Business Analytics
Advancing business and improving society through a world of information.
Technology is integrating with our lives in more ways than ever before, and we're leveraging technology to solve problems, make groundbreaking discoveries and improve our community.
In today’s world of big data, learning from the vast amount of information collected every day is critical for the firms that rely on it for manufacturing, marketing, decision-making and more.
Here in the School of Management, we’re equipping our students with with the skills to understand the technologies — and the business — to use data to inform critical decisions.
Research
School of Management faculty dig deep into all aspects of technology — including big data, artificial intelligence, the internet of things and digital security. Here is a sample of their recent discoveries.
Examples
The exploding popularity of programs like ChatGPT has organizations looking closely at how artificial intelligence can be adopted in the workplace, and new University at Buffalo School of Management research reveals that getting employees to use AI depends on two factors: employee attitudes toward the technology and the degree to which they can choose to work with it.
Old newspapers provide a window into our past, and a new algorithm co-developed in the UB School of Management is helping turn those historic documents into useful, searchable data.
Published in Decision Support Systems, the algorithm can find and rank people’s names in order of importance from the results produced by optical character recognition (OCR), the computerized method of converting scanned documents into text that is often messy.
New School of Management research explores ‘technological entitlement,’ a feeling some employees have that they are more deserving of high-tech resources, uses and privileges than their co-workers.
Through three studies with independent samples totaling nearly 700 working adults, their findings show these employees pose a direct threat to the information security of organizations.
Often, data collected from Internet of Things (IoT) machines on an assembly line or from an app on a shopper’s cell phone is sent to a remote computer in the cloud for analysis and storage—but what if the network connection fails?
A new algorithm developed by Haimonti Dutta, associate professor of management science and systems, solves that and other big data problems, all while doing it faster than ever before.
Imagine a nurse was supposed to enter a new prescription into a patient’s digital chart, but failed to change the default dosage. Later, the patient was administered too much medication. How could that happen, and how can the hospital prevent it from occurring again?
According to a study from the school's Management Science and Systems department, if you ask a doctor or an information technology (IT) expert, you’re likely to get two different answers for why technology-related medical errors occur—and, critically, what can be done to fix them.
Real-World Experiences
Through hands-on opportunities, School of Management students gain practical experience with the technologies that are shaping the future of work.
Examples
At a time when demand for COVID-19 vaccinations far outpaced supply, a School of Management team created Vaccine Hound, a website that scours more than 100 other sites to help people find vaccine appointments in Western New York. Natalie Simpson and Sanjukta Smith—chairs of the Operations Management and Strategy and the Management Science and Systems departments, respectively—led the team of faculty and graduate students who developed the critical service.
In our “Experiential IT Projects” course, management information systems (MIS) students apply their skills to business problems facing local companies. Using the agile method, student teams meet with company leaders, brainstorm and evaluate multiple solutions, and ultimately present and implement one of them.
At the GenCyber summer camp, School of Management students help lead area teenagers through hands-on activities designed to encourage them to pursue a career in cybersecurity — a profession that’s growing in demand as government agencies, businesses and other organizations face growing cyberthreats.
In one experiential learning course, students learn the principles of databases and technology consulting—and immediately put that knowledge to practice by working with nonprofits. At the Tool Library, for example, a student team designed and created a system to help the volunteer-run organization better track and manage its donations.
Academic Programs and Teaching
In the classroom, students look at technology from multiple perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of its impact on business strategy and operations.
Examples
- BS in Business Administration Concentrations:
- BS in Information Technology and Management
Partners in Progress
The School of Management works collaboratively across campus — and the nation — to help develop technology solutions and prepare the next generation of industry professionals.
Our partners include:
Speaker Series
To spark conversation and inspire innovation, we bring thought leaders from around the country to campus to discuss business analytics.
Past speakers
- March 10, 2023 - SUNY Distinguished Professor Barry Smith on Why Machines Will Never Rule the World
- Dec. 16, 2022 - SUNY Empire Innovation Professor Siwei Lyu on Combating Deepfakes
- Dec. 9, 2022 - Panel Discussion on the Blueprint for the AI Bill of Rights