BUSINESS ANALYTICS JAMES COMPREHENSIVE
STUDY GUIDE 2026 DATA ANALYSIS AND
DECISION MAKING PRINCIPLES
◉ What is the primary focus of strategic decisions? Answer: The
overall direction of the organization and its future goals.
◉ Who is typically responsible for tactical decisions? Answer:
Midlevel management.
◉ What is the main concern of operational decisions? Answer: The
day-to-day running of the firm.
◉ What are the five steps in the decision-making process? Answer:
1) Identify and define the problem. 2) Determine evaluation criteria.
3) Determine alternative solutions. 4) Evaluate alternatives. 5)
Choose an alternative.
◉ What is business analytics? Answer: The scientific process of
transforming data into insight for better decision making.
, ◉ What are the benefits of using business analytics? Answer:
Creating insights from data, improving forecasting, quantifying risk,
and yielding better alternatives.
◉ What does descriptive analytics do? Answer: Describes what has
happened in the past using techniques like data queries, reports, and
data visualization.
◉ What is an example of a descriptive analytics technique? Answer:
Data dashboards that display tables, charts, and summary statistics.
◉ What is predictive analytics? Answer: Techniques that use past
data to predict future outcomes or the impact of variables.
◉ What are some methods used in predictive analytics? Answer:
Linear regression, time series analysis, and supervised learning
techniques.
◉ What does prescriptive analytics indicate? Answer: A course of
action to take based on predictive models combined with rules.
◉ What are optimization models? Answer: Models that provide the
best decision subject to constraints.
STUDY GUIDE 2026 DATA ANALYSIS AND
DECISION MAKING PRINCIPLES
◉ What is the primary focus of strategic decisions? Answer: The
overall direction of the organization and its future goals.
◉ Who is typically responsible for tactical decisions? Answer:
Midlevel management.
◉ What is the main concern of operational decisions? Answer: The
day-to-day running of the firm.
◉ What are the five steps in the decision-making process? Answer:
1) Identify and define the problem. 2) Determine evaluation criteria.
3) Determine alternative solutions. 4) Evaluate alternatives. 5)
Choose an alternative.
◉ What is business analytics? Answer: The scientific process of
transforming data into insight for better decision making.
, ◉ What are the benefits of using business analytics? Answer:
Creating insights from data, improving forecasting, quantifying risk,
and yielding better alternatives.
◉ What does descriptive analytics do? Answer: Describes what has
happened in the past using techniques like data queries, reports, and
data visualization.
◉ What is an example of a descriptive analytics technique? Answer:
Data dashboards that display tables, charts, and summary statistics.
◉ What is predictive analytics? Answer: Techniques that use past
data to predict future outcomes or the impact of variables.
◉ What are some methods used in predictive analytics? Answer:
Linear regression, time series analysis, and supervised learning
techniques.
◉ What does prescriptive analytics indicate? Answer: A course of
action to take based on predictive models combined with rules.
◉ What are optimization models? Answer: Models that provide the
best decision subject to constraints.
