The current state of the world makes business forecasting even more fundamental to the operation of institutions. In this Specialization we focus on Excel Skills for Business Forecasting in three courses — Time Series Models, Regression Models, and Judgmental Forecasting.
In the first course on Time Series Models, we will be looking at how your business can utilise time series data sets to understand the different components underlying this data, and then apply the relevant model depending on these components to forecast for your business' needs.
We then continue in our second course in this specialisation which looks at Regression Models, building causal models for both time series data as well as cross-sectional data. Causal models allow us to develop further business insights and strategy by controlling the inputs to generate the output we desire.
In the third and final course, we explore the role of Judgmental Forecasting, when more quantitative forecasting methods have limitations, and we need to generate further business insights. We will be exploring some structured methodologies to create judgmental business forecasts and explore how Excel can assist us in these judgments. We will bring all these forecasting methods together in a final case study, giving you the opportunity to generate forecasts, which are the inputs to any organisation's planning.
Applied Learning Project
Working with datasets similar to those typically found in a business, you will use quantitative and qualitative forecasting techniques to generate business forecasts. Create charts to visualise data and forecasts. Calculate model errors and use optimisation techniques to minimise these errors and choose the best model parameters. Combine different models and expert judgment to incorporate uncertainty.
