Base Data and Decisions teaches first-year MBA students how to use data, statistics, regression analysis, and quantitative reasoning to make sound managerial decisions in complex and uncertain environments. Foundational content is introduced before class through online videos, simulations, and exercises. In class, students audit and interpret analyses and defend the decisions the evidence supports. Content covered includes probability and uncertainty, sampling and inference, hypothesis testing and experimentation, linear and multiple regression, and prediction models ranging from regression to neural networks, with neural networks covered at a conceptual level, along with the basic use of large language models for business tasks. Students are expected to use modern analytical tools and AI assistants throughout their work; the emphasis is on knowing what question to ask, what data are necessary, which method to choose, what the output means, and whether a recommendation is credible.
3 units · GSB Letter Graded
Base Data and Decisions teaches first-year MBA students how to use data, statistics, regression analysis, and quantitative reasoning to make sound managerial decisions in complex and uncertain environments. Foundational content is introduced before class through online videos, simulations, and exercises. In class, students audit and interpret analyses and defend the decisions the evidence supports. Content covered includes probability and uncertainty, sampling and inference, hypothesis testing and experimentation, linear and multiple regression, and prediction models ranging from regression to neural networks, with neural networks covered at a conceptual level, along with the basic use of large language models for business tasks. Students are expected to use modern analytical tools and AI assistants throughout their work; the emphasis is on knowing what question to ask, what data are necessary, which method to choose, what the output means, and whether a recommendation is credible.
Offered in Winter 2027 at Stanford University.