Master of Business Administration (iMBA)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign via Coursera

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Overview

A deeply engaging online MBA from a public university powerhouse.

Students in the iMBA program earn the same high-quality MBA degree that on-campus students have been earning for decades--but without needing to put career or family life on hold. Students achieve business mastery, gain lifelong leadership skills, and build a global network as they work alongside fellow students and faculty.

The iMBA program features live global classrooms via web conferencing, team projects, and personal interaction with professors during virtual office hours. The nearly 2,000 students in the iMBA family represent more than 90 countries and 48 states across the United States. The program was hailed as a “breakthrough” by Poets & Quants, a leading authority on management education. The iMBA is from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, a historical land-grant public research institution founded in 1867.

Build a Global Network
iMBA students are accomplished professionals from across the globe. You’ll work closely with classmates and join a global University of Illinois alumni network that’s 470,000 strong.

A Recognized and Respected Program
Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois is an AACSB accredited and competitively ranked college by Poets and Quants, US News & World Report, and Bloomberg Businessweek.

A Top MBA for a Breakthrough Price
At less than $22,000, the cost of the iMBA is by far the lowest of any major university’s online MBA.

Syllabus

Successful MBA candidates are lateral thinkers who apply a creative and abstract approaches to solving business problems.

Career-First Course Design

Courses are grouped into Specializations that include readings, lectures, hands-on projects, and more. The program culminates in a capstone project that simulates a real-world business scenario. The courses are designed to help students apply new skills directly to their careers.

Future-Forward Leadership Capacity

Gain leadership skills as you learn to improve existing processes. Learn to develop and implement a vision for the future. Choose courses from two out of three advanced-leadership pathways: innovation, digitalization, and globalization.

Global Online Classrooms & Projects

iMBA live classroom sessions unite students from as many as 90 different countries. Students bring real-time perspectives from the front lines of the business world. Faculty work with students via interactive classes, projects, and office hours.

Specializations

These are the courses you can start today as you consider whether to apply to the iMBA.

Digital Marketing

This Specialization explores several aspects of the digital marketing environment, including topics such as digital marketing analytics, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and 3D Printing. The Digital Marketing Specialization gives you a richer understanding of the new digital marketing landscape and the skills and tools to used to digitally create, distribute, promote, and price products or services.

Learn about this Specialization Strategic Leadership & Management

Gain leadership and business skills that make an immediate impact. Practice everyday leadership and learn to manage people effectively. Learn to implement management strategies in the real world. Make businesses more efficient by applying principles of organizational design.

Learn more about this Specialization Managerial Economics & Business Analysis

In order to effectively manage and operate a business, managers and leaders need to understand the market characteristics and economic environment. In this Specialization, build a solid understanding of market operation and the macro-economic environment by studying real-world examples. Identify economic factors that impact business decisions and develop an analytical framework using statistical tools.

Learn more about this Specialization Value Chain Management

Learn to produce and deliver goods and services that customers value while generating a surplus for owners. Value chain management focuses on understanding what customers want, measuring inputs and outputs to assess value, and generating higher value for customers and greater surplus for businesses.

Learn more about this Specialization Financial Management

This Specialization covers the fundamentals of strategic financial management, including financial accounting, investments, and corporate finance. Evaluate major strategic decisions, understand capital markets, and develop an integrated framework for value-based financial management and decision-making.

Learn More about this Specialization Global Challenges in Business

This Specialization teaches you to understand how businesses function in the global marketplace and how ethical decision making is essential for every responsible business. Learn how businesses can play a helpful role in helping to address challenges like poverty and pollution.

Learn more about this Specialization Innovation: From Creativity to Entrepreneurship

In a marketplace characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, innovative skills are necessary for today’s industry leaders. Agile thinking and an entrepreneurial mindset are critical to thriving in uncertain business environments. This Specialization addresses how to recognize and question assumptions and constraints, as well as ways to identify and capitalize on opportunities. Learn to change the rules of the game by creating innovative value propositions and discovering new market positions that leverage sustainable competitive advantages.

