Business analytics is a powerful tool for driving organisational success and a catalyst for broader societal advancements with evidence-based insights for effective decision-making within the businesses and economy. Beyond the corporate sphere, business analytics advances humanity by driving innovation.
For instance, business analytics principles can be utilised to analyse and predict the business and economic outcomes of the country. Areas of applications range from predicting climate change, tracking and and predicting disease outbreaks, right positioning of business activities as well as monitoring and predicting the outcomes for economic events. Thereby, enabling more effective policy decisions and targeted interventions in a more timely manner. Additionally, it facilitates collaboration across different disciplines— fostering an interconnected and interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving.
So, as businesses and organisations continue to harness the power of business analytics, the potential for positive societal impact will only grow. Principally, this article seeks to make a strong case for business analytics as a financially rewarding career choice that is an indispensable tool for driving human progress in the 21st century.
What is business analytics?
Business analytics is the systematic practice of iteratively analysing, interpreting data, predicting the outcome for businesses and economic activities. It is not only an area where the business attains insights into business performance and identify actionable areas for improvement but also enables the business to position itself rightly in their respective industry.
It entails leveraging various tools and techniques in a combinatory fashion to extract meaningful insights from large volumes of data. For example, data mining, data visualisation, predictive analysis and machine learning. Business intelligence models are build using the methodology in business analytics to allow the businesses and economic to expand beyond their traditional scope of their business activities.
Business analytics can be applied to different business components, including sales, marketing, finance, operations, customer service, and economic forecasting. Rather than relying on intuition, business analytics can help uncover patterns and correlations to make informed decisions, augment processes and strategic planning.
What do business analysts do?
Business analysts work closely with IT, finance, accounting, marketing,operations and economic departments to analyse data, identify trends, predict, and propose solutions that drive business success.
In practice, they are indispensable in bridging the gap between business stakeholders and technology teams thereby, ensuring that the software and systems developed align with business requirements.
Competent business analysts require critical thinking skills in communication, problem-solving, and data science to excel in their roles and drive successful outcomes for their organisations.
Why choose business analytics as a major?
Pursuing business analytics as a major equips one with versatile, in-demand skills that can be applied across disparate industries and job functions. If you demonstrate any of the following characteristics, then business analytics might be a no-brainer for you!
You love numbers, data and patterns
If you have a passion for numbers, data, and identifying patterns, business analytics is the perfect field for you. As a business analyst, you will work extensively with data, employing various tools and techniques to extract meaningful insights that drive business decisions.
You want to be in leadership roles
Business analysts often take on leadership roles, providing guidance and insights to stakeholders across the organisation. So, if you enjoy the responsibility of influencing business outcomes, business analytics is an excellent career path.
You like working with others
Business analysts continually collaborate with cross-functional teams, including accounting, marketing, operations and economic departments. So, if you thrive in a collaborative environment and enjoy working with others to accomplish common goals, then this is a rewarding career choice.
You can communicate well
Effective communication is essential in this field. This is because business analysts need to translate sophisticated data insights into actionable suggestions for non-technical stakeholders. So, if you enjoy presenting findings to various audiences, business analytics is a great fit.
High demand for business analysts globally
According to the 2023 Future of Jobs report, the global demand for business analysts is growing rapidly. More companies across diverse industries are increasingly relying on data-driven decision-making. This, in turn, spells increased job security and career advancement for professionals with strong business analytics skills.
What jobs can you get with a business analytics degree?
With a business analytics degree, one can pursue a broad range of roles across various domains. For example:
Data analyst
These individuals are responsible for analysing and interpreting data to help organisations make informed decisions. In practice, data analysts make insights of the data through visualization techniques, and exploit statistical models in predictive analysis, forecasting techniques to identify trends and patterns in data.
Financial analyst
These competent professionals iteratively analyse financial data to help organisations make strategic financial decisions. Financial analysts utilise financial models and forecasting techniques to predict future financial performance and identify areas for cost reduction and profit maximisation.
Operations manager
Operations managers oversee a company's day-to-day operations, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness. In practice, they leverage data analytics principles to identify areas for improvement and optimise processes.
Marketing analyst
These professionals analyse data to help organisations better comprehend customer behaviour and preferences in relation to a company’s products. They utilise data visualisation and statistical models in predicting and forecasting trends and patterns in customer behaviour. The output of these exercises can then be exploited to inform marketing strategies.
