Integrate the Teachings of Statistics and Management Science Using Conjoint Product Design Problem

Methods from both fields of statistics and management science have been jointly applied to solve many complex business problems. In recognition of such a trend, business schools have combined topics from both areas when offering quantitatively-oriented courses in hope of equipping students with an integrated perspective on quantitative analysis processes. However, due to the lack of teaching materials that bridge the conceptual gaps of these two fields, students oftentimes come out of the class without a real sense of integration of the fields of statistics and management science as complementary tools for solving problems. This paper demonstrates a conjoint product design process that establishes some natural links between several key concepts from the two areas - all tied up by using a real problem that is faced by many firms. The complete model can be readily implemented in Excel by using the Regression and Solver options. This teaching material has been well-received by the students who greatly appreciated the integrative nature of the problem solving approach.