Python For Managers

(Online)
 Overview

Historically, there has been a dichotomy in the world
where people were either considered technical, such as
a coder, or non-technical, such as a business manager,
and never the two shall meet. Today, in the context of big
data, those lines have blurred and Columbia Business
School is at the nexus of that merger. Professionals are
meant to be fluent in data analysis for better business
outcomes.
Python is the most popular and fastest-growing
programming language, and its business applications
are vast. Python for Managers (Online) from Columbia
Business School Executive Education is a two-month
online program that is designed to get you off the
sidelines and into the programming action. It starts from
ground zero, with no programming knowledge required.
The program is designed to be interactive and engaging.
You’ll learn through case studies using real-world data
sets, step-by-step demos, and moderated discussion
groups where you learn from your peers. You will be able
to apply your learnings immediately. And with a 90%
increase in job posts requiring Python skills in 2018
(Source: Emsi Employment Data), your career options
will expand with a certificate of participation from
Columbia Business School Executive Education.
Duration
2 months,
6-8 hours per week

Format
The program is broken up into two sections: part one
covers coding fundamentals and part two focuses on Online
business applications. The curriculum includes
exercises designed to give you hands-on coding
Fee*
practice. Concepts such as Else and Elif statements,
logic structures, dictionaries, and functions will all be USD 2,600
decoded and become part of your lexicon.
*GST applicable to Singapore residents.
Ultimately, after completing this program, you will be able
to organize and analyze data efficiently — by writing your
own Python code — without having to solely rely on an
analytics team.

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Who Should Attend

Professionals interested in learning practical coding skills to leverage large amounts of data they already have, or that
they want to collect, to make better business decisions will find this program valuable. No prior experience in
programming is required.

The Python for Managers (Online) program is ideal for participants from a wide range of industries and backgrounds
including:

Technology managers, who want to remain relevant and build a foundation in artificial intelligence and machine learning
for the future

Risk managers, traders, and bankers who need to react quickly to market changes and want to gain a competitive edge

Consultants seeking to offer better solutions to their clients based on the latest ideas in data and technology

Anyone who wants to learn the most popular and fastest growing programming language, which can help them solve
business problems, plan for the future, and better communicate with coders

“There are two kinds of people: those who understand technology and
those who don’t. People who understand technology can design and
control the very structure of the world around them. People who don’t
understand it are controlled by those who do.”

- Mattan Griffel
Faculty Co-Director
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Business at Columbia Business School

02
 Key Takeaways
Learn the fundamentals of coding in
Read and write scripts
Python with a focus on practical
business applications

Learn to communicate effectively with Build the capacity to organize and

programmers whether you hire, manage, interpret data that extends far beyond
or collaborate with them Excel’s capabilities

Learn how to combine multiple data Explore the practical applications of web
sources for better insights scraping and APIs

The Learning Journey

Python for Managers (Online) will help you build the capacity to organize large volumes of data and combine
data from disparate sources so you can make better business decisions.

8 Weeks
Intro to Pandas
in Python
4
Python
Analyzing Data
Fundamentals
with Python
Part 1
1 5

Weeks 1-3 APIs and Web

Python
Python Fundamentals: Scraping with
Fundamentals
Python
Part 2 Learn to Code Weeks 4-8
2 Python Applications for 6
Business: Apply What You
Have Learned
Python
Fundamentals Applying APIs
Part 3 and Web Scraping
3 7

Tying It
Together
8

03
Syllabus
A hybrid of Python fundamentals and hands-on learnings in the application of Python, this program teaches you
how to connect to APIs, scrape data from websites, and access and analyze large volumes of data efficiently and
effectively.

Introduction
Welcome to the Program and Orientation
Setting Up Your Development Environment

Week 1 Week 2

Python Fundamentals Part 1 Python Fundamentals Part 2

Review Evolution and Purpose of Python If Statements

Understanding Your Development Environment Else and Elif Statements

Logic Structures
Customizing Your Command Line and Practicing
Command Line Prompts Lists
For Loops
Start Building a Mental Map of Python Concepts

Practice Coding with Basic Python Scripts

Week 3 Week 4

Python Fundamentals Part 3 Intro to Pandas in Python

Understanding the Role of Dictionaries, Intro to Data in Python
Functions, and Import Review of Jupyter
Practice Writing Code for Dictionaries Data Without Pandas
and Functions Panda Series Data frames
Refactor Code for Efficiency and Columns and Rows
Simplicity Reading Data

04
 Week 5 Week 6

Analyzing Data with Python APIs and Web Scraping with

Filtering Data
Editing Data Frames
Data Hygiene: Duplicated and Missing Values
Combining Data: An Introduction
Combining Data: Choosing the Kind of Join
Combining Data: Two Warnings
Combining Data: Ensuring You’re Not Missing
Anything
Constructing Full Orders in the New York
Restaurant Group Case
Python
Explore Examples of APIs
Use Python to Connect to an API
Develop an Understanding of HTML and How
Web Scrapers in Python Pull Information
from a Page

