Macy's CEO, Terry J. Lundgren, says more Math for B-school.

From an Interview with Macy's CEO, Terry J. Lundgren,
in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/business/12corner.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1239595929-5KFPBHGtVrynO/Vwn92zsg

Q. Anything you would like business schools to teach more? Less?

A. In our business, there’s not enough emphasis on math. Coming out of college, we really like to have kids who like math, study math and get it. And so I’d like to make sure that there is an emphasis on math. I think there is a strong emphasis on marketing already, and we want that and we need that. But to me, the math piece is weak in most business school educations, and I’d like to have more emphasis on that.

Q. But somebody might say, “That’s what calculators are for.”

A. And that’s exactly the problem. Because when, at least when I was in school, we didn’t have the computer technology that we have today to do a lot of the work for us. And so I think there’s logic that has to go into this. And I don’t think you should actually have to have a calculator for every decision that you make that has numbers attached to it. Some of that should just come to you quickly, and you should be able to quickly move to your instincts about that being a good or not good decision.