BA Flashcards
What is Business Intelligence (BI)?
Tools and processes for gathering, storing, analyzing, and accessing data to improve decision-making.
Define Business Analytics (BA).
The process of generating actionable recommendations using historical data insights.
What are the three phases of decision-making?
Intelligence, Design, and Choice.
What occurs during the Intelligence phase of decision-making?
Identifying and defining problems or opportunities.
What is the purpose of the Design phase in decision-making?
To build and validate models to address the problem.
What is the key focus of the Choice phase in decision-making?
Selecting the best solution based on evaluation criteria.
What are structured decisions?
Routine problems with predefined solutions, often automated.
What are unstructured decisions?
Complex problems requiring human intuition; no predefined solution exists.
Name the three levels of decision-making.
Operational, Managerial, and Strategic.
What is ETL in the BA process?
Extract, Transform, and Load – moving data into a warehouse or data mart.
What is Descriptive Analytics?
Summarizes past data to identify patterns and trends.
What is Predictive Analytics?
Forecasts future trends and outcomes based on probabilities.
What is Prescriptive Analytics?
Provides actionable recommendations and evaluates potential outcomes.
What is OLAP used for?
Multidimensional analysis of data, including slicing, dicing, drill-down, and roll-up.
What is data mining?
Analyzing large datasets to uncover hidden patterns or relationships.
Name three DSS methods.
What-If Analysis, Sensitivity Analysis, Goal-Seeking Analysis.
What is a dashboard?
A visual tool displaying real-time KPIs and metrics for decision-making.
What does GIS stand for?
Geographic Information Systems.
How does GIS support decision-making?
Integrates and displays data using maps for location-based analysis.
Name an example of Prescriptive Analytics in action.
Self-driving cars analyzing potential actions like braking or turning.
What is the difference between BI and BA?
BI focuses on data gathering and reporting; BA focuses on deeper analysis and actionable insights.
What are the challenges in decision-making that BA addresses?
Increasing alternatives, time pressure, uncertainty, and need for expert consultation.
What role does sensitivity analysis play in DSS?
Identifies variables with the most impact on outcomes.
What is the main goal of Predictive Analytics?
To anticipate and forecast future trends and behaviors.
What are the outputs of the BA process?
Insights presented via dashboards, reports, or GIS maps.
What is goal-seeking analysis?
Determines the input values needed to achieve a desired outcome.
What is a KPI?
Key Performance Indicator – a specific measure of critical success factors.
What is the role of dashboards in BA?
To provide real-time visual summaries of metrics for decision-making.
What is the main function of Descriptive Analytics?
To learn from historical behaviors and data patterns.
What is the purpose of Prescriptive Analytics?
To recommend and quantify the effects of future decisions.
