Business Analytics Practicum Brochure

Business Analytics Practicum:

Insights, and Tips for Success

Build your company’s brand at Georgia Tech

Recruit tomorrow’s tech leaders

Sponsor the Business Analytics Practicum

The Business Analytics Practicum pairs teams of Georgia Tech business analytics students with participating companies for a semester-long data-based project. With oversight from one of Georgia Tech’s world-class faculty members, the student teams conduct an in-depth analysis of company-provided data and develop appropriate models, insights, and recommendations, culminating in a live showcase presentation.

Graduate students, including both MBAs and MSAs, tackle data challenges in the fall, while undergraduate students dive into the data during spring semesters.

Engage with Top Students

As a Practicum Sponsor, you’ll gain multiple benefits: you’ll get to know and recruit top-notch business analytics students, boost your brand recognition at Georgia Tech, and enable students to gain real-world experience directly impacting their education and future careers. Plus, you’ll receive actionable data-driven insights, results, and recommendations to take back to your company.

I was very pleased with the work and the in-depth analysis performed by the students. Partnering with the Georgia Tech Business Analytics Center for a practicum enables NCR to engage with top students and share some of the exciting projects we work on every day. In addition, NCR plans to leverage the students’ work and recommendations to improve some of our current business processes and reduce costs.”

Gedeon Kamga IT Senior Manager, Big Data and Analytics, NCR Project Team Leader, NCR Spring 2022 Practicum

Empower Innovation

Clients provide both the challenge and the company-specific data (de-identified). Some additional data may be requested by the student teams in order to complete the project and teams may incorporate publicly available data where appropriate. Clients may also need to provide guidance and subject matter expertise if needed to better complete the project. At the end of the semester, students present their final results and recommendations at the Practicum Showcase.

For many students and companies, the Showcase is the highlight of the entire semester. In addition to the client company, representatives from the BAC’s Executive Council and Board attend, giving students the opportunity to answer questions from business analytics executives and participate in discussions about their strategies and results. After the presentations, students, executives, and the BAC team continue discussions at a networking dinner.

It was really useful to have a dedicated, innovative, and extremely smart team diving into our data....The students definitely gave us a lot to consider. And the Showcase was extremely valuable. I enjoyed the presentations as well as the opportunity to meet and speak with the students after the event.”

Evan Charles Group Director, Revenue Growth Management, The Coca-Cola Company

Drive Student Success

Students gain valuable knowledge working on data-based, live-fire problems, as well as practical experience working in cross-functional teams. Solving a technical challenge together gives team members insight into working with managers, leaders, and technical experts. It’s also a great way for students to network and make contacts with executives from the sponsor companies. Many students cite the business analytics practicum as “the most impactful class they took at Georgia Tech!”

“ Because of this class, we’ll be able to take what we learned and apply it throughout our careers. For example, on the technical side, we gained experience modeling—but just as valuable was learning how to speak the language of data and translate the importance of the data insights to the client.”

Stacy Feeling

Full-time MBA ’23

Solve Tough Challenges

Each participating organization prepares a business analytics related question or challenge based on a current or future issue facing the company. The best challenges involve the application of analytics, analytic thinking, and business analytic tools (statistical analysis, data mining, mathematical modeling, or machine learning). Especially appreciated are challenges that not only utilize the tools taught in the core BA, MBA, and MSA programs, but also offer opportunities for the students to add new tools and techniques to gain insight and analyze potential solutions. Past examples include:

• Advanced customer or market segmentation

• Analysis of customer churn and loyalty

• Advanced forecasting for revenue, traffic, transactions or other key metrics –both online and offline

• Analysis of employee turnover

• Weather impact analysis on supply chains

• Price sensitivity analysis (Price elasticity)

• Marketing and price promotion ROI

• Assortment analysis

Let’s Get Started

At the Business Analytics Center, we love bringing Georgia Tech’s talented students together with top tech leaders for this valuable experiential learning opportunity.

For more information about sponsoring a Business Analytics Practicum project, please reach out to:

Sherri von Behren

Corporate Engagement Manager

sherri.vonbehren@scheller.gatech.edu

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During a Business Analytics Practicum, learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom. To help solve their data challenge, Undergraduate Business Analytics Practicum students traveled to Spark Technologies for a live demonstration of Spark’s automated packing technology.