The Gross Profit Percentage - Essay Example

One interesting cliché in sports is when someone says, “That guy is really giving 110% out there.” This is, of course, mathematically impossible but the message that the saying is trying to get across is that the guy is really giving an unusual amount of effort (Wikipedia, 2009).

Percentages are very popular in the sports world, especially in baseball. A recent sports article is entitled, “Brewers Play Percentages by Moving Infield.” The article explains that what the Brewers have done better so far than any other team is take away hits from opposing hitters (Haudricourt, 2011). The manager accomplishes this by shifting his infielders to one side of the field when a pull hitter comes up to bat. This and other similar strategies managers use is known as “playing the percentages.”

As mentioned, percentages are very important in business. An example of a very important business percentage is the gross profit percentage. This number is a key indicator of the current health of a business. Gross profit percentage is total revenue minus total costs divided by total revenue. This number is very useful because “comparing the company’s GPP at regular time intervals can determine how well the company is performing over time” (ehow, 2010).  

Percentages interest me because they can be used in virtually every facet of life. While my feelings toward much of advanced math are often negative, concepts as simple and useful as percentages make me appreciate basic math concepts because I realize how important they are