Maths and business success - IELTS Writing Task 2 Opinion Essay

To succeed in a business, one needs to be good at maths.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Essay:

It is sometimes argued that good math skills are the key for employees to attain success in the workplace. While I recognize the importance of mathematics in business, I also believe that there are other factors that more significantly contribute to company achievement.

On the one hand, I agree that math proficiency is certainly necessary in the workplace. There are a number of jobs essential in a business that require high levels of calculations, such as accounting and financial analysis. Therefore, those with solid math skills are more likely to carry out these tasks with greater effectiveness and precision than others. Perhaps more importantly, I believe math skills - particularly numeracy and numerical problem solving - are closely associated with broader cognitive ability. This ability really matters because it is reflective of a person's capacity to think critically and solve problems, both of which are key skills that contribute to employees' job performance.

On the other hand, I believe that one still can achieve success in business without a background in math. In the modern age, we already have access to computers and calculators that are clearly able to take on more complicated math functions using a large amount of data. This means that highly calculative work in a business will no longer require humans to perform. Furthermore, I would argue that such factors like leadership style, organizational structure, and innovation are more important from a business perspective, and surely these things do not require any excellent math skills. For instance, effective communication and collaboration among employees as well as managers are non-math-related factors crucial to drive the company to success and growth.

In conclusion, while math is an integral part of managing business, I do not see it as the most significant contributor to a business's success. (296 words)

There is a missing sentence in your thesis statement in the first paragraph. You forgot to indicate the measured response. Is it a partial disagreement with the statement? If so, why? Your discussion topics outline shows a partial disagreement with the statement, you should have framed the last sentence to clearly refer to that. Why? You are scored based on the clarity of your opinion. Therefore, you need to state that opinion directly and clearly, in a manner understood by the examiner, within the first paragraph. Yes, you gave an implication of such an opinion, but an implication of an opinion is not the same as a clear opinion. An implied opinion can be misunderstood by the reader, a direct and clear opinion, cannot be misunderstood.