Week 7 Week 8

Applying APIs and Web Tying It Together

Scraping
Advanced Data Aggregation
Loading Nutrition Data Aggregating with Time
Understanding the Structure Making Pretty Plots
Scraping the Data Final Project
Joining It All Together
Connecting to Weather API
Creating Weather Dataframe
Intro to Aggregating Data

05
Program
Experience

Tutorials to Set-up Real-World Questions Work with

Development on Real-World Actual API
Environment Applications

Case Study with Bite-Sized Dedicated Program

Simulated Data Learning Support Team
from a New York
Restaurant Group

Mobile Peer Learning and

Learning App Feedback

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 Featured
Case Study

Work with more than 2.5 million rows of simulated data from a New York
Restaurant Group.
This New York restaurant group has eateries across New York City and Boston with a decidedly locavore flavor. They
are rethinking every aspect of creating a meal from seed to service. Their mission is to embrace a deeper connection
to our food system, supporting minority-run and small-scale farms along the way. They even started their own farm
operations in upstate New York as a way to deeply understand the demands of the entire supply chain.

In one year alone, they purchased over 2 million pounds of produce from their 65 local farms. Do you think that
creates a lot of data to analyze? Yes it does, in fact, using the restaurant data of more than 2.5 million sales
transactions, you’ll apply your new-found Python skills to address some fundamental business questions such as:

Which restaurant locations are the top performers and which are
the weakest?
Hungry? Start an Order.
How popular is delivery service in each of the locations?

What are the average number of transactions per day by location

and overall?

Which locations are busier at lunch time and therefore require a

different staffing regime?

What was the ROI of the marketing investment made for a large
special event in NYC on June 24?

How did order volumes compare on the special event day as

compared to our “normal” busy days in the summer months?

Later in the program, we’ll access Census data and connect to an

API for weather data to analyze how demographics and weather
affect sales. Finally, you’ll scrape information from this New York
restaurant group website to learn more about how product
offerings are organized and help determine which location is best
for launching a new brand of healthy drinks.

Using this data set, you will get your hands dirty in the data using
Python to help make decisions on where to invest and to know
what’s working.
07
Program Faculty

Mattan Griffel
Faculty Co-Director
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Business at Columbia Business School

Mattan Griffel is an adjunct professor and Y Combinator-backed entrepreneur.

A co-founder of One Month, which offers online bootcamps for coding,
Professor Griffel has experience teaching business professionals who want to
expand their technical skills. Forbes selected him as one of the 30 Under 30 in
Education.

In addition to programming and code, Professor Griffel has taught

entrepreneurship and online education. Among the companies he has advised
are Pepsico, Bloomberg, GM, NYSE, and JP Morgan. He studied philosophy
and finance at New York University, where he wrote his thesis on the
metaphysics of consciousness.

Daniel Guetta
Faculty Co-Director
Associate Professor of Professional Practice in the Discipline of Decision,
Risk and Operations; Director Center for Pricing and Revenue
Management and Business Analytics Initiative

As a professor of business analytics and director of the Center for Pricing

Revenue Management and Business Analytics Initiative, Daniel Guetta
straddles both the Columbia Business School and Columbia Engineering.
He served as a data scientist and engagement manager at Palantir
Technologies. In addition, he was a research scientist intern on the
modelling and optimization team for Amazon.com.

Principles of the faculty's new book come to life in this program.

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 Past Participant Profile

On your journey to learning Python with Columbia Business School Executive Education, you’ll be in good
company. Past participants come from a wide range of industries, job functions, and levels.

Representative Companies
Amazon.com, Inc. Facebook, Inc. Microsoft Corporation
Bloomingdale's Inc. Hilltop Securities, Inc. Morgan Stanley
Citigroup Inc. HSBC Holdings plc Ralph Lauren
Cognizant Johnson & Johnson S&P Global, Inc.
Dell Inc. KPMG International The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Cooperative
Deutsche Bank AG Unilever
McKinsey & Company

Representative Job Titles

Partner Vice President Project Manager
CEO Consultant Senior Credit Analyst
COO Global Head of Valuation Business Analyst
CTO Chief Performance Manager IT Manager
Director Fraud Analytics Manager
President IT and Risk Compliance
Manager

09
Years of Work Experience
>26 yrs

1-5 yrs
21-25 yrs

6%
13%
6%

16-20 yrs 26%

26% 6-10 yrs

23%

11-15 yrs

Representative Industries
Retail

IT Services

6%
7% Banking
Healthcare & Financial
33% Services
8%

9%
Consulting

37%

Others*

Others* includes Real Estate, Advertising, Telecommunications, Ecommerce, Media, Education, Civil Construction, Transport, Fast Moving 10
Consumer Goods, Agriculture, Tourism / Hotels / Restaurants
 What Participants Say

