Quantify the economic value of information. Learn when and how much to invest in data to boost your decision's expected outcome.
Navigating business decisions in an uncertain world requires knowing when and how much to invest in gathering information. This course, "Calculating the Value of Information," provides you with the essential tools to quantify the economic worth of data, ensuring you invest wisely and avoid costly analysis paralysis.
You will learn foundational concepts like Expected Value (EV) analysis, a powerful method for distilling complex outcomes into a single comparable number. Explore how Bayesian logic allows you to update your probabilities based on new information, moving from prior beliefs to more informed posterior probabilities. Master the use of decision-making tools such as Decision Trees and Influence Diagrams to structure problems, visualize potential scenarios, and calculate the expected value of different strategic paths.
Beyond the theoretical, this course delves into calculating the value of both perfect and imperfect information, helping you determine the maximum you should pay for data sources like market tests or expert opinions. Understand the difference between the value of information (reducing uncertainty) and the value of control (increasing probabilities of favorable outcomes). By the end, you will be equipped to identify which uncertainties are most valuable to reduce and make more profitable, data-driven decisions.
Learn to make informed choices by understanding what information is truly worth.
Founder of CFO Perspective
Rob Stephens is the Founder of CFO Perspective, which provides continuing education courses for CPAs and financial management courses for business advisors and staff. He has been quoted in Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, Bloomberg Businessweek, and many other news sources. He is also the author of Key Performance Indicators and KPI Dashboards. Rob has a 30-year career that includes serving as a CFO, Director of Operations, and SVP of Finance. Rob is an adjunct instructor for the MBA program at Gonzaga University. Rob holds a Masters of Science in Personal Financial Planning and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Therapy from Kansas State University. He received a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington.
This portal is provided as a training and development resource for City of Markham employees. Every course is delivered by a qualified subject matter expert or learning organization, is quantifiable in hours, and is verifiable — you receive a documented certificate of completion for every course you finish, stored on LearnFormula indefinitely.
If you hold a professional designation (for example in engineering, accounting, human resources, or law), courses may be counted as professionally relevant, verifiable learning activities toward your continuing professional development. Individual practitioners are responsible for confirming that an activity meets the requirements of their professional body. For questions about the City of Markham's training and development policies, please speak with your people leader or Human Resources.
