Improving the Marketing Math Skills of Marketing Undergraduate Students Through a Unique Undergraduate Marketing Math Course

Abstract

ImprovIng the marketIng math SkIllS of marketIng undergraduate StudentS through a unIQue undergraduate marketIng math courSe gopala ganesh, Qin Sun, and Somjit BaratAlthough analytical and math abilities are among the skills that marketing undergraduates are expected to have, the extant literature indicates deficiencies in these areas. Against this backdrop, this paper describes a course that is part of the core requirements of undergraduate marketing majors at a major public university in the southwest United States. This highly structured course offered in both face-to-face and online formats is designed to improve the students' analytical thinking and quantitative skills. Over four years, concrete evidence was collected and analyzed to provide feedback on the assurance of learning aspects of the course, and the results are quite positive. What is most gratifying is the striking similarity of the perceptions of the face-to-face and online students. Anecdotal feedback from colleagues and former students also appear to substantiate the successful implementation of this course.

Job Requirements for Marketing Graduates: Are There Differences in the Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Attributes Needed for Different Salary Levels?

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Using Interactive Whiteboards in Teaching Retail Mathematics

“…Marketing students at the collegiate level have often been found to lack mathematical skills (Aggarwal, Vaidyanathan, and Rochford 2007;Ganesh, Sun, and Barat 2010). At times students have difficulties assimilating mathematical concepts and formulas to real-world scenarios such as the retail environment.…”

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“…In the past, some fashion majors found themselves in marketing programs where they often perceived themselves as weaker in quantitative skills than nonmarketing majors (Newell, Titus, & West, 1996). It has been documented that students in marketing tracks often did not believe mathematics and quantitative proficiency were important in their career choice and they were more likely to avoid mathematics in their major selection (Ganesh, Sun, & Barat, 2010; LaBarbera & Simonoff, 1999). This perspective appeared to align with fashion programs housed in other fields as well.…”