Organizational Behavior Review, Ending and Grade

I took this course in the Fall of 2010:

Let me start by saying that the professor, Nate Bennett, was one of the most personable and interesting professors I have had in the program. Nate’s style was very fitting for the class material. He rolled in made a joke, related the material to current events then sat down in a chair in front of 70 people and just opened discussion. I will say that my view of the class may be different from others because I do well in environments where there is open dialog.

All that one needed to do was read the material assigned take some notes and be prepared to speak on the topics during class. Since the material was not analytical in nature I could easily pick up on the point of the articles and discuss the important points relating to the inherent nature of humans. The topics ranged widely. We read an article and discussed in class how hospitals in New Orleans reacted to the influx of patients and the loss of power during Katrina. We analyzed how the hospital handled the patients and what wards in the hospital got the most resources, whether that was ethical, and who should be liable for deaths. As a class we talked about how people behave in different situations, we looked at the psychological impact of workers being watched by their supervisors. We watched a movie, Lord of the Flies, and analyzed how children responded when they were faced with determining a leader, and were surprised by how long the children were separated from adult authority figures and how they chose their leaders in such a desperate environment.

I loved the class and the professor. Honestly, up to this point in the program I have had a real disconnect to my specific knowledge of some of the specific disciplines of business. Accounting is accounting, and finance is finance, and economics is economics, however Organizational Behavior is the process of dealing with people. People are irrational, we make decisions with our own biases and much of the time we form opinions immediately and justify those opinions as the base point for our arguments going forward. Professor Bennett was a wonderful facilitator, playing devil’s advocate as needed and helping knock home some difficult topics. I took this course in the Fall of 2010 and wouldn’t take it in the summer (courses too short) as the material really suited my style. Again, others who prefer an analytical perspective with concrete answers to questions could be uncomfortable in the class at times and those who are reluctant to offer their opinions may be drowned out of the discussions.

There was no project, either personal or group, there were a couple tests and class participation was key and graded as such. When 70 people need to speak to get participation credit there are too many hands and much shallow discussions where students need to say something even if it isn't vital to the conversation at hand. Regardless of this small downfall I give this couse MGT 6100 and the professor a solid "A". I loved the material and the format of the class, I will say that I got a lot out of the format of the class and Professor Bennett's discussions, I got a "B".