Learn More about this Specialization

Courses

2 reviews
1 day 37 minutes
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In this course you will learn how to use key finance principles to understand and measure business success and to identify and promote true value creation. You will learn how to use accounting information to form key financial ratios to measure a company’s financial health and to manage a company's short-term and long-term liquidity needs. You will also learn how to use valuation techniques to make sound business investment and acquisition decisions. Finally, you will learn how to incorporate risk and uncertainty into investment decisions and how to evaluate the performance of existing investments. Upon successful completion of this course you will be able to: • Understand how companies make investment decisions that create value for shareholders • Use accounting statements to measure the financial health of a company • Forecast and manage a company’s short- and long-term liquidity needs • Measure the contribution of a new project or acquisition to shareholder value • Incorporate risk into investment decisions using the appropriate discount rates • Evaluate the performance of a company or divisions of a company This course was previously entitled Financial Evaluation and Strategy: Corporate Finance. The course received an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 based on 177 reviews over the period of September 2015 through August 2016. A detailed breakdown of ratings and reviews received for the prior version of the course, which is identical in content to the current course, is provided in the course orientation page. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
6 reviews
20 hours 20 minutes
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The Digital Revolution has led to a titanic shift in the landscape of marketing communications, while also creating new opportunities for businesses to reach and engage consumers through smart, social, and mobile media technologies. In this course, you will learn about the impacts of digital technologies on marketing communication strategies and practices. By understanding the underlying processes of marketing communication and the core features of new media technologies, you can strategically select the appropriate channels to deliver the right marketing message to the right audience at the right moment. You will be able to: - Examine marketing as a process of highly strategic communication - Understand the impacts of digital media and information technologies on communication and marketing - Develop a conceptual understanding of several digital marketing strategies - Consider the rise of exciting new technologies, such as AI, Internet of Things, and Mix Reality, as new tools for digital marketing This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into the program and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
2 reviews
19 hours 58 minutes
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The proliferation of digital technology gives businesses an unprecedented and diverse new set of tools to reach, engage, monitor, and respond to consumers. The aggregated and voluminous digital data can also be leveraged to better target specific consumer segments. Following “Digital Media and Marketing Principles,” this course aims to give you a deeper understanding of core processes of planning a digital marketing campaign and the role of various digital channels in integrated marketing communication. You will be able to: - Adopt a holistic and integrated approach to digital marketing planning - Develop a purposeful content marketing strategy to achieve your business and marketing goals - Effectively mix paid, earned, owned, and shared media channels to discover, reach, and engage your customers - Critically evaluate the role social media platforms play in viral and influencer marketing campaigns - Evaluate and measure the success of digital marketing campaigns - Identify and manage risks in digital marketing This course is part of Gies College of Business’s suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into the program and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
630 reviews
1 day 4 hours 43 minutes
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This course examines how new digital tools, such as the Internet, smartphones, and 3D printing, are revolutionizing the world of marketing by changing the roles and practices of both firms and consumers. Marketing in a Digital World is one of the most popular courses on Coursera with over 500,000 learners and is rated by Class Central as one of the Top 50 MOOCs of All Time (https://www.class-central.com/report/top-moocs/). You will be able to: • Understand how digital tools are changing the nature of marketing • Explain how digital tools allow consumers to take a more active role in product development, promotion, placement, and pricing activities • Obtain a new set of concepts, tools, and stories to enhance your digital marketing efforts This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
14 reviews
20 hours
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In this course, you will learn how to use accounting to facilitate and align decisions made by owners, managers, and employees. You will learn how accountants create, organize, interpret, and communicate information that improves internal processes and allows organizations to identify and leverage opportunities to create value within the supply chain and with customers. You will be able to: • Understand what managerial accounting is and why it is an important function for successful businesses • Identify problems associated with relying on financial accounting information for internal decision making • Organize cost information according to the decision-making needs of the organization • Apply activity-based costing (ABC) and recognize circumstances and decisions for which ABC systems are relevant • Address common "what-if" questions using cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis and apply CVP in a variety of scenarios This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
5 reviews
25 hours
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In this course, you will explore how to use accounting to allocate resources and incentivize manager and employee behaviors with these resources. You will also learn how financial and non-financial accounting information facilitates strategic performance measurement and how to integrate this information to continuously improve strategy. You will be able to: • Understand the role of managerial accounting information and use it to avoid common pitfalls in business decisions • Understand the iterative and interrelated nature of budgeting and apply the key components to preparing a master budget • Evaluate capital investments via a variety of measures • Calculate, interpret, and investigate variances • Understand decentralization and its advantages and disadvantages • Communicate the role of non-financial measures and strategic performance measurement systems • Compute and interpret financial performance measures and identify associate issues This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
35 reviews
20 hours 38 minutes
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Successfully marketing brands today requires a well-balanced blend of art and science. This course introduces students to the science of web analytics while casting a keen eye toward the artful use of numbers found in the digital space. The goal is to provide the foundation needed to apply data analytics to real-world challenges marketers confront daily. Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals: Marketing Analytics in Theory is the first in a two-part series of complementary courses and focuses on the background information and frameworks analysts need to be successful in today's digital business world. This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
23 reviews
20 hours 14 minutes
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Successfully marketing brands today requires a well-balanced blend of art and science. This course introduces students to the science of web analytics while casting a keen eye toward the artful use of numbers found in the digital space. The goal is to provide the foundation needed to apply data analytics to real-world challenges marketers confront daily. Digital Analytics for Marketing Professionals: Marketing Analytics in Practice is the second in a two-part series of complementary courses and focuses on the skills and practical abilities analysts need to be successful in today's digital business world. You will be able to: - Identify the web analytic tool right for your specific needs - Understand valid and reliable ways to collect, analyze, and visualize data from the web - Utilize data in decision making for agencies, organizations, or clients This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
13 hours 35 minutes
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This four-week Capstone of the Digital Marketing Specialization is designed to help you apply the principles you have learned in the previous courses. This capstone course is designed to give you hands-on experience in executing a digital marketing campaign for a fictitious firm selling electronics. In the previous courses on analytics and channels, you came up with strategies to identify a firm’s objectives, specify a few key ones, research alternatives to reaching the customer in their decision journey and finally propose a multi-channel digital marketing plan. In this capstone, you will execute a campaign, rather than creating another "plan". You will use an online simulation to do this. You will be a marketing manager for a firm selling digital cameras online through their webstore. You will be reviewing the products, pricing, margins, and historical sales. You will create a targeted ad campaign after researching appropriate keywords for the products you are selling. You will also review the basics of landing page design and search engine optimization. You will then create and execute an email campaign. Once these campaigns are executed, you get feedback on the KPI's such as revenue, profits, traffic, conversions. You will get an opportunity to redo this campaign, with new strategies, to improve your KPI's in the second round. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
18 reviews
18 hours 15 minutes
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In this course you will learn how organizations create, capture, and maintain value. In doing so, you’ll develop an understanding of how and why this process is fundamental for sustainable competitive advantage. You will be able to better understand value creation, and capture and learn the tools to analyze both competition and cooperation from a variety of perspectives, including the industry-level (e.g., five forces analysis) and the firm-level (e.g., business models and strategic positioning). You will be able to: - Understand how managers coordinate different functional areas, resources, and systems inside a company and align them with the external environment to enhance overall performance - Recognize strategic management tools and frameworks and apply them to real business contexts - Process diverse business and industry information to diagnose strategic issues, evaluate strategic alternatives, and formulate a coherent and actionable strategic plan This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
2 reviews
19 hours 8 minutes
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This course provides an analytical framework to help you evaluate key problems in a structured fashion and will equip you with tools to better manage the uncertainties that pervade and complicate business processes. To this end, the course aims to cover statistical ideas that apply to managers by discussing two basic themes: first, is recognizing and describing variations present in everything around us, and then modeling and making decisions in the presence of these variations. The fundamental concepts studied in this course will reappear in many other classes and business settings. Our focus will be on interpreting the meaning of the results in a business and managerial setting. While you will be introduced to some of the science of what is being taught, the focus will be on applying the methodologies. This will be accomplished through use of Excel and using data sets from many different disciplines, allowing you to see the use of statistics in very diverse settings. The course will focus not only on explaining these concepts but also understanding the meaning of the results obtained. You will be able to: • Test for beliefs about a population • Compare differences between populations • Use linear regression model for prediction • Use Excel for statistical analysis This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
17 hours
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This course discusses how macroeconomic variables affect individuals’ personal, professional, and public activities and lays the foundation for the analysis of the mechanisms that drive macroeconomic variables. It starts by introducing the key macroeconomic variables and explaining how they are defined and measured to interpret macroeconomic data properly.

