Business Intelligence Techniques

Modern businesses generate huge volumes of accounting data on a daily basis. The recent advancements in information technology have given organizations the ability to capture and store data in an efficient and effective manner. However, there is a widening gap between this data storage and usage of the data. Business intelligence techniques can help an organization obtain and process relevant accounting data quickly and cost efficiently. Such techniques include: query and reporting tools, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, text mining, data mining, and visualization. Business Intelligence Techniques is a compilation of chapters written by experts in the various areas. While these chapters stand on their own, taken together they provide a comprehensive overview of how to exploit accounting data in the business environment.

Data Mining for Business Analytics: Concepts, Techniques, and Applications in Python presents an applied approach to data mining concepts and methods, using Python software for illustration Readers will learn how to implement a variety of popular data mining algorithms in Python (a free and open-source software) to tackle business problems and opportunities. This is the sixth version of this successful text, and the first using Python. It covers both statistical and machine learning algorithms for prediction, classification, visualization, dimension reduction, recommender systems, clustering, text mining and network analysis. It also includes: A new co-author, Peter Gedeck, who brings both experience teaching business analytics courses using Python, and expertise in the application of machine learning methods to the drug-discovery process A new section on ethical issues in data mining Updates and new material based on feedback from instructors teaching MBA, undergraduate, diploma and executive courses, and from their students More than a dozen case studies demonstrating applications for the data mining techniques described End-of-chapter exercises that help readers gauge and expand their comprehension and competency of the material presented A companion website with more than two dozen data sets, and instructor materials including exercise solutions, PowerPoint slides, and case solutions Data Mining for Business Analytics: Concepts, Techniques, and Applications in Python is an ideal textbook for graduate and upper-undergraduate level courses in data mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. This new edition is also an excellent reference for analysts, researchers, and practitioners working with quantitative methods in the fields of business, finance, marketing, computer science, and information technology. “This book has by far the most comprehensive review of business analytics methods that I have ever seen, covering everything from classical approaches such as linear and logistic regression, through to modern methods like neural networks, bagging and boosting, and even much more business specific procedures such as social network analysis and text mining. If not the bible, it is at the least a definitive manual on the subject.” —Gareth M. James, University of Southern California and co-author (with Witten, Hastie and Tibshirani) of the best-selling book An Introduction to Statistical Learning, with Applications in R

This book presents a comprehensive and systematic introduction to transforming process-oriented data into information about the underlying business process, which is essential for all kinds of decision-making. To that end, the authors develop step-by-step models and analytical tools for obtaining high-quality data structured in such a way that complex analytical tools can be applied. The main emphasis is on process mining and data mining techniques and the combination of these methods for process-oriented data. After a general introduction to the business intelligence (BI) process and its constituent tasks in chapter 1, chapter 2 discusses different approaches to modeling in BI applications. Chapter 3 is an overview and provides details of data provisioning, including a section on big data. Chapter 4 tackles data description, visualization, and reporting. Chapter 5 introduces data mining techniques for cross-sectional data. Different techniques for the analysis of temporal data are then detailed in Chapter 6. Subsequently, chapter 7 explains techniques for the analysis of process data, followed by the introduction of analysis techniques for multiple BI perspectives in chapter 8. The book closes with a summary and discussion in chapter 9. Throughout the book, (mostly open source) tools are recommended, described and applied; a more detailed survey on tools can be found in the appendix, and a detailed code for the solutions together with instructions on how to install the software used can be found on the accompanying website. Also, all concepts presented are illustrated and selected examples and exercises are provided. The book is suitable for graduate students in computer science, and the dedicated website with examples and solutions makes the book ideal as a textbook for a first course in business intelligence in computer science or business information systems. Additionally, practitioners and industrial developers who are interested in the concepts behind business intelligence will benefit from the clear explanations and many examples.

With the rapid development of economic globalization and information technology, the field of economic forecasting continues its expeditious advancement, providing business and government with applicable technologies. This book discusses various business intelligence techniques including neural networks, support vector machine, genetic programming, clustering analysis, TEI@I, fuzzy systems, text mining, and many more. It serves as a valuable reference for professionals and researchers interested in BI technologies and their practical applications in economic forecasting, as well as policy makers in business organizations and governments.

