Analytics Problem-Solving

The Center for Business Analytics offers a variety of options to engage students, faculty and staff to solve business problems using analytics for your organization. Whichever option is chosen, the Center delivers meaningful value for our clients and real-world experience for students.

• The client outlines a key business problem in laymen’s terms using a project request form.
• The center forms a team composed of students, faculty and staff best equipped to solve the problem.
• Each team is guided by an analytics-focused faculty member and an experienced project manager who reviews analysis approaches, results and communication plans.
• The team works with the client to develop a project structure and agree on the solution to be delivered, as well as non-disclosure and legal agreements as needed.
• The client provides access to necessary data and appoints a business subject-matter expert to meet regularly with the center team.
• Project cost is included as part of Center membership fee or as negotiated if a non-member.
• A project typically lasts three to four months, though shorter and longer engagements may be possible.
  

• Since 2017, the center has successfully completed over 162 projects for 44 different companies across a wide range of industries from banking/finance to manufacturing/distribution to retail to healthcare to entertainment.
• 93% of surveyed companies believe the Center provided solutions that will make a difference for their business.
• Center projects incorporate modern descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics to support a business's the operational, financial and/or marketing components.

Mike Gordon of St Xavier High School discusses a football analytics project done with UC Center for Business Analytics students.

Retail Stores Space Optimization – A major US-based retailer needed assistance in determining the best allocation of floor space to its products. The Center helped the retailer develop new forecasting, clustering and optimization models to determine the best allocation of available floor space to its product lines. This project was recognized by INFORMS for its innovative application of analytics methods to an industry problem.

Customer Churn Modeling – The Center has performed multiple projects related to customer churn. The Center has worked with companies to identify factors leading to customer churn in banking, insurance, and service providers. These predictive analytics models have led to the development of churn mitigation strategies and preemptive efforts to prevent customer churn.

Market Segmentation Analysis – The Center has developed market segmentation models using clustering and other analytics methods for a variety of companies including those in human resources, retail, and entertainment industries. These models have allowed companies to develop targeted marketing and discounting strategies to drive sales and increase profit.

Data Dashboard Designs – Many companies are looking for ways to generate insights from their data and to spur action. The Center has worked with a variety of companies from industries such as consumer-products, healthcare, and manufacturing to develop dashboards to support data-driven decision making. Each of these projects begins with a process to generate a thorough understanding of the business problems to design dashboards that are actually used and that support strategic actions.

Net Promoter Score Analysis – A major insurance provider approached the Center for help in analyzing strategies to improve its Net Promoter Score. The Center applied predictive analytics models to determine the factors that were most influential on the company’s Net Promoter Score. The Center worked with the company to determine actionable strategies that could be implemented by its marketing and operations departments to improve the Net Promoter Score.