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Talking About "Taking People Home on Time" in a MARKETING 101 Class?

Wired
 
I'm out of topics to write for now. However, I'd like to reminisce about some crazy experiences in business school more than 20 years ago at the University of San Carlos-Downtown Campus. I had a marketing professor who one might say has OCD. She was very particular about case studies. She would really warn the class about failing them. Sure, I was able to finally make up for that missing activity so I don't get an NC. I do love that teacher for her meticulous detail. I had many ups and downs with that teacher. In my case, I'd like to discuss an out-of-league case study in a marketing class.


The third and fourth case studies were made individually because free riders were becoming common. It was time to look for volunteers. I volunteered to be in the first. I discussed airline rates in a price war. I lost the soft copy because it was from an old PC. I doubt the business administration department will let me dig into their archives. A classmate wasn't paying attention and asked if I was about to lose profits. The professor got mad and let him go next. What happened was really hilarious.

My classmate read a rather vague problem. The marketing professor raised her eyebrows. If I recall correctly, my classmate could have given a properly defined problem. The objective was where he was shot down. He said that he aimed to take people home on time. The marketing professor stuttered angrily saying, "What in the world is this?" in Cebuano. He was made to sit down, automatically giving him the lowest grade.


Sure, mathematics wasn't my forte, academic-wise. However, recalling the issue made me think of the mathematics needed for his desired objective. I may have hated mathematics as a subject. However, I'm enjoying mathematics as a hobby. However, I don't need to be an engineer to know that calculus and trigonometry are used in airline traffic management. Take for example anti-collision calculus. Data collection alongside certain types of mathematics is needed to compute the best optimal route. Did my classmate get a book on aviation management when it was a marketing class?

I remember laughing along with the class. The teacher wasn't a bit pleased. Why are we talking engineering mathematics when it's a marketing class? Airline management will need a lot of engineering. However, that's the task of the engineering team. The marketing team has a completely different assignment. 

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