Then, the course offers a perspective for separating out various parts of the economy driven by different processes and for combining those components to develop a richer view of the whole. In particular, it applies this approach to the analysis of the relationship of the trade deficit with the budget deficit and private savings, offering insights about some key determinants of the balance of payments. The third and fourth modules focus on the analyses of the foreign currency and money markets to provide fundamental models of the interest rate and exchange rate determination. They also discuss how these variables interact with each other and with the macroeconomic conditions, particularly monetary policy, and the expectations about the future trends in the economy.

You will be able to:

• Systematically assess the national and international economic environment in which you live and work
• Analyze macroeconomic issues using key tools
• Be a more effective professional in your line of activity.

This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
17 hours 11 minutes
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All goods and services are subject to scarcity at some level, which requires that society develop some allocation mechanism to determine who gets what. Over recorded history, these allocation rules were usually command based, meaning that the king or the emperor would decide. In contemporary times, most countries have turned to market-based allocation systems. In markets, prices act as rationing devices, encouraging or discouraging production and encouraging or discouraging consumption to find an equilibrium allocation of resources. To understand this process, businesses construct demand curves to capture consumer behavior and consider supply curves to capture producer behavior. The resulting equilibrium price “rations” the scarce commodity. You will be able to: • Describe consumer behavior as captured by the demand curve and producer behavior as captured by the supply curve • Define equilibrium and explain the impact of taxes and price controls on market equilibrium • Explain elasticity of demand • Describe cost theory and how firms optimize given the constraints of their own costs and an exogenously given price This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
2 reviews
18 hours 31 minutes
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In markets, prices act as rationing devices, encouraging or discouraging production and consumption to find an equilibrium. In this course, you will learn to construct demand curves to capture consumer behavior and supply curves to capture producer behavior. The resulting equilibrium price “rations” the scarce commodity. Additionally, the course examines the ways in which markets are subject government intervention and the impacts of these interventions. You will be able to: • Explain how different market structures result in different resource allocations • Model the impact of external shocks to a particular market structure and demonstrate the new equilibrium price and quantity after the impact of this external shock has played out • Evaluate the efficiency of an equilibrium • Explain when and why the government might intervene with regulatory authority or antitrust litigation to lessen inefficiencies in some markets • Describe how information problems can cause inefficient outcomes • Understand externalities and consider optimal government response to these market failures This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
13 hours 11 minutes
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Organizations are complex and can be difficult to manage well, so managers need tools to help them better understand and deal with the many complexities and challenges associated with organizational life. In this course, you will learn theories, principles, and frameworks that will help you design more effective organizations. You will be able to: - Analyze organizations from multiple perspectives to better understand business challenges - Strategically plan for effective organizational governance - Develop systems to plan for growth and change - Understand implications of the external environment on business and strategically respond to these factors This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
5 reviews
4 weeks
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In this foundational course, you will immerse yourself in the idea of building effective team cultures. You will explore different facets of team culture that are at the root of effective teams. You'll learn more about cultures of safety, engagement, and growth, so that you can lead your teams toward cultures that facilitate the most effective teamwork.

This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
3 reviews
4 weeks
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In this foundational course, you will be challenged to develop as a leader. You will explore the concept of leadership, assess required competencies for today's leaders, learn more about yourself and how you can make effective and ethical decisions, identify how to build trusting relationships with others, and articulate a practice for growing as a leader.

This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA, iMSA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
4 weeks
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In this course you will learn how organizations create, capture, and maintain value, and how it is fundamental for sustainable competitive advantage. You will be able to better understand economic value creation and value appropriation, and learn the tools to analyze both competition and cooperation from a corporate level perspective, (e.g., through vertical integration, diversification, and geographic scope decisions).

You will:
• Understand how corporations create, capture, and sustain competitive advantage.
• Analyze business situations and create a coherent corporate strategy.
• Understand the fit between corporate strategy and organization structure to improve economic performance.

This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
5 reviews
12 hours 41 minutes
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This course is intended to help you become a better manager by helping you more fully understand and deal with the complexities and challenges associated with managerial life in organizations. You will learn theories, principles, and frameworks that will help you more effectively manage and lead your organizations. You will be able to: - Analyze common managerial challenges and develop solutions to these challenges - Use power effectively and strategically to implement organizational change - Understand the foundations of organizational culture and decision-making - Navigate common decision-making pitfalls and ethical challenges - Apply principles of organization management to common challenges of management This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
4 weeks
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The capstone project involves an in-depth analysis of an actual business situation in which you will examine the global economic environment of a business. The final project will be a business plan that uses statistical tools and economic theory to create a comprehensive analysis of the microeconomic and macroeconomic environment in which the focal company operates.

