Today’s companies are investing more heavily than ever in data analytics, with nearly 90% of C-suite executives highlighting this area as a top organizational priority as of 2024. For rising graduates, the continued emphasis on data presents a clear opportunity: leaders who can combine business acumen with data science expertise will be better equipped to drive meaningful results and stand out in today’s competitive job market.
One of the most effective ways to develop these in-demand skills is through a specialized graduate program. Pittsburg State University’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Data Science and Information Systems online program prepares students to lead at the intersection of business and data, equipping graduates to turn raw data into actionable insights.
What Is Data-Driven Decision-Making?
Data-driven decision-making (DDDM) describes the practice of using data analysis to guide strategic and operational decisions. In today’s highly competitive landscape, leaders are increasingly expected to ground their choices in timely data and rigorous analysis, in addition to their own instincts. Harvard Business Review calls this blend of expertise and analysis “informed intuition,” recognizing that the best decisions often lie at the intersection of experience and evidence. There are four strategic benefits of data-driven decision-making:
- Real-time Action: Companies can monitor real-time data and make immediate decisions when faced with trends, challenges or opportunities.
- Personalized Customer Experiences: Companies can leverage customer data to create better products, services and experiences based on each customer’s unique preferences.
- Better Planning: Today’s managers get almost immediate feedback on their decisions, allowing them to refine their strategies with greater precision.
- Optimizing Operations: Real-time analytics allow organizations to quickly identify inefficiencies across business operations and make immediate adjustments that help improve revenue or cut costs.
While the benefits of DDDM are hard to argue, executing this approach effectively is far more challenging in practice than in theory. Datasets rarely present clear, meaningful takeaways freely and uncovering actionable insights often requires advanced technical expertise. Again, this complexity is partly why there is such a strong demand for leaders who are fluent in both business strategy and data science.
Difficulties With Data Science Strategies
While (DDDM) shares similarities with traditional business decision-making, it introduces additional layers of complexity through data collection and analysis. Successfully implementing a DDDM framework typically involves five key steps:
- Clearly define the goal or challenge
- Identify and collect all relevant data (from multiple sources, if possible)
- Clean and organize the data (if necessary) so it’s easier to generate insights
- Analyze the data and draw conclusions using statistical methods
- Communicate the findings and take action
While this process sounds simple on paper, executing it effectively often requires collaboration across multiple areas of expertise. For example, it’s incredibly rare for real-world data to be neatly stored in a centralized database and ready for analysis. Instead, data is often inconsistent and fragmented, requiring significant time and effort to organize, clean and prepare before analysis can even begin. This step alone often demands the specialized skills of data engineers or analysts. Once data has been cleaned and analyzed, it requires the keen eye of a manager who understands the context behind the data, can generate insights and translate these insights into a plan of action.
Bridging this gap underscores the importance of having technically proficient leaders who understand both the data and the business context. The fastest, most effective way for aspiring business professionals to gain both of these skill sets is by obtaining a specialized degree.
Advancing Your Career With an MBA in Data Science
A specialized degree, such as the online MBA in Data Science and Information Systems from Pittsburg State University, helps students not only expand their foundational business knowledge but also gain specialized expertise in data science strategies and analytics tools such as RStudio, SQL and Tableau. This program also teaches students the most up-to-date methods for analyzing integrated databases, as well as techniques for understanding how to apply predictive analytics to a business context.
Students can complete this program in as few as 12 months, and the online format provides the flexibility to balance coursework alongside an internship or full-time job. This structure allows busy, working professionals to advance their education without disrupting their existing schedules or career momentum.
Learn more about Pittsburg State University’s online Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Data Science and Information Systems program.
