Coursera

Operational Context and Data (Coursera)

Offered by University at Buffalo, The State University of New York,
Operational Context and Data (Coursera)

By the end of this course, learners are empowered to implement data-driven process improvement objectives at their organization. The course covers: the business case for IoT (Internet of Things), the strategic importance of aligning operations and performance goals, best practices for collecting data, and facilitating a process mapping activity to visualize and analyze a process’s flow of materials and information. Learners are prepared to focus efforts around business needs, evaluate what the organization should measure, discern between different types of IoT data and collect key performance indicators (KPIs) using IoT technology. Learners have the opportunity to implement process improvement objectives in a mock scenario and consider how the knowledge can be transferred to their own organizational contexts.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Material includes online lectures, videos, demos, project work, readings and discussions. This course is ideal for c-suite professionals, directors and senior-level managers who want to develop a data-driven mindset. Learners should have some familiarity with reading reports, gathering and using data, and interpreting visualizations. It is the first course in the Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM) specialization.
Continuing education units (CEUs) and professional development hours (PDHs) are available through the UB Center for Industrial Effectiveness (UB TCIE) for learners who earn a course certificate.
What You Will Learn

  • Develop a plan to align operational and performance goals
  • Devise a data collection strategy and validate data integrity
  • Understand how to create current and future state process maps
  • Prioritize data gaps for root cause analysis

Course 1 of 3 in the Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM) Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Operations and Performance Goals
This module covers the business case for establishing a data strategy, including why it is important, from a strategic level, to align your operations and performance goals before you undertake implementation.

WEEK 2
Data Collection
This module covers best practices for collecting data.

WEEK 3
Process Mapping
This module will prepare you to develop current state process maps, prioritize data gaps, and formulate future state process maps.

WEEK 4
Project: Operational Context and Data
This module provides an opportunity to bridge theory and practice. Learners apply knowledge from this course to solve a business problem.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Managing the Organization (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Managing the Organization (Coursera)

Management & Leadership

This course is intended to help you become a better manager by helping you to more fully understand and deal with some of the complexities and challenges associated with managerial life in organizations. In this course, you will learn theories, principles, and frameworks that will help you to more effectively manage and lead the organizations that you belong to. We will view organizations from different perspectives that we will use as lenses to help us highlight common managerial challenges and point us toward solutions to those challenges. Some of these common challenges that we will explore in this course include using power effectively, implementing organizational change, understanding and managing organizational culture, decision-making including decision-making pitfalls and ethical traps, and leadership. As you learn and apply the principles from this course, you will be better prepared to navigate some of the complex challenges that you face as a manager.

Jun 24th 2026
4 Weeks
Management Ethics Leadership
Details
Value and Business Decision Making (Coursera) Coursera
Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru

Value and Business Decision Making (Coursera)

Economics & Finance Business

This course is part of a Specialization titled “Strategy and Finance for a Lifecycle of a Social Business”. It is an introduction to time value of money and will help the learner understand the basics of finance with the ultimate goal of valuing a company from a societal lens. The beauty of the modern decision-making framework is that it can be used to understand value creation at any level – the individual, the corporate or nonprofit entity level and from the point of view of society. The applications however become increasingly complex as your lens expands from the individual to the corporate/nonprofit to the global society.

Jun 24th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Finance Decision Making Social Business
Details
International Business I (Coursera) Coursera
University of New Mexico

International Business I (Coursera)

Management & Leadership

We live in a world of intensifying global relationships, one in which international business has become the key determinant of economic development and prosperity. This course, Global Business Environment, Part I, introduces students to a fundamental understanding of the socioeconomic political, cultural, and linguistic environment in which international businesses operate.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Business International Economy Globalization
Details
Experimentation for Improvement (Coursera) Coursera
McMaster University

Experimentation for Improvement (Coursera)

Statistics & Data Analysis Data Science

We are always using experiments to improve our lives, our community, and our work. Are you doing it efficiently? Or are you (incorrectly) changing one thing at a time and hoping for the best? In this course, you will learn how to plan efficient experiments - testing with many variables. Our goal is to find the best results using only a few experiments. A key part of the course is how to optimize a system.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Statistics Data Science Regression Models
Details
Interfacing with the Arduino (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Interfacing with the Arduino (Coursera)

Engineering Eng: Electronics

Arduino senses the environment by receiving inputs from add-on devices such as sensors, and can control the world around it by adjusting lights, motors, and other actuators. In this class you will learn how and when to use the different types of sensors and how to connect them to the Arduino. Since the external world uses continuous or analog signals and the hardware is digital you will learn how these signals are converted back-and-forth and how this must be considered as you program your device. You'll also learn about the use of Arduino-specific shields and the shields software libraries to interface with the real world.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Programming Software Hardware
Details
Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (Coursera)

Management & Leadership Business

We all negotiate on a daily basis. On a personal level, we negotiate with friends, family, landlords, car sellers and employers, among others. Negotiation is also the key to business success. No business can survive without profitable contracts. Within a company, negotiation skills can lead to your career advancement.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Business Strategy Success
Details
The Art of Negotiation (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

The Art of Negotiation (Coursera)

Business

The art of negotiation comes into play daily in the life of employees at all levels and in every position. Participants explore how current approaches to negotiation strategy and tactics are used, what negotiation entails, types of negotiation relationships that exist from hard bargain to win-win, to fully partnered relationships and personal ones. The course explores the personal and behavioral characteristics of an effective negotiator. Participants discuss how empowerment, power, and authority affect the negotiation process and outcome. Topics include how important it is to plan and prepare for a negotiation session.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Business Implementation Business Planning
Details
Designing the Future of Work (Coursera) Coursera
UNSW Sydney - University of New South Wales

Designing the Future of Work (Coursera)

Business

The workplace of tomorrow is an uncertain place. We live in a rapidly changing world, and design innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and big data are rapidly changing the fundamental nature of how we live and work. As these technologies continue to evolve at an exponential rate - it is becoming critical to understand their impact on contemporary work practices, and for businesses and employees to understand how to design a secure future amidst this disruption.

Jun 23rd 2026
4 Weeks
Strategy Business Strategy Designing
Details
Data Management for Clinical Research (Coursera) Coursera
Vanderbilt University

Data Management for Clinical Research (Coursera)

Health & Society Medicine & Pharmacology

This course presents critical concepts and practical methods to support planning, collection, storage, and dissemination of data in clinical research. Understanding and implementing solid data management principles is critical for any scientific domain. Regardless of your current (or anticipated) role in the research enterprise, a strong working knowledge and skill set in data management principles and practice will increase your productivity and improve your science. Our goal is to use these modules to help you learn and practice this skill set.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Data Data Management Clinical Research
Details