Development of Business Analytics Curricula to Close Skills Gap for Job Demand in Big Data

Abstract

This research paper reviews the external pressure for teaching Business Analytics to business administration students as a necessity in the current era of big data. The cause is obvious. Numerous organizations, businesses, end users are generating incredibly large volumes of data, and new technologies are providing means for creating, transmitting, processing and storing all these data. Consecutively, this is the reason of comprehensible need to find more efficient techniques to analyze data and make use of it as a part of business operations, which in turn cause huge demand for highly trained professionals in this area. New trends and business needs for big data and related technologies force universities to respond with creating business analytics related academic programs.  At some stage of planning and developing Business Analytics program a number of issues must be considered to satisfy the industries’ requirements. The results of a survey of BA curricula of academic programs and current needs of Saudi Arabia industry in have been used as a basis for development of the Business Analytics (BA) curricula presented in this paper. There is an urgent need for training graduate students to manipulate the enormous volumes of data and present results in comprehensible and concise form. Such a program should get students ready for entry to the job market with specialty in Business Analytics, broaden their knowledge of business, link their acquired knowledge to growing industries, and to prepare students to use results of big data analytics for development of business strategies. Graduates of Business Analytics program will apply their knowledge and skills of business analytics in their work in science, business, healthcare, engineering management, government and finance fields. Business schools in KSA are strongly encouraged to initiate appropriate master degree programs in the proposed BA curriculum to minimize the big data skills gap in Saudi Arabia

Keywords: Business Analytics, Big Data, Curriculum Development, Survey