Business mathematics

Business mathematics are mathematics used by commercial enterprises to record and manage business operations. Commercial organizations use mathematics in accounting, inventory management, marketing, sales forecasting, and financial analysis.

Mathematics typically used in commerce includes elementary arithmetic, elementary algebra, statistics and probability. For some management problems, more advanced mathematics - such as calculus, matrix algebra and linear programming - is applied.

High school

Business mathematics, sometimes called commercial math or consumer math, is a group of practical subjects used in commerce and everyday life. In schools, these subjects are often taught to students who are not planning a university education. In the United States, they are typically offered in high schools and in schools that grant associate's degrees; elsewhere they may be included under Business studies. The emphasis in these courses is on computational skills and their practical application, with practice being predominant.

A (U.S.) business math course typically include a review of elementary arithmetic, including fractions, decimals, and percentages. Elementary algebra is often included as well, in the context of solving practical business problems. The practical applications typically include checking accounts, price discounts, markups and Markup, payroll calculations, simple and compound interest, consumer and business credit, and mortgages and revenues.

University level

Undergraduate

"Business Mathematics" comprises mathematics courses taken at an undergraduate level by business students. The two most common here are Business Calculus and Business Statistics. Programs often also cover matrix operations as mentioned above, and may include a separate module on interest calculations.

These courses are usually focused on problems from the business world, and the syllabus is adjusted correspondingly. Thus for example, whereas in a regular calculus course students would study trigonometric functions, courses here would not typically cover this area. Correspondingly, these courses typically do not go into the same depth as standard courses in the mathematics or science fields. (Although see Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Bachelor of Business Science.)

Note that economics majors, especially those planning to pursue graduate study in the field, are encouraged to instead take regular calculus, as well as linear algebra and other advanced math courses, especially real analysis. Some economics programs (instead) include a module in "mathematics for economists", providing a bridge between the above "Business Mathematics" courses and mathematical economics and econometrics. Operations management (and management accounting) may similarly include supplementary coursework in relevant quantitative techniques, generally linear programming as above, as well as other optimization techniques.

Postgraduate

At the postgraduate level, generalist management and finance programs include quantitative topics which are foundational for the study in question - often exempting students with an appropriate background. These are usually "interest mathematics" and statistics, both at the above level. MBA programs often also include basic operations research (linear programming, as above) with the emphasis on practice, and may combine the topics as "quantitative analysis"; MSF programs may similarly cover applied econometrics.

More technical Masters in these areas, such as those in management science and quantitative finance, will entail a deeper, more theoretical study of operations research and econometrics, and extend to further advanced topics such as mathematical optimization and stochastic calculus. These programs do not include or entail "Business mathematics" per se.

Where mathematical economics is not required, graduate economics programs often include "quantitative techniques", which covers (applied) linear algebra, multivariate calculus, and optimization, and may include the above topics; regardless, econometrics is usually a separate course, and is dealt with in depth.

See also

Disciplines

Applications

Bibliography
  • Anthony , M. & Biggs, N. (1996). Mathematics for Economics and Finance: Methods And Modelling, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521559133
  • Bradley, Teresa (2013). Essential Mathematics for Economics and Business 4th Edition, Wiley. ISBN 978-1118358290
  • Brechner, Robert. (2006). Contemporary Mathematics for Business and Consumers, Thomson South-Western. ISBN 0-324-30455-2
  • Dowling, Edward (2009). Schaum's Outline of Mathematical Methods for Business and Economics, McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0071635327
  • Rosser, M. & Lis, P. (2016). Basic Mathematics for Economists 3rd Edition. Routledge. ISBN 9780415485920
  • Wegner, Trevor. (2016). Applied Business Statistics: Methods and Excel-Based Applications, Juta Academic. ISBN 9781485111931
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