This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
0 reviews
10 hours 43 minutes
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The capstone is a strategic leadership and management plan where you’ll apply what you will learn to an actual business situation with participation by one or more focal companies. The deliverable will be designed to create value from the perspective of potential employers while achieving pedagogical and experiential goals for learners. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
1 review
17 hours
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This course examines macroeconomic performance in the short and long run based on the economy’s institutional and policy environment. First, we will develop a model of macroeconomy in the short run when the price level has its own momentum and does not respond much to supply and demand forces. Then, we’ll begin analyzing the long-run equilibrium by examining the foreign exchange market. The third module examines the drivers of aggregate output in the long run and the mechanisms of adjustment from the short run to the long run. Finally, we will discuss the characteristics of desirable macroeconomic policies and the reasons why actual policies deviate from them.

You will be able to:

• Understand how the market for aggregate goods and services interacts with the money market to shape the macroeconomic equilibrium which determines income, interest rate, and exchange rate in the short run
• Assess the dynamic effects of macroeconomic policies and understand the roles of globalization, government policies, institutions, and expectations in macroeconomic outcomes

This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
2 reviews
23 hours 24 minutes
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This course provides an analytical framework to help you evaluate key problems in a structured fashion and will equip you with tools to better manage the uncertainties that pervade and complicate business processes. Specifically, you will learn how to summarize data and learn concepts of frequency, normal distribution, statistical studies, sampling, and confidence intervals. While you will be introduced to some of the science of what is being taught, the focus will be on applying the methodologies. This will be accomplished through the use of Excel and data sets from different disciplines, allowing you to see the use of statistics in a range of settings. The course will focus not only on explaining these concepts, but also understanding and interpreting the results obtained. You will be able to: • Summarize large data sets in graphical, tabular, and numerical forms • Understand the significance of proper sampling and why one can rely on sample information • Understand why normal distribution can be used in a wide range of settings • Use sample information to make inferences about the population with a certain level of confidence about the accuracy of the estimations • Use Excel for statistical analysis This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
12 hours 35 minutes
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In this course, you will learn the foundations of financial accounting information. You will start your journey with a general overview of what financial accounting information is and the main financial statements. You will then learn how to code financial transactions in financial accounting language. In the meantime, you will learn about the most important concept in contemporary financial accounting: accrual accounting. You will then critically analyze how firms recognize revenues. Finally, you will finish the course with an analysis of accounting for short-term assets, where you will go into detail on how firms account for accounts receivable and inventories. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Understand the main financial statements and the financial information • Write a financial transaction in financial accounting language and understand how this impacts the main financial statements • Understand how accrual accounting and fundamental accounting concepts work • Understand revenue recognition principles and how they impact the main financial statements • Account for accounts receivable and inventories. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and go to onlinemba.illinois.edu.
2 reviews
11 hours 49 minutes
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In this course, you will explore advanced topics in financial accounting. You will start your journey with accounting for assets with more than a 1-year life. You will learn in detail how firms account for fixed assets. You will then move on to the financing of assets and discuss accounting for liabilities. The course will continue with an in-depth exploration of shareholders’ equity. Finally, you will critically evaluate the preparation, components, and analysis of the cash flows statement. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to • account for fixed assets, • understand accounting for liabilities, • evaluate shareholders’ equity section of a balance sheet, and • understand preparation and information provided by cash flows statement. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
1 review
1 day 2 hours 35 minutes
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In this course, we will discuss fundamental principles of trading off risk and return, portfolio optimization, and security pricing. We will study and use risk-return models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and multi-factor models to evaluate the performance of various securities and portfolios. Specifically, we will learn how to interpret and estimate regressions that provide us with both a benchmark to use for a security given its risk (determined by its beta), as well as a risk-adjusted measure of the security’s performance (measured by its alpha). Building upon this framework, market efficiency and its implications for patterns in stock returns and the asset-management industry will be discussed. Finally, the course will conclude by connecting investment finance with corporate finance by examining firm valuation techniques such as the use of market multiples and discounted cash flow analysis. The course emphasizes real-world examples and applications in Excel throughout. This course is the first of two on Investments that I am offering online (“Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors” is the second course). The over-arching goals of this course are to build an understanding of the fundamentals of investment finance and provide an ability to implement key asset-pricing models and firm-valuation techniques in real-world situations. Specifically, upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Explain the tradeoffs between risk and return • Form a portfolio of securities and calculate the expected return and standard deviation of that portfolio • Understand the real-world implications of the Separation Theorem of investments • Use the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and 3-Factor Model to evaluate the performance of an asset (like stocks) through regression analysis • Estimate and interpret the ALPHA (α) and BETA (β) of a security, two statistics commonly reported on financial websites • Describe what is meant by market efficiency and what it implies for patterns in stock returns and for the asset-management industry • Understand market multiples and income approaches to valuing a firm and its stock, as well as the sensitivity of each approach to assumptions made • Conduct specific examples of a market multiples valuation and a discounted cash flow valuation This course was previously entitled “Financial Evaluation and Strategy: Investments” and was part of a previous specialization entitled "Improving Business and Finances Operations", which is now closed to new learner enrollment. “Financial Evaluation and Strategy: Investments” received an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 based on 199 reviews over the period August 2015 through August 2016. You can view a detailed summary of the ratings and reviews for this course in the Course Overview section. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
1 review
19 hours 31 minutes
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In this course, you will start by reviewing the fundamentals of investments, including the trading off of return and risk when forming a portfolio, asset pricing models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the 3-Factor Model, and the efficient market hypothesis. You will be introduced to the two components of stock returns – dividends and capital gains – and will learn how each are taxed and the incentives provided to investors from a realization-based capital gains tax. You will examine the investment decisions (and behavioral biases) of participants in defined-contribution (DC) pension plans like 401(k) plans in the U.S. and will learn about the evidence regarding the performance of individual investors in their stock portfolios. The course concludes by discussing the evidence regarding the performance of actively-managed mutual funds. You will learn about the fees charged to investors by mutual funds and the evidence regarding the relation between fees charged and fund performance. Segments of the portfolios of mutual funds that may be more likely to outperform and examples of strategies designed to “earn alpha” will also be introduced. Learners are welcome to take this course even if they have not completed "Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation," as the first module contain a review of investment fundamentals and regression analysis to get everyone up to speed. Also, the course contains several innovative features, including creative out-of-the-studio introductions followed by quick-hitting "Module in 60" countdowns that highlight what will be covered in each module, four "Faculty Focus" interview episodes with leading professors in finance, and a summary of each module done with the help of animations! The over-arching goals of this course are to provide a review of the fundamentals of investments and then assess the historical performance of several groups of investors, with an emphasis on research findings with clear real-world applications. Specifically, upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Interpret and use the CAPM and the 3-Factor Model to evaluate the performance of investments • Compare returns in the form of dividends and capital gains and their tax consequences • Describe evidence regarding the performance of individuals’ stock investments • Understand key behavioral biases of investors and their effects on financial decisions • Describe evidence regarding the performance of actively-managed mutual funds • Evaluate strategies designed to “earn alpha” This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
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19 hours 26 minutes
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In this course you will learn how companies decide on how much debt to take, and whether to raise capital from markets or from banks. You will also learn how to measure and manage credit risk and how to deal with financial distress. You will discuss the mechanics of dividends and share repurchases, and how to choose the best way to return cash to investors. You will also learn how to use derivatives and liquidity management to offset specific sources of financial risk, including currency risks. Finally, You will learn how companies finance merger and acquisition decisions, including leveraged buyouts, and how to incorporate large changes in leverage in standard valuation models. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Understand how companies make financing, payout and risk management decisions that create value • Measure the effects of leverage on profitability, risk, and valuation • Manage credit risk and financial distress using appropriate financial tools • Understand the links between payout policies and company performance • Use derivatives and liquidity management to offset financial risks • Pick an appropriate financing package for an M&A or leveraged buyout deal This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
2 reviews
16 hours 36 minutes
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In this course, you will learn how businesses create value for customers. We will examine the process by which Marketing builds on a comprehensive understanding of buyer behavior to create value. You will learn the major elements of the marketing mix -- product policy, channels of distribution, communication, and pricing -- and see how they fit within different analytical frameworks that are useful to managers. This will enhance your understanding of how marketing works in the business world. You will be able to: • Define marketing and describe how marketing creates value • Describe the elements of the marketing mix • Explain how these elements interact to create value for consumers • Use different analytical frameworks to examine how managers solve business problems • Evaluate brand extensions • Develop a marketing plan proposal This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
12 hours 49 minutes
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In this course, you will further examine how businesses create value for customers. In Developing a Winning Marketing Strategy, you learned the major elements of the marketing mix - product policy, channels of distribution, communication, and pricing - and saw how they fit within different analytical frameworks that are useful to managers. In this course, you will complete a more detailed analysis of these elements in order to conduct a thorough strategic analysis of marketing opportunities and to communicate marketing decisions. This will enable you to see “marketing in action” in the business world. You will be able to: • Define all elements of the marketing mix and explain the role each element plays in creating value • Compare different pricing models • Evaluate the use of different channels of distribution by existing businesses • Critique advertising execution • Create a persuasive advertising piece This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
9-10 hours
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The capstone for the Value Chain Management specialization will provide a learning experience that examines how the various segments of a business integrate to create a value chain. The capstone involves an in-depth analysis of an actual business situation. The final deliverable consists of a plan based on a comprehensive analysis of how accounting, marketing, and operations work together to create a value chain. The plan will propose how value creation in organizations and supply chains can be enhanced using the concepts and frameworks learned in the six courses.

