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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

Glossary

Return on investment: what a spend brings back

Return on investment relates the gain obtained to the sum committed. It turns an intuition into a costed trade-off, provided you name precisely what you count on both sides. The scope of the gain and the horizon chosen are written before the calculation.

A ratio, two scopes to define

Return on investment relates the net gain to the sum committed. Its difficulty is not arithmetic: it lies in scope. What counts as gain — extra revenue, cost avoided, freed time valued? And over what horizon? Two honest calculations on different scopes give two different answers: writing the scope down is therefore the first step.

  • Net gain related to the sum committed, over a written horizon
  • The gain may be extra revenue, cost avoided or freed time
  • Scope is defined before the calculation, never after

Three questions to settle before calculating

The Artificial Intelligence and Business Decision certificate has candidates cost the contribution of an automation project: time freed, errors avoided, implementation and running cost. The Digital Marketing programme applies the same mechanics to a campaign budget, channel by channel.

  1. 01

    1 — Define the gain

    Extra revenue, cost avoided or time freed: you name what you count, and nothing else.

  2. 02

    2 — Cost the commitment

    Purchase, implementation, training and running over time: the full cost, not just the opening invoice.

  3. 03

    3 — Set the horizon

    Twelve months, three years: the horizon chosen changes the result as much as the figures do.

  4. 04

    4 — Compare the options

    The figure takes on meaning against another possible use of the same sum.

Programmes that make the trade-off

2 catalogue programmes put “Return on investment” to work: 135 credits and 1350 taught hours in total. The official rule holds throughout — one credit stands for 25 hours of work, 10 of them taught. Every line below is recomputed from the programme page: level, duration, credits, taught volume and fees in Guinean francs appear exactly as filed in the official catalogue.

ProgrammeLevelDurationVolumeFees
Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Business DecisionsProfessional certification5 months15 credits · 150 taught hours3 600 000 GNF in total
Digital MarketingBachelor's degree2 years120 credits · 1200 taught hours4 600 000 GNF per year
Return on investment: what a spend brings back — Glossary | IHETC — IHETC