“The best parts of the program were the

program content and the continued challenge
“The videos and assignments were a great way to
exercises which help in getting some practice.
put into practice what we had learned.
The program videos are very well made and
Additionally, the final assignment was a great
detailed which makes it easier to get a grasp
wrap up incorporating real-world scenarios.”
on Python. Overall a great learning experience
and well worth the effort.”
—Corinne Sosa, Senior Analytics Associate,
Merkley+Partners
—Somdutta Sinha, Senior Data Scientist, United States
Visa Middle East FZ LLC,
United Arab Emirates

“I wanted to tap into some large public data sets

and web scrape sites through this program. By
the time we were about halfway through the
program, I was already beginning to tackle my “I am very interested in the part of mathematical
dream project. So excited that this small step models, I love the module on Pandas In Python.”
into Python has opened the door to so many
applications in my current role.” —Israel Lopez Vallejo, Fraud Analytics, Banco
Azteca,
Mexico
—Ryan Lane, Area Vice President - Strategy and
Analytics, Gallagher,
United States

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Certificate

Upon completion of this program, you will receive a certificate of participation from Columbia Business School
Executive Education—a powerful testament to your management capabilities.

C olumbia Business School Executive Educ ation

hereby recognizes that

Participant Name
has participated in:

Python for Managers (Online)

Date

Costis Maglaras
Dean and David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business

Your verified digital certificate will be issued in your legal name and emailed to you, at no additional cost, upon completion of the program, as
per the stipulated requirements. All certificate images are for illustrative purposes only and may be subject to change at the discretion of the
Columbia Business School Executive Education.

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 About Columbia
Business School
Columbia Business School is one of the world’s leading business schools and prides itself on its excellent faculty,
who provide students with superior knowledge and thought leadership across divisions and disciplines. It was
established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate
Columbia University students.

Columbia Business School is the only Ivy League business school located in the global business hub of New York
City. The school has more than 47,000 alumni in 133 countries and about 70 alumni clubs globally. Columbia
Business School is a part of Columbia University, which has produced 101 Nobel Prize winners, 5 Founding
Fathers of the United States, 9 Justices of the United States Supreme Court, 29 Academy Award winners, and
29 heads of state, including 3 United States Presidents.

About Emeritus
Columbia Business School Executive Education is collaborating with online education provider Emeritus to offer a
portfolio of high-impact online programs. These programs leverage Columbia's thought leadership in management
practice developed over years of research, teaching, and practice. By collaborating with Emeritus, we are able to
broaden access beyond our on-campus offerings in a collaborative and engaging format that stays true to the
quality of Columbia Business School Executive Education and Columbia as a whole. Emeritus' approach to learning
is formulated on a cohort-based design to maximize peer-to-peer sharing and includes live teaching with
world-class faculty and hands-on project-based learning. In the last year, more than 100,000 students from over
80 countries have benefited professionally from Emeritus’ courses.

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 The Learning
Experience

Our programs are designed to meet the needs of individual learning styles, while also leveraging the power of peer
learning. This is achieved through a user-friendly learning platform that enables participants to easily navigate the
program content to achieve learning objectives.

Keeping It Real
Our pedagogical approach is designed to
bring concepts to life, including:
• Bite-sized learning techniques
• Real-world application
• Peer learning discussions
• Live, interactive teaching

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 The Learning
Experience

Keeping It Interesting
Our globally connected classrooms enable participants to seamlessly interact with their peers to complete group
assignments and stay on track toward program completion — having culturally enriching encounters along the
way.

Keeping It Convenient
Access to program content is flexible and available through multiple devices, allowing working professionals to
easily manage schedules and learn remotely — anytime, anywhere. Participants enrolled in the program obtain
access to learning materials in a modular approach, with new content released weekly. Program modules
include a variety of teaching instruments, such as:

• Video lectures
• Discussions
• Class materials: articles, cases
• Quizzes
• Surveys
• Assignments

To further personalize the program modules, live teaching sessions are scheduled during the program, often
with Q&A. For participants who are unable to attend these sessions live, a recording is made available so nothing
is missed. Our industry-leading learning platform allows participants to create a profile, connect and collaborate
with peers, and interact with academic/industry experts such as program leaders and teaching assistants.
Assignments are often linked to participants' real-world situations, making concepts inherently practical.

Program Requirements
Students are required to download the free Anaconda software package to their personal computer to set up
their own development environment. Participants will be informed about these additional requirements when the
program begins, along with tutorials for getting started.
To access our programs, participants will need the following:

• Valid email address • access our learning platform

• Computing device connected to the internet: Microsoft Office and PDF viewer to access
PC/laptop, tablet, or smartphone content such as documents, spreadsheets,
• The latest version of their preferred browser to presentations, PDF files, and transcripts

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Easily schedule a call with a program advisor to
learn more

Schedule A Call

You can enroll for the program here

Enroll

Connect With A
Program Advisor

Email: columbia@emeritus.org
Phone: +1 718-550-0890