This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
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8 hours 14 minutes
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The Financial Management capstone will provide a learning experience that integrates across all the courses within this specialization. You will analyze a situation taking the vantage point of a company and develop a financial management plan (for instance, a global company working in a specific geography chosen by students’ region or country of residence, or other consideration). You will design a deliverable to create value from the perspective of potential employers while achieving pedagogical and experiential goals. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
1 review
15 hours 3 minutes
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Innovation strategy is about creating unique value for consumers by delivering a great product that satisfies their needs. This course introduces the fundamental strategy concepts and tools that enable firms to manage technological innovations for competitive advantage. It does so by first considering the sources of technological change and how to leverage technologies to create firm value. It then examines the various mechanisms for extracting value from technologies, both legal (e.g., patents, trade secrecy, etc.) and strategic (e.g., lead time, complementary assets, etc.). We will explore the fundamentals of technology strategy through readings and case studies in both established and entrepreneurial firms across a range of technology-based industries. You will be able to: - Learn fundamental strategy concepts and frameworks for technology-based firms - Apply theories and frameworks toward the analysis and formulation of strategies for creating and capturing value through technological innovations - Develop an ability to think strategically and make decisions under uncertainty and risk - Develop skills in performing analytic research and preparing professional reports - Develop skills in managing diverse teams and working under time and resource constraints This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
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1 day 11 hours 55 minutes
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This course focuses on understanding subsistence marketplaces and designing business solutions for the billions of people living in poverty in the global marketplace. To develop understanding of these markets, we use exercises to that enable learners to view the world from the eyes of subsistence consumers and entrepreneurs, facilitate bottom‐up understanding generated by participants, and provide insights from extensive research. More broadly, the course uses the context of extreme resource constraints to learn about the bottom-up approach pioneered through the Subsistence Marketplaces Initiative and apply it in broadly. A parallel project will focus on understanding a specific need in a subsistence marketplace, and designing a solution and an enterprise plan for implementation. You will be able to: • Develop an understanding of subsistence marketplaces • Design solutions for subsistence marketplaces • Develop enterprise plans to implement solutions for subsistence marketplaces • Apply the bottom-up approach for subsistence marketplaces and other contexts This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
20 hours 59 minutes
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This course will explore current challenges and opportunities facing firms in the area of environmental sustainability. It will begin with an introduction to sustainability, with a particular focus on how environmental sustainability is relevant to business. Topics such as unsustainable consumption/consumer behavior, market research on sustainable product design , and sustainable value chains and communications will be covered. We will also cover the bottom-up approach in terms of immersion, emersion, and design as applied to sustainable business enterprise. The course concludes with a summary of insights on global challenges in business, with particular focus on poverty and the environment. You will be able to: • Understand the importance of sustainability for business • Analyze specific topics including consumer behavior, market research, product design, value chains and communications using the sustainability lens in business • Design solutions and develop enterprise plans for sustainable business initiatives • Apply the bottom-up approach for sustainable business initiatives in varied contexts This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
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20 hours 53 minutes
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You may have noticed that what is new often behaves differently than what has become accepted over time whether it is in a market, technology, or with people and firms. This course helps you develop a perspective on managing innovation. That is, you will build your capability to lead and design your organization in effectively implementing innovation initiatives and achieving their strategic intent. To do this, you will learn a set of frameworks, tools, and concepts that can help you address several important challenges in managing innovation. The first challenge is in regards to how to successfully implement innovation efforts within established firms and alongside established businesses. You then investigate the particulars of managing innovation when disruptive technologies are involved. Other topics include leadership of new product development teams, planning and evaluation of innovation initiatives, and management of innovation across organizational boundaries, as happens with alliances or virtual firms. You will be able to: - Analyze innovations and their impact on organizations - Articulate a research-informed perspective on innovation - Utilize frameworks, tools, and concepts to address challenges that arise in innovation This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
13 hours 37 minutes
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Starting in the late 1990s, “globalization” became a buzzword to describe the apparent integration of markets in the world economy. Many authors and pundits claimed that the world was converging towards a market-friendly democratic place, while gurus and consulting firms were rapidly producing formulae and advice on how to make profits out of the global economy. Decades later, new realities show that globalization does not necessarily mean political, cultural, and economic convergence and that, in fact, forces against it are strong. This course seeks to help you understand the forces of globalization and how cross-cultural management and the relationship of a multinational organization to various host countries is becoming more and more critical in today’s global economy. This course begins with the discussion of these issues and global relationships and delves into a deeper understanding of business strategy in today’s global business marketplace. You will be able to: • Understand how we got to the present moment of globalization and why it matters • Understand the complexities of the current globalization, recognizing not all countries are the same • Evaluate the effects of international trade regulations on international business • Evaluate when and why companies operate as multinationals This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
1 review
20 hours 52 minutes
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Thinking and doing the same things faster and better is not enough for innovation; we need creativity. Fortunately, creativity is a skill you can learn. This course will examine when, why, and how you can be creative so you can go through the creative process more efficiently and effectively. It teaches concrete steps to enable you to change your perspective to see new possibilities and solutions. It clarifies what to expect from the creative process and provides support for how you can sustain your progress. It also provides guidance on leading a supportive culture for creativity. The result is an ability to increase your own creativity and that of your teams and organizations so as to recognize and develop new opportunities. You will be able to: - Identify and generate opportunities to be creative and launch the innovation process - Intentionally and confidently enter and proceed through the creative process - Foster and sustain the creativity of others This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
