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Survival Math for Marketers
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Survival Math for Marketers


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Marketing | Mathematics

144 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
The key goal of Survival Math for Marketers is a solution to a common problem in business - namely, the lack of mathematics know-how among many business students and practitioners. There is an untapped `latent demand' in the marketing world from many people whose careers have been - or will be - thwarted because the math `haves' dominate the `have nots'. This book as an easy, fun, and inexpensive solution to this age-old problem.

Survival Math for Marketers is designed to be a useful book for introductory marketing courses. It is clearly written, filled with good examples, illustrations and makes entertaining reading.

 
Chapter 1. Your Credibility
It's Absolute and Definite (Maybe)

 
A Few Definitions

 
Why is This Important to Me?

 
A Short True-False Quiz

 
Reality and Perception

 
The Numbers Control Us

 
I Thought This Was a Math Book

 
 
Chapter 2. Figures Never Lie, but Liars Figure
It's Absolute and Definite (Maybe), Part II

 
Is "Actual" actually "Actual"?

 
Debits and Credits

 
The Chart of Accounts

 
Double Entry

 
Sales and Expenses

 
It's an Accrual, Accrual World

 
 
Chapter 3. Making a (Financial) Statement
How Are We Doing?

 
The Balance Sheet

 
The Income Statement

 
Fiscal Years

 
 
Chapter 4. Organizations, Measurements, and Standards
What Are We, Anyway?

 
Different Purposes, Different Rulers

 
Percentage of What?

 
The Pitfalls of Precision

 
Why Are We Looking Here?

 
The Unseen Costs of Saving Money

 
Too High? Too Low? What Standards?

 
 
Chapter 5. An Economics Excursion
Economics, Science, Markets, and Demand

 
Utility Is Not Just Gas

 
The Economists' Curve

 
Marketing and Elasticity

 
 
Chapter 6. Pricing and Profitability
Pricing: Theory and Practice

 
A True-False Quiz on Pricing

 
What a "Price" Really Is

 
There's More Than Price Involved in Price

 
A Small digression on Quality

 
Price vs. Cost

 
Markups and Break-even

 
Sensitive Pricing for Profit

 
What is the Company's Objective?

 
Pricing Policies You Should Have

 
Pricing for Services

 
 
Chapter 7. Costs and Profitability
Costs, Real and Imagined

 
Cost Allocation

 
Variable, Fixed, and Somewhere in Between

 
Why a Toilet Seat Costs $600

 
Over Whose Head?

 
Is Overhead a Burden?

 
Sunk and Avoidable Costs

 
Marginal Costs

 
Inventory and Stockturn

 
LIFO and FIFO

 
A Cost Control Fallacy

 
Fun with Depreciation and Amortization

 
 
Chapter 8. Strategy: Break-Even and Profitability
Profit is Why We're Here

 
Break Even

 
Must Everything Break Even?

 
 
Chapter 9. Cash
Cash Flow

 
Source and Use of Funds

 
Receivables and Payables: A/R and A/P

 
Cash Flows and Cash Gaps

 
Net Present Value

 
 
Chapter 10. Budgets
What is a Budget?

 
Basis for Budgets: Last Year, Percentage or Zero?

 
The Fantasy Factor

 
Cost Fudge and Revenue Cotton Candy

 
Don't Just Divide By 12

 
Revenues and Strategy

 
 
Chapter 11. Just Look at the Statistics
Mean Stuff and Deviations

 
That Average Just Moved!

 
Trends

 
 
Appendix A - A Summary of Non-Magic Formulae
 
Appendix B - Sample Chart of Accounts

Peter C. Weiglin

Peter Weiglin is an author, historian, and professional speaker on many topics. His company, Omnibus Communications, specializes in marketing strategy and communications consulting for companies in the publishing and computer fields. His clients have included Lockheed, Hundman Publishing, Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, and North American Van Lines. He teaches management and marketing, most recently at the University of California at Berkeley Extension and has also worked as an auditor for a New York City-based accounting firm. ... More About Author

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