Business course spotlight: Managerial Statistics
Our previous post discussed the value of predicting business trends with helping businesses stay ahead of their competition. Managerial Statistics or BMT468 is course offered at William Woods University that teaches business students how to make inferences about the future based on statistical information.
Statistics is a study of the collection, analysis, interpretation and organization of data. In business, statistics can improve decision-making and reduce risk. On a micro level, statistics has countless applications from offering insight into consumer behavior, monitoring production quality, marketing products, forecasting revenue and much more.
Take, for example, its application in market research. A company considering new product development may survey its target customers to learn about their preference when it comes to product features or price. Statistics then allow researchers to infer general consumer preferences based on surveying only a small group of people as opposed to its entire consumer population.
In advertising, statistical statements are sometimes used as proof of quality or superiority of a product. Think of all the skin and oral care campaigns referencing the number of dermatologists and dentists that recommend a particular product or a brand. One example is the recent Crest TV commercial saying, “4 out of 5 dentists confirm these… products maintain a professional clean.”
Beyond these examples, students taking Managerial Statistics will explore similar case studies to formulate solutions to challenging business issues. In doing so, they will learn about practices available for gathering and summarizing data, and explore the limitations of data types and methods. Also, students will compare the statistical inferences while considering their potential misuse.
Those with a special interest in the topics covered in this course may be well suited for positions such as business analyst, market researcher and operations analyst among others. Managerial Statistics is a requirement for students pursuing the Bachelor of Science in Management but can be taken as an elective by other business majors.