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11 hours 11 minutes
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This course explores the ways firms overcome challenges when operating globally – a process characterized for its complexity and uncertainty. Corporations trying to succeed in the global economy need to develop different types of strategies depending on where they are conducting business or industry they are in. You will be able to: • -Determine the best strategy to follow when expanding globally • -Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of those strategies • -Develop appropriate responses to external pressures. This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
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22 hours 6 minutes
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Creativity requires us to collaborate with others, and this course helps you be a better creative collaborator. We need to be able to pitch our creative ideas so that others are excited rather than baffled or dismissive by them. We need to be able to evaluate the ideas of others so we identify rather than miss creative solutions. We need to be able to work with our teams such that creativity thrives rather than is suppressed. This course addresses each of these needs, identifying challenges and providing guidance for effective performance. The end result is guidance on how to foster effective creative collaboration. You will be able to: -Design pitches for innovative ideas to build excitement and clarity -Evaluate the pitches of others to identify great new ideas -Lead groups to foster effective collaboration for innovation This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
18 hours 16 minutes
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This course will explore the earlier stages of the entrepreneurial venture process across four modules. The modules will examine the nature of growth and error in entrepreneurial settings and how to manage resources in those settings. In addition, the modules will explore the emergence of entrepreneurial opportunities, the formulation of ideas in relation to those opportunities, and how those opportunities and ideas influence entrepreneurial phenomena. Finally, the course will focus on how business concepts underlie compelling entrepreneurial missions that provide guidance to the evolution of a venture’s business model and future strategic planning. You will be able to: - Develop a foundational understanding of the entrepreneurial process - Consider the relationship between growth and error - Understand how particular opportunities influence entrepreneurial phenomena This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
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11 hours 17 minutes
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Globalization has brought dramatic changes to the marketplace. A proliferation of global brands brings diverse cultures to a consumer population that is also culturally diverse. This course enables students to understand how globalization changes consumers at a psychological level and provides tools for infusing brands with cultural meaning that can resonate with global consumers. The focus is on understanding that culture exists in the mind as well as in the environment, and that globalization creates multi-cultural spaces in contemporary societies. Consumers can use the cultural meaning of a brand to build their identities or reject the brand’s cultural meaning. The course will help students identify when assimilation vs. exclusionary reactions are more likely to occur and to devise strategies for imbuing brands with cultural meanings that can elevate them to the status of cultural icons. You will be able to: • Understand how globalization impacts the psychological responses of consumers in global markets • Explain what culture is and how it manifests itself in business environments • Understand how brands acquire cultural meanings and predict consumers’ responses to the cultural meanings in brands • Identify strategies to win-over multi-cultural consumers in globalized markets • Practice the fundamentals of how to build an iconic brand This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
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9 hours 40 minutes
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Global business ethics is the study and analysis of how ethics and global business are connected. Because commerce is about markets, and markets entail exchanges between people and groups of people, commerce is about human relationships.. One of the important challenges in global business is working out the extent of these obligations in the interrelationships between businesses and the particular local cultures in which that business operates. The ethical issues arising from these engagements, the kinds of values-based considerations out of which an organization negotiates with local concerns, and how an organization can be both an enabler of economic value while respecting cultural differences are important topics of this course. You will be able to: • Become morally sensitive to ethical dilemmas in global commerce • Identify ethical issues in global business • Master stakeholder analysis • Use a well-reasoned process by which to arrive at ethically defensible decisions • Differentiate between good and weak ethical arguments and defend conclusions This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
16 hours 31 minutes
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This course builds on previous concepts and outlines strategies and tactics for forming, financing, and launching a new venture. Topics to be addressed will include building the new venture’s initial management team, identifying and reaching out to early customers, developing financial plans, raising startup and initial growth financing, and preparing for and managing rapid growth. You will be able to: - Develop an understanding of what is required in a new venture - Create a plan to identify and approach your first customers - Build financial projections for the new venture - Understand how to raise equity capital for the new venture - Monitor the health and scalability of a new venture This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
6 hours 30 minutes
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The capstone for the specialization will provide a learning experience that integrates across all the courses within it. It will involve analysis of a situation concerning a new enterprise – a venture of one’s own or within a larger organization – to develop the current business model and compare against alternative business models so as to identify potential opportunities and challenges.
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4 weeks
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Our new digital world is dramatically changing the way in which products are created, promoted, distributed, and consumed. Although these changes have been revolutionary, we still live in an analog (or physical) world. For example, even today, over 90% of all sales are still conducted in analog stores. Thus, both marketers and consumers must simultaneously navigate both the analog and digital worlds on a daily basis. Although the Digital Revolution has received considerable attention in recent years, the impact of this revolution upon the analog world has been largely ignored. This course examines this issue by asking how the Digital Revolution has impacted marketing in an analog world. The learning approach will be highly interactive, meaning that you will have both the opportunity to engage in a variety of hands-on activities and to participate as a member of a rich learning community.
You will be able to:
- Understand the key differences between the analog and the digital
- Examine four ways in which the analog world has been affected by the digital revolution: domination, resistance, synergy, and transformation
- Explore the implications of the analog world for both marketers and consumers

