From Data to Decision: A Handbook for the Modern Business Analyst

From Data to Decision: A Handbook for the Modern Business Analyst provides readers with a comprehensive guide to understanding the inherent value of business analytics, building critical skill sets to conduct effective analyses, deriving valuable insight from analyses, and guiding management and other personnel toward well-informed, strategic decisions that bolster the health of a company or organization.

The opening chapter outlines the rise of analytics as a dedicated discipline, its role in business decision-making, and various types of analyses. Additional chapters introduce readers to data strategy, a framework for and process for analytics, and how to apply insights for maximum impact within companies and organizations. Students examine analysis methods including linear regression, logistic regression, conjoint analysis, decision trees, multi-dimensional scaling, factor analysis, and cluster analysis.

The second edition features three new chapters-the analytics plan, reading numbers, and conjoint analysis-and includes significant revisions throughout the text, as well as revised language to streamline key concepts and make the book more approachable for readers.

From Data to Decision is an ideal textbook for courses in business and analytics, and suitable for both undergraduate and graduate studies.

Marco Vriens is founder and CEO of Kwantum, an analytics firm. He earned his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Groningen. He specializes in marketing analytics, brand research, research methodology, consumer psychology and decision-making.

Chad Vidden is founder and COO of Kwantum, an analytics firm. He is full professor of mathematics and statistics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Iowa State University. He specializes in machine learning, data science, numerical analysis, and computational mathematics.