Data engineer
A data engineer iteratively designs and constructs data systems to store and manage large datasets. During their work, they employ programming languages and SQL to develop scalable data architectures.
Product manager
These professionals oversee the development and launch of new products. To inform product development strategies, product managers exploit data analytics to single out market trends and customer needs.
Management consultant
Management consultants help enterprises to improve their performance by analysing and optimising business processes. During their day-to-day work, they leverage data analytics principles to identify areas for improvement and develop strategies for implementation.
Is business analytics a hard major?
Due to its interdisciplinary nature, business analytics may be considered relatively challenging as a major. It requires technical proficiency, as students must master complex concepts like SQL programming, statistical analysis, data mining, and predictive modelling.
Additionally, the major demands strong analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and effective negotiation and communication skills. These skills are invaluable when translating data insights into actionable business strategies. Despite these elements, it is a manageable major for anyone willing to put in the work!
Is business analytics a STEM major?
Yes, business analytics is considered a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) major. Its characterisation as a STEM major comes from its sub-courses, such as descriptive analytics, data mining, and discrete mathematics.
Furthermore, business analytics professionals rely on statistical reasoning and problem-solving skills, similar to other STEM disciplines.
What’s the difference between business analytics and data science?
The answer to this question mainly depends on one's career goals and interests because both fields have distinct focuses and applications. Business analytics primarily revolves around using data analysis techniques to solve specific business problems.
Data science, on the other hand, is broader and more technical, encompassing a wider range of data-related tasks. Data scientists often develop complex algorithms and predictive models to uncover deeper insights and drive innovation across various domains.
That being said, business analytics is ideal for those who enjoy applying data insights to real-world business issues. On the flip side, data science suits technical individuals passionate about advanced computational techniques and exploratory data analysis.
Is business analytics better than finance?
Business analytics focuses on utilising data to drive business decisions— often with a stronger emphasis on business operations and management skills. With the emergence of various analytics tools and softwares in the market, business analytics appear to be more handy for business fields than before rather than a hardcore programming disciplines.
Finance involves managing the financial aspects of any business entity, such as budgeting, forecasting, and investment decisions.
Overall, the choice between these two disciplines depends on individual preferences and career goals. Business analytics is ideal for those who seek to apply data insights to real-world business issues, while finance is better for those who thrive in financial analysis and planning.
Is business analytics better than marketing?
Business analytics is not intrinsically superior or inferior to marketing. Both fields have unique strengths that are mission-critical to organisations and require different skill sets.
Business analysts exploit data to drive business decisions across various departments. Marketers specifically analyse marketing activity data, such as consumer behaviour, advertising effectiveness, and market trends.
While business analytics is broader in scope, marketing analytics is more specialised and critical for understanding consumer behaviour and measuring marketing effectiveness.
Business analytics major salary in Malaysia
The median salary for business analysts in Malaysia varies across disparate sources depending on the specific job requirements.
For example, according to SalaryExpert, the average gross salary for a Business Analyst in Malaysia is RM129,871 per year. Indeed suggests an average salary of RM5,649 per month for most business analyst jobs. Payscale estimates the median yearly salary for a Business Analyst to be RM54,399 in 2024.
Where to pursue a business analytics degree in Malaysia?
To pursue a business analytics degree in Malaysia, one can consider the University of Nottingham Malaysia’s BSc in Finance, Management and Business Analytics programme.
This three-year full-time programme provides students with a solid business education and specialist skills to help organisations understand their customers.
Entry requirements include A Levels (BBB), IB Diploma (30 points), and equivalent qualifications with specific English language proficiency.
The programme equips students with the competencies to extract actionable insights from data to address finance and management challenges. Students also learn how to navigate various data analytics tools and statistical programming software, as well as predictive modelling techniques to devise unique data science solutions.
Get detailed information about UNM’s BSc in Finance, Management and Business Analytics programme, the entry requirements, key modules in each year and more.
Conclusion
Business analytics is a crucial domain in today's ultra-competitive, data-driven work landscape. By harnessing data to identify emerging market gaps and customer pain points, businesses can stay ahead of the curve and adapt expeditiously to changing market conditions.
It is a discipline that not only drives business success but also appreciably contributes to the overall well-being of society by fostering more efficient use of business resources. Thus, leading to improved economic outcomes and better quality of life.
Posted on 26th July 2024