This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
6 weeks
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The capstone for the Global Challenges in Business specialization will provide a learning experience that integrates across all the courses within that specialization. It will involve analysis of a situation concerning an actual business with a view to work toward a global stakeholder engagement business plan for introduction of a new product. Students will analyze a situation taking the vantage point of a global company and develop a global stakeholder engagement plan for a specific geography (chosen by students’ region or country of residence, or other consideration).
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4 weeks
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In this course, you will learn about the role of operations and how they are connected to other business functions in manufacturing and service-focused organizations. You will learn and practice the use of decision-making frameworks and techniques applicable at all levels, from management-level strategic decisions such as connecting process to the needs of various customer segments, to front-line tactical decisions such as choosing between ordering larger quantities vs. ordering more frequently.

You will be able to:

• Relate underlying principles to operations management frameworks and techniques
• Synthesize information to make strategic operations decisions
• Evaluate processes on different dimensions
• Apply analytical techniques for tactical operations decision

This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
4 weeks
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In this course you will focus on process improvement. You will learn how to set organizational priorities for continuous process improvement, how to execute process improvement projects, and how to sustain the initiative for continuous improvements.

You will be able to:

• Relate underlying principles to frameworks and techniques used for process improvement
• Synthesize information to make decisions for organizational initiatives and process improvement
• Apply analytical techniques for tactical decisions in a process improvement project

