Bookshelf: New Business Analytics Reads

Last month, we brought you a selection of essential titles for those interested in exploring business analytics.

Now we're back with some additional choices that will help get you up to speed on this high-demand field.

Business analytics skills sell. Companies are all in need of employees with business know-how combined with the skills needed to interpret and organize data. More and more, companies are relying on analytics to guide their decision making, and those that don’t are falling behind.

Each of the books below provides information that will increase your overall knowledge base and build up your business analytics skill set.

1. Applied Business Analytics: Integrating Business, Process, Big Data, and Advanced Analytics

Applied Business Analytics: Integrating Business, Process, Big Data, and Advanced Analytics is all about getting from point A to point B. How do you take data and apply that to make informed business decisions? Nathaniel Lin seeks to help readers understand the bridge between.

Great book! Easier to read and understand than expected (coming from someone who doesn't have a data analytics background). The author uses examples of major companies to help understand how businesses are applying data analytics. Highly suggest reading" -- Jing Ya Chen (Amazon reviewer)
Buy on Amazon

---

2, Big Data Analytics: A Social Networking Approach

A text so new that it hasn’t even come out yet, this book by Panda, Hassanien, and Abraham promises some interesting information come November, 2018. If you are specifically interested in big data and social media, this fairly short volume at only 275 pages, is probably the one for you. Big Data Analytics: A Social Networking Approachexamines data usage in the ever-expanding field of social networking, and touches on the need to secure that data. The text also gets into why we need analysts, and why just using predictive software on its own is no longer enough.
Buy on Amazon

---

3. Business Intelligence, Analytics, and Data Science: A Managerial Perspective

A managerial approach to business analytics, this text includes hands-on learning exercises to get readers into the application of analytics. The authors provide a little bit of everything you need to know, including extrapolating data, algorithms, text vs. web vs. social media analytics, and future trends for the field. There are oodles of case studies and real-life examples to relate back to the material riddled throughout the text. Definitions for buzz words like “big data” and “data science vs. analytics,” or “business analytics vs. business intelligence” are also provided.
Buy on Amazon

---

4. The Power of People

Including case studies and real stories of analytics in practice, The Power of People is one we’d recommend to human resources professionals interested in analytics. With glowing user reviews, about how approachable, helpful, and quintessential this book has been to readers interested in workforce analytics, it is difficult not to mention The Power of People on this list. Here’s one review from Amazon.com user Mark Berry, “As a practitioner of human resources with a learned interest in workforce analytics, this book is - to me - one of the seminal works in the field to date. The authors provide a broad, but practical & accessible view of the current state of the field, what "good" looks like, and how those interested in leveraging the power of evidence-validated people practices can do so.”
Buy on Amazon

---

5. Ecommerce Analytics

Another book with glowing reviews, Ecommerce Analytics by Judah Phillips explains the importance of using analytics as part of a digital strategy. Showing ecommerce businesses how to “leverage your massive, complex data resources to improve efficiency, grow revenue, reduce cost, and above all, boost profitability,” (Amazon,.com), Ecommerce Analytics covers analytical concepts in a way that is approachable for someone who may be otherwise unfamiliar with the field. Editorial reviews include praise from high ranking executives from Google, MIT, Shopify, Constant Contact, and many more.
Buy on Amazon

Want to learn more about analytics? Check out our programs in business analytics at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. And, if you’re interested in additional reading, including some more beginner level books on analytics, check out part one of our analytics bookshelf series.

By Sarah Van Horn