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    • Decision Making

    Decision Making Courses Online

    Explore decision-making techniques for personal and professional growth. Learn to make informed and strategic decisions using data and analysis.

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    Explore the Decision Making Course Catalog

    • Placeholder
      U

      University of Colorado Boulder

      Master of Science in Computer Science

      Skills you'll gain: Object Oriented Design, User Story, SQL, Systems Engineering, New Product Development, Failure Analysis, Strategic Decision-Making, Delegation Skills, Unsupervised Learning, Sampling (Statistics), Diversity Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, Supplier Management, Sustainability Reporting, Data Ethics, Data Mining, Statistical Modeling, Proposal Writing, Generative AI, Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Process Capability

      Earn a degree

      Degree · 1 - 4 Years

    • U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      Graduate Certificate in Taxation

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      Entrepreneurship and Strategic Innovation Graduate Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      Global Challenges in Business Graduate Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      Financial Management Graduate Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • U

      University of Colorado Boulder

      Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

      Skills you'll gain: Object Oriented Design, User Story, SQL, Systems Engineering, New Product Development, Failure Analysis, Strategic Decision-Making, Delegation Skills, Unsupervised Learning, Sampling (Statistics), Diversity Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, Supplier Management, Sustainability Reporting, Data Ethics, Data Mining, Statistical Modeling, Proposal Writing, Generative AI, Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Process Capability

      Earn a degree

      Degree · 1 - 4 Years

    • Placeholder
      U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      CPA Pathways Graduate Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • Placeholder
      U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      Value Chain Management Graduate Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • Placeholder
      U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      Business Analytics Graduate Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • Placeholder
      H

      HEC Paris

      Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship University Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: New Product Development, Social Media Strategy, Business Strategy, Supplier Relationship Management, Ideation, Entrepreneurship, Social Media Marketing, Project Controls, Stakeholder Engagement, Social Media, Product Development, Decision Making, Content Marketing, Process Analysis, Social Media Management, Business Operations, Business Planning, Lean Methodologies, Strategic Thinking, Innovation

      University Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

    • Placeholder
      P

      Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

      Certificado en Introducción a la Ciencia de Datos

      Skills you'll gain: Predictive Analytics, Unsupervised Learning, Data Cleansing, Exploratory Data Analysis, Dimensionality Reduction, Data Science, Descriptive Analytics, Supervised Learning, Regression Analysis, Visualization (Computer Graphics), Data Visualization, Machine Learning Algorithms, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Data Processing, Time Series Analysis and Forecasting, Data Visualization Software, Statistical Machine Learning, Statistical Visualization, Machine Learning, Matplotlib

      Credit offered

      Mastertrack · 6 - 12 Months

    • Placeholder
      U

      University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

      Accounting Foundations Graduate Certificate

      Skills you'll gain: Data Visualization, Data Storytelling, Management Accounting, Fund Accounting, Operations Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Statement Analysis, Marketing, Risk Management, Machine Learning Algorithms, Business Strategy, Extract, Transform, Load, Financial Auditing, Descriptive Statistics, Process Improvement, Marketing Analytics, Generative AI, Financial Market, Strategic Decision-Making, Corporate Tax

      Credit offered

      Graduate Certificate · 6 - 12 Months

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    In summary, here are 10 of our most popular decision making courses

    • Master of Science in Computer Science: University of Colorado Boulder
    • Graduate Certificate in Taxation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Entrepreneurship and Strategic Innovation Graduate Certificate: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Global Challenges in Business Graduate Certificate: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Financial Management Graduate Certificate: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Master of Science in Electrical Engineering: University of Colorado Boulder
    • CPA Pathways Graduate Certificate: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Value Chain Management Graduate Certificate: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Business Analytics Graduate Certificate: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    • Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship University Certificate: HEC Paris

    Skills you can learn in Business Essentials

    Analytics (37)
    Presentation (33)
    Modeling (29)
    Business Analytics (27)
    Language (26)
    Microsoft Excel (26)
    Writing (26)
    Speech (18)
    Plan (17)
    Business Communication (16)
    Decision-making (16)
    Leadership (15)

    Frequently Asked Questions about Decision Making

    Decision-making skills are the ability to evaluate several courses of action and choose which to take. This is an important life skill as well as a business leadership skill, since effective problem-solving requires deciding on a solution. However, making smart business decisions isn’t just about being decisive in an abstract sense.

    Effective decision-making is a skill that requires a combination of critical thinking and data analysis. In a business context, a familiarity with tools of financial analysis is especially important for decision-making, although the financial bottom line isn’t always the only factor to be considered in a careful cost-benefit analysis. For example, a growing number of companies consider corporate social responsibility principles and a “triple bottom line” approach that also looks at social and environmental costs and benefits.

    Beyond cost-benefit analyses, there are approaches informed by psychology that are used to make decisions as well as describe decision-making in the real world. Decision theory uses tools similar to game theory to analyze how decisions are affected by uncertainty, different timing between decisions and impacts, social and competitive situations, and other factors. And behavioral economics helps to understand how cognitive bias can influence decision-making, as in the case of the sunk cost fallacy which results in economically irrational decisions based on previous investments.‎

    Decision-making skills are essential for leadership positions in every field, whether chief executive officers (CEOs) of corporations, executive directors of non-profit advocacy groups, or government roles such as mayors and governors. These leaders are responsible for setting organizational goals and policies and, ultimately, making decisions on how to achieve them.

    According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, top executives earn a median pay of $104,690 per year, including a median pay of $184,460 for CEOs. This high level of compensation is a testament to the importance of savvy decision-making skills, which are in high demand in organizations of all kinds.‎

    Absolutely. Coursera lets you learn about decision-making and related topics like problem-solving, psychology, and leadership from top-ranked schools like the University of California, Irvine, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania. And although you’ll be learning remotely, you’ll get the same course materials as on-campus students as well as opportunities to discuss these important topics in leadership with expert faculty as well as your fellow students.‎

    Everyone can benefit from learning about decision making, both in their personal and professional lives, so you may not need any previous experience or skills to study the concept. However, any type of work experience may help prepare you for your studies. Once you've worked in a field, you'll better understand why decision-making skills are important and how you can use them to advance your career or even get a new job in your field.‎

    A person who is a leader and good communicator is best suited to work in roles that involve strong decision-making skills. As a matter of fact, learning how to be a good decision maker can lead to supervisory and management positions in your field. You should also be an active listener and someone who can easily convey to other people what your thoughts and ideas are. People who are strong decision makers tend to be good analyzers, troubleshooters, problem solvers, and critical thinkers. This helps them gather the evidence they need to make a choice. Other skills needed for roles that require good decision-making skills are time management, logic, reasoning, and intuition. You'll also need to have good interpersonal skills, as well as be a good collaborator who doesn't shy away from teamwork.‎

    Decision-making studies or skills look good on any resume, so if you're looking for a new career or starting a career, learning about it may be right for you. It can also be helpful if you're looking to be promoted into a managerial position at work. Decision-making skills are very important for people in roles of leadership. If you currently work in a managerial position or any position in any field and find that you're having trouble making sound decisions at work, learning how to do so can improve your work performance. Learning it can also help you make better decisions in your personal life.‎

    This FAQ content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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