Analytics | Process | Strategy | Innovation | by Tan Wei Xiang

Tag: ntu

  • Nanyang Business School: Business Analytics Module Selection Guide

    Nanyang Business School: Business Analytics Module Selection Guide

    You have finally decided that you want to do a business analytics curriculum, and want to know what you have in store for you in analytics; you log into the system and find out that there is so many courses available (correct as of July 2020):

    Specialisation Core Courses

    BC2402 Designing & Developing Databases
    BC2406 Analytics I: Visual and Predictive Techniques
    BC2407 Analytics II: Advanced Predictive Techniques

    Specialisation Prescribed Electives –
    Choose 3 Specialisation Prescribed Electives:
    AC2401 Accounting Information Systems
    BT2403 Service Operations Management
    BC2408 Supply Chain Analytics
    BC3402 Financial Service Processes & Analytics
    BC3405 Lean Operations & Analytics
    BC3406 Business Analytics Consulting (I did this)
    BC3408 Decision Modelling & Analytics (I did this)
    BC3409 AI in Accounting and Finance
    New Course Programming for Business Transformation

    Information from NBS Website

    Business Analytics Core

    The three cores are necessary to take and you would not be able to avoid them. Something new to you is probably the addition of prescribed electives, where you can pick 3 modules (or more if you want to) to add up to your final degree in Business Analytics!

    Business Analytics Sub-specialisations

    Something you may want to note is that in Business Analytics we unofficially have sub-specialisations too! I have classified according to how seniors have looked at how the courses fit in and also added my own opinion with regard to the newer modules.

    Finance Analytics Track:

    AC2401 Accounting Information Systems (Sem 1 & 2)
    BC3402 Financial Service Processes & Analytics (Sem 2)
    BC3409 AI in Accounting and Finance (Sem 2)

    Operations Analytics Track:

    BT2403 Service Operations Management (Sem 1)
    BC2408 Supply Chain Analytics (Sem 2)
    BC3405 Lean Operations & Analytics (Sem 1)

    Management Science & Analytics Consulting Track:

    BC3406 Business Analytics Consulting (Sem 2)
    BC3408 Decision Modelling & Analytics (Sem 2)
    New Course Programming for Business Transformation

    What modules did I pick?

    Prior to my year, there were modules which form a marketing analytics track. I was really interested in taking those modules, but unfortunately they were no longer offered. I decided to go with the next best alternative, which was in Management Science & Consulting. I took BC3407 R & Python, now restructured to the GER-Core BC0403, as well as BC3408 Decision Modelling & Analytics and BC3406 Business Analytics Consulting. On top of that, I stayed true to my initial interest by doing an unrestricted elective which is offered by the marketing department, BM2507 Marketing Analytics (Unfortunately not a Business Analytics Prescribed Elective though moving forward I hope it gets approved as one as inter-disciplinary knowledge is increasingly important).

    While not the most commonly picked modules by most Business Analytics students, with very little seniors with precedent knowledge, I believe that benefitted greatly from taking the modules which I have taken and look forward to sharing more.

    What modules should you pick?

    At the end of the day, there is no fixed best modules to take, but rather what aligns with your passion and purpose. My advice is to picture where you see yourself in future, and take the modules to build yourself in that direction. Hope this helps with your module planning!

    If you liked our post, do follow us on our LinkedIn, or our writer’s personal LinkedIn Account for more tips.

    Now that you are done with planning your prescribed electives, you may want to read about general and unrestricted electives over here.

    You may also be interested to pick between business and marketing.

    Here’s another blogpost from a senior which I previously got some reviews and found really helpful!

    Photo Credits: Photo by Wengang Zhai on Unsplash

  • 3 Reasons: Business Analytics at Nanyang Business School

    3 Reasons: Business Analytics at Nanyang Business School

    Having recently graduated in Business Analytics, here are 3 reasons why I picked Business Analytics:

    1. Management Science and Problem Solving Skills

    My biggest takeaway from doing a business analytics degree was that merely knowing how to code in R, Python, SQL, etc does not make you a good business analytics student. Instead, understanding the problem forming and solving framework is key in tackling any business problems which we want to solve. All my modules consisted of heavily hands on projects for me to exercise good business sense, along with a sprinkle of technical and statistical flavour.

    Ultimately, in order to succeed in Business Analytics, it is not about how good your algorithm is, but how your proposed solution solves the problem at hand! While coding is a must-know, it is definitely not the crux of business analytics.

    You may be interested in this article if you would like to get started on bridging between analytics and management.

    2. Classroom Diversity and Versatility

    Business analytics gave me the chance to meet classmates with a variety of interests. I enrolled into business analytics to make an impact in the marketing and management sectors and adding value through analytics. While going through the Business Analytics curriculum, I managed to also embark on Human Resource projects, as well as a real-life business analytics consulting project with Aon. Do stay tuned in future for updates.

    I had the opportunity to interact with friends working in various sectors, including Finance, Supply Chain, Logistics, Consulting, Data Science. Previously, I had internships in Market Intelligence, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing and Human Resources in the Automotive, Information Technology and Medical Devices sector. Currently, I’m putting my knowledge to the test in the retail sector!

