The class that I think is one of the most important classes that any business major should take and really learn the material from is statistics. It is challenging and tedious at times, but I have taken numerous classes where statistics always comes up. From marketing research to finance, basic statistics will help you excel in these classes. It is important in marketing to be able to spot trends and measure different outcomes to business plans, and the only way to do that is by using statistics. 
Another class that I found particularly helpful was consumer behavior. Before I took this class I had no idea how many things went into how a person makes a decision on what to buy, or do. There are many aspects to a consumer, like demographics, their upbringing, etc. It is important for everyone in marketing to realize this and know how to properly sell a product to different individuals, because different people will react to different types of advertisements and promotions. This class was a really great stepping stone to advertising classes as well, because advertising builds off of consumers and what they are looking for. 
Next, intro to marketing was a great class to get to know the groundworks to marketing. Yes this seems fairly obvious that it would be a class that is helpful to marketing majors, but i think a lot of people do not take it very seriously. Since this was one of my first classes in the marketing department I was so enthralled with it that I really got to know the material, and I think that really knowing all the basics helped me get a head start in all the other marketing classes.
Finally, I think that marketing research was a really helpful class to have an insight about what working would really be like. The class did have lectures and tests, but what I really got out of it was working on the main project in the class. The project was a group effort and consisted of creating a survey, analyzing data, and creating a presentation about the findings. It took the whole semester of working on it to finally finish it and I learned a lot about how to work in a group setting. This is one thing that I think is very important for all business professionals to know how to do. Learning how to work with multiple people and all their different strengths and weaknesses is one of the harder things to do.
Knowing what classes to take can sometimes be challenging, and knowing which classes to really focus on can even be more of a challenge. Hopefully this post has helped you, and now you know a few classes that I think are really beneficial to be well rounded in. I know at times school can be stressful, but spending a little extra time to make sure you know some of the material will really help you in future classes, and also when you are out in the real world and have to recall things that you learned in college.
I really agree with you on the statistics class, but the learning also depends on the type of teacher someone has. When I first took statistics, I had no clue what the teacher was talking about and the homework didn't even need to be turned it. This was a bad motivator factor that contributed to me not learning anything.It wasn't until I took marketing research class when I learned the importance of statistics and what it can do in the world, especially in the business sense.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed my marketing class as well. You mentioned above that the material is fairly obvious for marketing majors but it is the roots for the continuing course requirements. Sometimes students feel over stressed on what classes one needs to take and I feel that with the help of a counsler they can you take the right classes.
ReplyDeleteSince all the Business classes at SF State are required, they may not all be enjoyable. You may find yourself enjoying certain classes more than others due to the professor or relevance to you major. But most importantly, there is a reason for taking them. Although we are Marketing majors, concepts from other classes all cross paths. In the real world we will eventually be coming across ideas learned in all of our college class.
ReplyDeleteWhile we will always reminisce about those good and bad classes, it's important to note that college teaches students the behavior needed to be professional: the attitude, the communication, the teamwork. Yes, understanding the principles of marketing is very much needed in order to take those advance courses, but let's don't beat ourselves up if we can't remember a certain concept. When you are working for a company, they'll want you to use their tools and ideas rather than what you read about in a textbook. Thus, learning how to become professional from college, is in my opinion, the most important and applicable tool of them all. I'll never forget the speech that David Ching (CIO of Safeway, Inc.) gave me when another intern asked him what was the most important skill you learned while in undergrad school:
ReplyDelete"I don't remember how to analyze a rate of return in finance, I completely forgot how to calculate linear regressions, and I can't think when it was the last time I had to find the derivative of something. So no textbook material and formulas stuck with me that long, as it might not stay with you either. Nothing to be ashamed about that! I believe undergrad school really just focuses on changing the minds of students to think a bit more creatively, to behave a bit more maturer, and to communicate a bit more efficiently and effectively. That's why we go to college."