This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
15 hours 30 minutes
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This course introduces students to the science of business analytics while casting a keen eye toward the artful use of numbers found in the digital space. The goal is to provide businesses and managers with the foundation needed to apply data analytics to real-world challenges they confront daily in their professional lives. Students will learn to identify the ideal analytic tool for their specific needs; understand valid and reliable ways to collect, analyze, and visualize data; and utilize data in decision making for their agencies, organizations or clients.
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14 hours 31 minutes
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This course introduces students to marketing analytics through a wide range of analytical tools and approaches. We will discuss causal analysis, survey analysis using regression, textual analysis (sentiment analysis), and network analysis. This course aims to provide the foundation required to make better marketing decisions by analyzing multiple types of data related to customer satisfaction.
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16 hours 51 minutes
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Nearly every aspect of business is affected by data analytics. For businesses to capitalize on data analytics, they need leaders who understand the business analytic workflow. This course addresses the human skills gap by providing a foundational set of data processing skills that can be applied to many business settings. In this course you will use a data analytic language, R, to efficiently prepare business data for analytic tools such as algorithms and visualizations. Cleaning, transforming, aggregating, and reshaping data is a critical, but inconspicuous step in the business analytic workflow. As you learn how to use R to prepare data for analysis you will gain experience using RStudio, a powerful integrated development environment (IDE), that has many built-in features that simplify coding with R. As you learn about the business analytic workflow you will also consider the interplay between business principles and data analytics. Specifically, you will explore how delegation, control, and feasibility influence the way in which data is processed. You will also be introduced to examples of business problems that can be solved with data automation and analytics, and methods for communicating data analytic results that do not require copying and pasting from one platform to another.
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18 hours 27 minutes
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This course introduces several tools for processing business data to obtain actionable insight. The most important tool is the mind of the data analyst. Accordingly, in this course, you will explore what it means to have an analytic mindset. You will also practice identifying business problems that can be answered using data analytics. You will then be introduced to various software platforms to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data into tools for conducting exploratory data analytics (EDA). Specifically, you will practice using PowerBI, Alteryx, and RStudio to conduct the ETL and EDA processes. The learning outcomes for this course include: 1. Development of an analytic mindset for approaching business problems. 2. The ability to appraise the value of datasets for addressing business problems using summary statistics and data visualizations. 3. The ability to competently operate business analytic software applications for exploratory data analysis.
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14 hours 22 minutes
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One of the most exciting aspects of business analytics is finding patterns in the data using machine learning algorithms. In this course you will gain a conceptual foundation for why machine learning algorithms are so important and how the resulting models from those algorithms are used to find actionable insight related to business problems. Some algorithms are used for predicting numeric outcomes, while others are used for predicting the classification of an outcome. Other algorithms are used for creating meaningful groups from a rich set of data. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to describe when each algorithm should be used. You will also be given the opportunity to use R and RStudio to run these algorithms and communicate the results using R notebooks.
417 reviews
1 day 1 hour 55 minutes
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The Digital Revolution is dramatically altered the way many products are created, promoted, distributed, and consumed. Before the advent of new digital technologies such as the Internet, personal computer and smartphone, marketing was largely an Analog (i.e., physical) activity. Today, many marketing activities such as how products are promoted are increasingly Digital in nature. However, we still live in an Analog (or physical) World. For example, even today, most sales are still conducted in physical stores. Thus, both marketers and consumers must simultaneously navigate both the Analog and Digital worlds on a daily basis. This course examines both the Analog and the Digital and how these two forces relate to one another within the Digital Marketing Revolution. This course will begin with an exploration of the key differences between the Analog and the Digital and then examine four ways in which the Analog World has been affected by the Digital Revolution: Domination, Resistance, Synergy, and Transformation. This course will contain several examples of each of these concepts and explore their implications for both marketers and consumers. This course will also employ a variety of learning techniques, including video lectures, case studies, hands-on exercises, and interviews with leading marketing scholars. The learning approach will be highly interactive; you will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of hands-on activities and be a member of a rich learning community. I hope you will join us in this learning adventure. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: -Understand the key differences between Analog and Digital and the implications of these differences for marketing. -Understand the four ways in which the Analog is being affected by the Digital Revolution. -Develop and apply critical thinking skills regarding the role of both the Analog and the Digital upon both firms and consumers. -Learn several real-world examples of various strategies for successful marketing of Analog products and services in an increasingly Digital world. This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
0 reviews
14 hours 22 minutes
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This course explores business analytic applications in accounting. First, it presents a survey of technology topics in accounting, including process mining, blockchain and applications in audit, tax, and assurance. Next, the course explores visualization and basic analytics in audit and control testing using R and Alteryx. Next, the course examines the uses of text analysis in accounting and conducts text analysis using R and RStudio. Finally, the course examines robot process automation in general using UiPath and its applications in accounting.

Corporate Finance I: Measuring and Promoting Value Creation

Digital Media and Marketing Principles

Digital Media and Marketing Strategies

Marketing in a Digital World

Managerial Accounting: Cost Behaviors, Systems, and Analysis

Managerial Accounting: Tools for Facilitating and Guiding Business Decisions

Digital Marketing Analytics in Theory

Digital Marketing Analytics in Practice

Digital Marketing Capstone

Business Strategy

Inferential and Predictive Statistics for Business

Country Level Economics: Macroeconomic Variables and Markets

Firm Level Economics: Consumer and Producer Behavior

Firm Level Economics: Markets and Allocations

Designing the Organization

Applications of Everyday Leadership

Foundations of Everyday Leadership

Corporate Strategy

Managing the Organization

Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Capstone

Strategic Leadership and Management Capstone

Country Level Economics: Policies, Institutions, and Macroeconomic Performance

Exploring and Producing Data for Business Decision Making

Financial Accounting: Foundations

Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics

Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation

Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors

Corporate Finance II: Financing Investments and Managing Risk

Developing a Winning Marketing Strategy

Developing a Marketing Mix for Growth

Value Chain Management Capstone

Financial Management Capstone

Strategic Innovation: Building and Sustaining Innovative Organizations

Sustainable Innovation for Subsistence Marketplaces

Sustainable Business Enterprises

Strategic Innovation: Managing Innovation Initiatives

Global Strategy I: How The Global Economy Works

Creativity Toolkit I: Changing Perspectives

Global Strategy II: Doing Business in The Global Economy

Creativity Toolkit II: Creative Collaboration

Entrepreneurship I: Laying the Foundation

Global Impact: Cultural Psychology

Global Impact: Business Ethics

Entrepreneurship II: Preparing for Launch

Innovation: From Creativity to Entrepreneurship Capstone

Marketing in an Analog World

Global Challenges in Business Capstone

Operations and Supply Chain Decisions and Metrics

Process Improvement

Introduction to Business Analytics: Communicating with Data

Applying Data Analytics in Marketing

Introduction to Business Analytics with R

Tools for Exploratory Data Analysis in Business

Machine Learning Algorithms with R in Business Analytics

The Digital Marketing Revolution

Applying Data Analytics in Accounting

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