our graduates including business consultants, business analysts, business intelligence & analytics consultants, metrics & analytics specialists, analytics associates, data analysts, solution architects, business process analysts, management consulting associates, and operational research consultants.

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