Course Description:
The course explores the use of statistical methods as analytical tools for understanding and analyzing business problems and for supporting business decision making. It aims to equip students with key statistical methodologies and also familiarize participants with statistical tools and the interpretation of data. Emphasis is placed on understanding the statistical procedures as well as their limitations in a decision-making context. Specific topics include logic and procedures of estimation, one- and two- population hypothesis testing, design of experiments and ANOVA, categorical data analysis, simple and multiple regression analysis and statistical quality control method. The topics will be discussed and applied in a large spectrum of managerial problems in diverse industries and functional area, including finance, operations, accounting and marketing.
The course takes as its departure point the following objective of statistics: to make inferences about a population based upon information contained in a sample. In order to address this objective the course will deal with three main subject areas: (a) descriptive statistics, (b) probability, and (c) statistical inference. Descriptive statistics are developed as a means of summarizing sample data and conveying information as well as a basis for understanding statistical inference. Probability is presented as the connection between populations and samples. Statistical inference, the greatest part of the course, builds upon the concepts in descriptive statistics and probability and allows us to make broad statements about a population of interest based on a small amount of information. SPSS and EXCEL will be used for practical statistical applications which are relevant to management analysis in the business environment.
The course will emphasize decision making based on statistics. To do well in this class, you must learn to apply the statistical procedures. That is, when faced with a problem or question you must know which procedure to use, must be able to construct it correctly and must be able to solve it accurately. Finally, you must be able to draw the correct conclusions from the results, and report/present the results clearly.
The course assumes some basic knowledge of statistics and probability.
Course Objective:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the statistical and quantitative concepts and methodologies as applied to the management environment of a business. By the end of this course, you should be able to
Develop an understanding of statistical concepts within the context of the business management function, decision-making.
Develop students’ ability to recognize, formulate, and analyze data in support of decisions of managers using selected statistical and quantitative techniques.
Develop skills that support statistical thinking in assess and evaluate statistical studies and reports critically.
Conduct a clear and accurate quantitative analysis of a business problem.
Instructor Biography:
Jianwen (Jon) LIAO
Dr. Jianwen Liao is currently a tenured associate professor in the Department of Management and Marketing at Northeastern Illinois University. He has also been on the faculty of DePaul University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), China European International Business School (CEIBS)and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. Dr. Liao’s research expertise and interests are in the areas of strategic formulation and implementation, management of technological innovation, venture creation process, and entrepreneurial growth strategies as well. His research has been published in top academic journals such as Small Business Economics, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Small Business Management, Family Business Review, Journal of High Tech Management Research, Frontier of Entrepreneurship Research, International Journal of Management and Computing, among others. For the last few years, he has been involved in the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics – a longitudinal study of venture creation process with participants from various universities, foundations and government agencies. Dr. Liao’s teaching interest mainly includes Management of Technological Innovation and Change, Business Policy and Strategy. He received formal training from Harvard Business School on case teaching and writing methods.
Dr. Liao is a member of Academy of Management (AOM), Strategic Management Society (SMS), the United States Association of Small and Medium-Sized Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), and International Council of Small Business (ICSB). He is an active participant of regional, national and international conferences, presenting research papers, serving as a discussant and chairing sessions as well. Additionally, He serves on the advisory board of the Small Business Administration (SBA) of the United States under Bush Administration. He also provides consultancy services to major multinational companies such as Ford, General Motor, Lucent, Leo Burnett, General Electric (Plastic, Lighting), Corning as well as high tech startups. More recently, he co-founded a biotech firm which has secured venture capital investment. He received his master degree from RenMin (People’s) University of China and PhD in strategic management from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (USA).