Overview

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The current state of the world makes business forecasting even more fundamental to the operation of institutions. In this Specialization we focus on Excel Skills for Business Forecasting in three courses — Time Series Models, Regression Models, and Judgmental Forecasting. In the first course on Time Series Models, we will be looking at how your business can utilise time series data sets to understand the different components underlying this data, and then apply the relevant model depending on these components to forecast for your business' needs. We then continue in our second course in this specialisation which looks at Regression Models, building causal models for both time series data as well as cross-sectional data. Causal models allow us to develop further business insights and strategy by controlling the inputs to generate the output we desire. In the third and final course, we explore the role of Judgmental Forecasting, when more quantitative forecasting methods have limitations, and we need to generate further business insights. We will be exploring some structured methodologies to create judgmental business forecasts and explore how Excel can assist us in these judgments. We will bring all these forecasting methods together in a final case study, giving you the opportunity to generate forecasts, which are the inputs to any organisation's planning.

Syllabus

Course 1: Excel Time Series Models for Business Forecasting
- Offered by Macquarie University. This course explores different time series business forecasting methods. The course covers a variety of ... Enroll for free.

Course 2: Excel Regression Models for Business Forecasting
- Offered by Macquarie University. This course allows learners to explore Regression Models in order to utilise these models for business ... Enroll for free.

Course 3: Judgmental Business Forecasting in Excel
- Offered by Macquarie University. In this course, we extend your business forecasting expertise from the first two courses of our Business ... Enroll for free.

Courses

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11 hours 14 minutes
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This course explores different time series business forecasting methods. The course covers a variety of business forecasting methods for different types of components present in time series data — level, trending, and seasonal. We will learn about the theoretical methods and apply these methods to business data using Microsoft Excel. These forecasting methods will be programmed into Microsoft Excel, displayed graphically, and we will optimise these models to produce accurate forecasts. We will compare different models and their forecasts to decide which model best suits our business' needs.
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10 hours 10 minutes
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In this course, we extend your business forecasting expertise from the first two courses of our Business Forecasting Specialisation on Time Series Models and Regression Models. We will explore the role of judgmental forecasting, when more quantitative forecasting methods have limitations, and we need to generate further business insights. We will be exploring some structured methodologies to create judgmental business forecasts using Business Indicators, Subjective Assessment Methods, and Exploratory Methods. For each of these methods, we will look at how we can use Excel to help us in achieving these judgmental forecasts and how Excel can help us visualising our forecast findings. Being judgmental forecasting methods, we will also look at the role of biases in Business Forecasting,
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9 hours 6 minutes
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This course allows learners to explore Regression Models in order to utilise these models for business forecasting. Unlike Time Series Models, Regression Models are causal models, where we identify certain variables in our business that influence other variables. Regressions model this causality, and then we can use these models in order to forecast, and then plan for our business' needs. We will explore simple regression models, multiple regression models, dummy variable regressions, seasonal variable regressions, as well as autoregressions. Each of these are different forms of regression models, tailored to unique business scenarios, in order to forecast and generate business intelligence for organisations.