BUSI UN3703

Manageable but be sure to know your shit on the readings and lectures if you don't want to be screwed on the quizzes/midterm.

Light at most. Cases are supposed to be read prior to class, but outside of a 2 page paper, there is nothing.

I learned how to be self-aware, self-assess, and how to work in a team.

The material itself is interesting and easy to absorb, and in many ways it seems applicable to any career path. The course goes over internal biases we have and how that affects behavior in organizational settings as well as "what makes a good leader". Not 100% bullshit despite the title of the course. I would say a significant amount of it is psych-related so if you have some psych background it might help. The professor is a good lecturer but is very strict...He is a rather harsh, nitpicky grader and will ruthlessly take points off quizzes and exams if you do not have the right wording. I would say all you need to do well on exams is to have great memorization skills, because he will specifically ask you what the main arguments and examples used by the authors in readings. There's not that much critical thinking involved on the exams. For the midterm, the average was in the low 80s and he refused to curve because he was "content of the distribution of grades", although he added like 5 overall points at the end of the semester. He also takes attendance every class and requires you to complete mandatory surveys on Courseworks 4-5 times throughout the course, and if you forget to do them he take a point off for each survey you missed from your overall grade. I highly recommend making very detailed summaries on the readings after each session so you're not as overwhelmed right b…

First off, I think that I should say I am a senior who has rarely written a review, so the mere fact I am writing this underscores my thoughts to Beunza. I'm an economics major and expected this class to actually help me- it didn't, at all. The class itself was a joke and a complete WASTE OF TIME! Lecture was spent talking about a case in painstaking detail and lookign back, going to class was not needed at all for the final. There is no midterm, and assignment aren't even graded. I did not receive any physical letter grades and the marks that I did receive were so unclear that I have no idea what I will receive in the class. Take this class if you want easy credits, but be prepared to be extrememly bored and talked down to by a control freak of a professor. There was even one lecture when he called out a student for "not paying attention" and proceeded to yell at him in front of the entire section of over 50 students. This professor is as unprofessional as they come and it is a shame that Columbia employs people like him. I want a refund.

Generally learned about the cognitive biases that often lead leaders astray. We learned some skills on how to deal with these issues, focusing on research based- solutions and also case studies to learn about negotiation and management.

mandatory attendance to 3-hour weekly sessions 4 team papers based on readings and class exercises Final paper Final exam

How to become an effective leader and how to function better as someone who needs to manage / interact with others.

In short, this is a bad class. For more specific information about the class, you can look at the directory, the course site, request a syllabus, and so forth. The class itself was a bore, and everyone in the class knew it. It was worthwhile in the sense that it covered material that is tangentially relevant to leadership however not necessarily applicable to organizations. Think of it as a cursory psych class, if you will. Unfortunately, there are too many downsides to this course. If you're looking for a good intro course to MBA material, I hope to high hell this isn't it. Wallen is passive aggressive, in that he appears to always understand contingencies and make allowances (as will inevitable come up for many people, since the class is run differently from a typical undergrad structure; for example, there may be zero tolerance for any absence. Not my experience, but a warning.), but always will leave you feeling like he's jotting it down with his other hand. Maybe this is typical MBA, maybe this is Wallen. The course evaluation revolves around group papers, some quantum of participation, a final paper you're allegedly working towards all semester long, and the final. As far as group papers, it's really the luck of the draw as far as collective ability is concerned. Worse, it's quite the luck of the draw what your final grade might be. Wallen clearly has trouble recruiting…

Basics on how to be a proper leader. How to communicate, read others, motivate, negotiate, etc.