As the Internet becomes increasingly interconnected with modern society, the transition to online business has developed into a prevalent form of commerce. While there exist various advantages and disadvantages to online business, it plays a major role in contemporary business methods. Improving E-Commerce Web Applications Through Business Intelligence Techniques provides emerging research on the core areas of e-commerce web applications. While highlighting the use of data mining, search engine optimization, and online marketing to advance online business, readers will learn how the role of online commerce is becoming more prevalent in modern business. This book is an important resource for vendors, website developers, online customers, and scholars seeking current research on the development and use of e-commerce.

Business Intelligence: The Savvy Managers Guide, Second Edition, discusses the objectives and practices for designing and deploying a business intelligence (BI) program. It looks at the basics of a BI program, from the value of information and the mechanics of planning for success to data model infrastructure, data preparation, data analysis, integration, knowledge discovery, and the actual use of discovered knowledge. Organized into 21 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the kind of knowledge that can be exposed and exploited through the use of BI. It then proceeds with a discussion of information use in the context of how value is created within an organization, how BI can improve the ways of doing business, and organizational preparedness for exploiting the results of a BI program. It also looks at some of the critical factors to be taken into account in the planning and execution of a successful BI program. In addition, the reader is introduced to considerations for developing the BI roadmap, the platforms for analysis such as data warehouses, and the concepts of business metadata. Other chapters focus on data preparation and data discovery, the business rules approach, and data mining techniques and predictive analytics. Finally, emerging technologies such as text analytics and sentiment analysis are considered. This book will be valuable to data management and BI professionals, including senior and middle-level managers, Chief Information Officers and Chief Data Officers, senior business executives and business staff members, database or software engineers, and business analysts. Guides managers through developing, administering, or simply understanding business intelligence technology Keeps pace with the changes in best practices, tools, methods and processes used to transform an organization’s data into actionable knowledge Contains a handy, quick-reference to technologies and terminology

Praise for the First Edition " full of vivid and thought-provoking anecdotes needs to be read by anyone with a serious interest in research and marketing." —Research magazine "Shmueli et al. have done a wonderful job in presenting the field of data mining a welcome addition to the literature." —computingreviews.com Incorporating a new focus on data visualization and time series forecasting, Data Mining for Business Intelligence, Second Edition continues to supply insightful, detailed guidance on fundamental data mining techniques. This new edition guides readers through the use of the Microsoft Office Excel add-in XLMiner for developing predictive models and techniques for describing and finding patterns in data. From clustering customers into market segments and finding the characteristics of frequent flyers to learning what items are purchased with other items, the authors use interesting, real-world examples to build a theoretical and practical understanding of key data mining methods, including classification, prediction, and affinity analysis as well as data reduction, exploration, and visualization. The Second Edition now features: Three new chapters on time series forecasting, introducing popular business forecasting methods including moving average, exponential smoothing methods; regression-based models; and topics such as explanatory vs. predictive modeling, two-level models, and ensembles A revised chapter on data visualization that now features interactive visualization principles and added assignments that demonstrate interactive visualization in practice Separate chapters that each treat k-nearest neighbors and Naïve Bayes methods Summaries at the start of each chapter that supply an outline of key topics The book includes access to XLMiner, allowing readers to work hands-on with the provided data. Throughout the book, applications of the discussed topics focus on the business problem as motivation and avoid unnecessary statistical theory. Each chapter concludes with exercises that allow readers to assess their comprehension of the presented material. The final chapter includes a set of cases that require use of the different data mining techniques, and a related Web site features data sets, exercise solutions, PowerPoint slides, and case solutions. Data Mining for Business Intelligence, Second Edition is an excellent book for courses on data mining, forecasting, and decision support systems at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a one-of-a-kind resource for analysts, researchers, and practitioners working with quantitative methods in the fields of business, finance, marketing, computer science, and information technology.

Information systems: past, present, and emerging; Intelligence density a metric for knowledge work; The vocabulary of intelligence density; Method one: data-driven decision support; Method two: evolving solutions: genetic algorithms; Method three: simulating the brain to solve problems: neural networks; Method four: putting expert resoning in a box: rule-based systems; Method five: dealing with linguistic ambiguity: fuzzy logic; Method six: soilving problems by analogy case-based resoning; Method seven: deriving rules from data: machine learning; Appendix saving time and money with object; Appendix case studies.