MOR 555 - Designing High Performance Organizations

Very bright and smart professor. Compassionate and knows his stuff well. He is very fair and the workload isn't too much. Mainly revolving group presentations and online exam.

Grading bit strict, lots of guest speakers (some are irrelevant?) and theories. Some interesting topics.

Professor Perlman is a no-BS kind of guy and can seem a bit intimidating but he is very knowledgeable and very kind. I think he tends to talk a lot, but he makes it interesting. He emphasizes leadership, team culture, and organizational structure concepts and that's reflected in the content. It's a 3-hour class once a week, which can be a long time, but you get used to it quick. Assignments are group-based and case-based. I think the most interesting part of this class is the guest speakers he invites. He knows a lot of really cool and accomplished people (leaders in business, the military, non-profits, etc), so I found a lot of value learning from those speakers. I would suggest taking it if you want a class to balance out another more rigorous, quant-heavy course that you're taking.

Your grade depends on your project team. Fill out the survey honestly at the beginning of class. Projects are graded hard

Course examines the many ways that the structure of an organization can help (or hinder) success. Prof Perlman consults in this field professionally so he's highly knowledgeable and engaged. Great class for future COOs or anyone who aspires to upper management. High workload: each class has reading plus 3 team presentations and an exam. If you put a lot into this one you will get a lot out of it.

One of the very few high-quality fluffy classes in Marshall. I really like the way how the professor created groups for group assignment. He would ask students to take a simple personality test before creating groups for students. You would find the best group assignment experience ever!

You can tell the professor is passionate about his topic. However, sometimes the class itself misses the mark and is not engaging. The majority of assignments are team case analyses and he is a harsh grader, but he means well and wants you to continuously learn and improve. Overall, we are learning some important concepts about how to craft effective organizations.

Some elements of this class is super interesting and I enjoy learning about creating high-performing teams. Perlman cares a lot about his students and it shows in his teaching. This class has a ton of students in other programs and you are assigned groups, so scheduling team meetings can be more difficult since most of the students work full-time.

Heavy workload with a lot of projects and readings but very worthwhile Who is this class for? Someone focused on managerial positions, future CEOs or other C suite managers Final Thoughts:

This is my favorite class that I have taken so far. Lots of reading and group work, but Perlman himself has a very strong grasp of the material, and has created a positive in-class environment. Really good guest speakers; the tests/case submissions are difficult but fair.

Definitely take if you're going into HR/human capital; strongly consider even if you're not. There's a lot of organizational theory that will add another dimension to how you think about corporate strategy, so consider pairing this with a strategy class of some kind. Perlman is a distinct flavor, so you should be able to tell within the first session if it's a good fit or not.. He's very caring and accommodating, grades super thoroughly with tons of feedback, and brings in (mostly) good guest speakers.

Ken is a wonderful professor and he brings interesting and diverse guest speakers to the class. There is a significant amount of group work required for the class, so be prepared to work closely with your assigned team. There is not much time spent in class reviewing the reading, but that doesn't matter much since both the midterm and final are done at home and open note.

It's an interesting class. The cases are good. You learn some good stuff about organizational structure and some life hacks that the professor loves to share

Some elements of this class is super interesting and I enjoy learning about creating high-performing teams. Perlman cares a lot about his students and it shows in his teaching. This class has a ton of students in other programs and you are assigned groups, so scheduling team meetings can be more difficult since most of the students work full-time.

The highlight for me of this class is the great guest speakers the professor brings in, which takes up a third or half of class. This makes a big difference in making a 3 hour class fly by, but Ken also does an amazing job of keeping you constantly engaged with breakout groups. Applying what you're learning to your own breakout group makes a big difference, and I feel like I'm learning practical skills about building strong teams. Lots of reading assigned but sometimes not directly addressed in class. High expectations for case analysis - I wish I had gotten these skills earlier in my MBA

This is such an underrated class that I wish I took earlier in my MBA because of the practical knowledge you gain from it. There are 2-3 case assignments as well as weekly articles (which are genuinely interesting and I'll likely use in the future). Although the content of the class is structured around organizational design, the real learning experience is grounded in how you work with your assigned team over the semester and learn how to flex both your leadership and teammate style. Very dynamic professor who did an excellent job adapting the class for the online environment.

Ken is extremely kind and knowledgeable; however, the classes themselves have been very light on useful material. He brings in numerous guest speakers, but they have been hit and miss - some impart great information that's very useful in better understanding how org design works in their company, while some have been just completely useless. It feels most of the time like Ken shows us a couple of slides with frameworks and then we're on our own, because often the class discussions don't have much to do with the case presentations we're expected to prepare throughout the semester. (3 group case presentations, 2 of which require a pretty extensive deck and recorded presentation, a midterm, and a final - both of which are take home, at least.) I really like Ken as a person, as he is very empathetic and enthusiastic, but I don't think I have been learning as much from this class as I had hoped to.

Ken is an incredibly engaging lecturer and is full of energy, which is needed for a 6:30p-9:30p class. If you haave conflicts or personal matters that arise, he is very understanding and will work with you to adjust due dates and make up missed classes. There's a manageable amount of work in his class. We don't spend much time on the cases for each week, but do go over some of the textbook readings. His guest speakers are overall pretty good, with a few that are just okay. He's incredibly detailed in his feedback and is a fair grader.

Ken is a good professor - he can be a little too touchy feely sometimes, but overall a good professor. He has some pretty solid guest speakers, too.

If you want to do human capital this course is helpful. Great speakers. However, if you're not interested in the way organizations run, not so useful.