    Hence, you can see that the beauty of business analytics is that it can be used anywhere!

    In the meantime, here is a post on how to maximise your experience in Business School!

    3. Relevance of Business Analytics in Industry 4.0

    Initially, I took business analytics to future proof myself. All around the world, we hear buzzwords like Industry 4.0, or big data being the next big thing. Especially in Singapore, there is an increased emphasis on Technology and Analytics. All the universities in Singapore have started offering analytics as part of their degree programme offerings. In NBS, the analytics cohort in 2018 (Based on the database classes, our core module) was 4 classes, in 2020 it has almost doubled to 7 classes. Therefore, we can see a clear increase in supply of classes to meet the increasing industry demand. (Hope you like the casual economics, and fun fact some countries call business analytics econometrics!)

    Do stay tuned to some of my future blog posts on my Business Analytics curriculum review as well as other topics in the near future!

    Next, you may want to read this module selection guide if you have decided on Business Analytics! Otherwise, you may want to read this to select your General and Unrestricted Electives.

    We have also did a tiering of modules in NBS and NTU on our Youtube Channel!

    If you liked our post, do bookmark this site, or follow us on our LinkedIn page as we look forward to creating new content for you every week.

    Image credits: Photo by Luke Chesser on Unsplash

  • General and Unrestricted Electives Guide – From NBS Business (Business Analytics) Graduate

    General and Unrestricted Electives Guide – From NBS Business (Business Analytics) Graduate

    You have read about what to take in the Business Analytics Specialisation in NBS, you would also notice that there is a lot of General and Unrestricted Electives which would need to be done as part of the curriculum. There are many choices and it might be difficult to make a choice. (I experienced this first hand and ended up overloading unrestricted electives to more than twice the requirement.) I am here to help you plan your electives.

    Study a Minor

    One of the things about studying in a leading university like Nanyang Technological University is the chance to take a minor programme. As of writing, there is over 40 minors for students to choose from. Here are some minors which I feel would be complementary to the Business programme at Nanyang Business School.

    Minor in Entrepreneurship

    To complement my Business Analytics degree, I decided to take up a Minor in Entrepreneurship programme, where I was given the opportunity to start my own business with a team consisting of students from both Business and Engineering. Business and Entrepreneurship is complementary as there is a slightly different perspective when working for a business and running your own business. A key takeaway which I had was the ownership of the outcome of business decisions which my team and I had to make over the course of the whole minor. It was especially satisfying to make a profit after overcoming many hardships.

    Minor in Environmental Sustainability

    I did not manage to take this minor but it was one of my minors in consideration. In this world where sustainability is growing in importance by consumers, an environmental sustainability minor would expose business students to ethical decision making, and taking into account the true cost of business decisions. I took one module in this minor, AB0502 MANAGING SUSTAINABILITY, where I had the chance to come out with a business plan to revive the dying Peranakan culture in Singapore.

    Minor in Strategic Communications

    I was a bit too late when I wanted to do this minor, it was only offered at the point of admission to NTU. This would be a very useful minor for those who have to deal with interactions with people (basically most business majors have to.). Would not elaborate too much on this as I did not get exposed to any of the modules, do comment below if you took this minor and would like to share you experience!

    Study Related Modules

    Another way you can use your electives is to study modules related to your major. As a business student, there is only 6 specialisation modules which you are required to take on, which may not be enough knowledge, especially if you want to learn the many other aspects in Business. As a Business Analytics Student, my interest in management has prompted me to take on electives in Marketing, as well as Programming, as I feel that these would aid me in being a more rounded business graduate! No matter what your specialisation is, I strongly encourage you to at least try a module or two outside of the specialisation. For all you know, you might realise that the other specialisation may be more interesting to you!

    Do Modules on Exchange

    If you had the chance to go for exchange, you would realise that the lessons conducted while on exchange may be in an entirely different format from how lessons are at NTU and NBS. Some schools have specific specialties, for instance in ESSEC Business School where I went for exchange, there was a strong focus in marketing and entrepreneurship, therefore I decided to take up related modules to gain a world view in the world class institution for the subject matter. Engaging with the foreign students on exchange also challenged my perspective on things and developed me as a person.

    Try Something Different

    If the former three options don’t suit your taste, why not try something different? You could learn a new language, play a new sport, or take up art classes. With so many schools in NTU, I’m sure you will find electives which will interest you!

    [NEW] MOOC Courses

    Recently, Nanyang Technological University has allowed for credit transfer of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) from e-learning content providers like Coursera and EdX. I have personally tried some e-learning from them but not the approved courses for NTU. For more information do refer here! Do read about my MOOC experience here:

    Reflections from 3 Months of Distance Learning on Coursera

    If you liked this post, you might also need help with an analytics module choice:

    Nanyang Business School: Business Analytics Module Selection Guide

    Otherwise, here is a general picture of why I took up a specialisation in business analytics:

    https://tanweixiang.com/three-reasons-why-i-picked-a-specialisation-in-business-analytics-at-nanyang-business-school/

    Do read other Analytics related posts here!

    I have also come out with a Tier List of Modules in NTU NBS on Youtube, do take a look here!