How Big Data & Digitization are Transforming Business Schools | 7wData

With the demand for big data and analytics talent, several business schools are now offering Masters in Business Analytics. The growing popularity of the Analytics programs has triggered doubts in many students and seasoned professionals whether to go for MBA or Business Analytics. There is also a section in the crowd who are kind of in dilemma with choosing between MS Business (Data) Analytics and MS Data Science. Then there is a large majority of folks who are unable to decide if they should go for MBA in India or MBA abroad. Finally, there too many overwhelmed brains amidst this entire buzz of big data analytics and the competitive job market. So, I would try to answer all those major queries to give you a piece of mind. Just bear with me!

Recently, the cricket fanatics & enthusiasts (that also includes me) witnessed a lot of confusion and controversy with the selection of the playing XI in the first test between India and South Africa. In a different world, similar kind of buzz is going around, but on a much bigger scale.

The fourth industrial revolution is marked by the technological disruptions (big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, IoT), digital transformation in business models, and unprecedented opportunities for innovation. It’s not only about web searches, social media, mobile data, text messages, images, videos and posts. The volumes of remote-sensing devices, software logs, cameras, microphones, radio-frequency identification (RFID) readers and wireless sensor networks are also growing with big velocity. These changes are not only presenting challenges to the business organizations but also forcing the business schools to reboot their programs.

INSEAD introduced several changes in their 2017 MBA program. Apart from modules on personal development and online learning tools, they also put emphasis on covering areas like Big Data and FinTech in the 10-month MBA program. In 2016, Wharton introduced a new major – Business Analytics, within their MBA program. Besides traditional courses like Business Economics, Marketing, Operations and Statistics, the MBA program also covers Big Data, Analytics for Revenue Management, and FinTech. Additionally, the business school is also leveraging the delivery of e-learning and flipped format.

Though the massive makeover of the MBA programs in the last 2 years, the process actually started back in 2013-2014, just around the time when big data and analytics started trending. But, make no mistake; the changes are not just to follow the trend. Today the businesses need professionals and managers with big data and business analytics skills.

Professionals and graduates need to have specialist skills in order to make sense, see patterns, draw conclusions from the big data. Additionally, they need to visualize the data and engineer solutions for driving business and profits. So, the big shot companies are collaborating with the business schools extensively on designing the curriculums of the business programs.

The majority of large corporations and start-ups are leveraging business analytics to exploit data-driven advantages. Due to the business demand, increasing number of business schools have begun to offer Masters in Business Analytics and MBA programs with Big Data or Business Analytics specialization. The rise has largely been driven by the demand of the tech companies in the Silicon Valley and American Business Schools. But, the European schools are also not too behind.

HEC Paris is one of the first business schools in Europe to introduce MBA program with a strong focus on big data skills, in alliance with IBM. The Said Business School (University of Oxford) and Imperial College London also collaborated with IBM and Huawei respectively, to introduce big data training in their MBA programs. In fact, IBM partnered with more than 200 business schoolsaround the world, to design and develop their MBA and business analytics programs.