Business Analytics Exam questions
and answers graded A+
Strategic decision - ANS✅✅A decision that involves higher-level issues and that is concerned with
the overall direction of the organization, defining the overall goals and aspirations for the
organization's future.
Tactical decision - ANS✅✅A decision concerned with how the organization should achieve the
goals and objectives set by its strategy.
operational decision - ANS✅✅A decision concerned with how the organization is run from day to
day.
business analytics - ANS✅✅The scientific process of transforming data into insight for making
better decisions.
descriptive analytics - ANS✅✅Analytical tools that describe what has happened (ex. data queries,
reports, descriptive statistics, data visualization including data dashboards, some data-mining
techniques, and basic what-if spreadsheet models).
data query - ANS✅✅A request for information with certain characteristics from a database.
data dashboard - ANS✅✅A collection of tables, charts, and maps to help management monitor
selected aspects of the company's performance.
data mining - ANS✅✅The use of analytical techniques for better understanding patterns and
relationships that exist in large data sets.
predictive analytics - ANS✅✅Techniques that use models constructed from past data to predict
the future or to ascertain the impact of one variable on another.
simulation - ANS✅✅The use of probability and statistics to construct a computer model to study
the impact of uncertainty on the decision at hand.
, prescriptive analytics - ANS✅✅Techniques that analyze input data and yield a best course of
action.
rule-based model - ANS✅✅A prescriptive model that is based on a rule or set of rules (ex. portfolio
models in finance, supply network design models in operations, and price-markdown models in
retailing).
optimization model - ANS✅✅A mathematical model that gives the best decision, subject to the
situation's constraints.
simulation optimization - ANS✅✅The use of probability and statistics to model uncertainty,
combined with optimization techniques, to find good decisions in highly complex and highly
uncertain settings.
decision analysis - ANS✅✅A technique used to develop an optimal strategy when a decision maker
is faced with several decision alternatives and an uncertain set of future events.
utility theory - ANS✅✅The study of the total worth or relative desirability of a particular outcome
that reflects the decision maker's attitude toward a collection of factors such as profit, loss, and risk.
big data - ANS✅✅Any set of data that is too large or too complex to be handled by standard data-
processing techniques and typical desktop software.
Hadoop - ANS✅✅An open-source programming environment that supports big data processing
through distributed storage and distributed processing on clusters of computers.
MapReduce - ANS✅✅Programming model used within Hadoop that performs the two major steps
for which it is named: the map step and the reduce step. The map step divides the data into
manageable subsets and distributes it to the computers in the cluster for storing and processing. The
reduce step collects answers from the nodes and combines them into an answer to the original
problem.
data security - ANS✅✅Protecting stored data from destructive forces or unauthorized users.
data scientists - ANS✅✅Analysts trained in both computer science and statistics who know how to
effectively process and analyze massive amounts of data.
and answers graded A+
Strategic decision - ANS✅✅A decision that involves higher-level issues and that is concerned with
the overall direction of the organization, defining the overall goals and aspirations for the
organization's future.
Tactical decision - ANS✅✅A decision concerned with how the organization should achieve the
goals and objectives set by its strategy.
operational decision - ANS✅✅A decision concerned with how the organization is run from day to
day.
business analytics - ANS✅✅The scientific process of transforming data into insight for making
better decisions.
descriptive analytics - ANS✅✅Analytical tools that describe what has happened (ex. data queries,
reports, descriptive statistics, data visualization including data dashboards, some data-mining
techniques, and basic what-if spreadsheet models).
data query - ANS✅✅A request for information with certain characteristics from a database.
data dashboard - ANS✅✅A collection of tables, charts, and maps to help management monitor
selected aspects of the company's performance.
data mining - ANS✅✅The use of analytical techniques for better understanding patterns and
relationships that exist in large data sets.
predictive analytics - ANS✅✅Techniques that use models constructed from past data to predict
the future or to ascertain the impact of one variable on another.
simulation - ANS✅✅The use of probability and statistics to construct a computer model to study
the impact of uncertainty on the decision at hand.
, prescriptive analytics - ANS✅✅Techniques that analyze input data and yield a best course of
action.
rule-based model - ANS✅✅A prescriptive model that is based on a rule or set of rules (ex. portfolio
models in finance, supply network design models in operations, and price-markdown models in
retailing).
optimization model - ANS✅✅A mathematical model that gives the best decision, subject to the
situation's constraints.
simulation optimization - ANS✅✅The use of probability and statistics to model uncertainty,
combined with optimization techniques, to find good decisions in highly complex and highly
uncertain settings.
decision analysis - ANS✅✅A technique used to develop an optimal strategy when a decision maker
is faced with several decision alternatives and an uncertain set of future events.
utility theory - ANS✅✅The study of the total worth or relative desirability of a particular outcome
that reflects the decision maker's attitude toward a collection of factors such as profit, loss, and risk.
big data - ANS✅✅Any set of data that is too large or too complex to be handled by standard data-
processing techniques and typical desktop software.
Hadoop - ANS✅✅An open-source programming environment that supports big data processing
through distributed storage and distributed processing on clusters of computers.
MapReduce - ANS✅✅Programming model used within Hadoop that performs the two major steps
for which it is named: the map step and the reduce step. The map step divides the data into
manageable subsets and distributes it to the computers in the cluster for storing and processing. The
reduce step collects answers from the nodes and combines them into an answer to the original
problem.
data security - ANS✅✅Protecting stored data from destructive forces or unauthorized users.
data scientists - ANS✅✅Analysts trained in both computer science and statistics who know how to
effectively process and analyze massive amounts of data.
