MOR 567 - Interpersonal Influence and Power

Overall concepts are useful. Professor Fast cold calls every single class in an attempt to exert power, even if other students are raising their hand to contirbute. He also doesn't tend to appreciate diverse opinions and will stick to his own thoughts when questioned.

Interesting material, but there are a lot of assignments. He also cold calls so you should probably keep up with the reading.

Concepts and frameworks are useful, but there is not enough discussion around how they may (or may not) work for anyone who isn't a cis white man. There is some diversity represented in the cases, but not enough in my opinion. At its foundation the class is pretty good, but there is a lot of room for improvement. Professor cold calls .

This class doesn't do a great job at thinking through the nuances of power. While this class has some helpful lessons, and forces you to do some good self-reflection, this class could do a much better job of thinking through power in a more intersectional lens. That being said, it's probably one of the easier classes at Marshall - not a ton of readings and the write-ups are incredibly easy

This is one of those courses that you're going to get out of it what you put into it; if you actually do the readings (less the cases) and try to practice the tactics, you have the opportunity to really develop the skills that will serve you in your career. Prof. Bresnahan is a lot more flexible than Prof Fast, so is really on you to make the most of it as his teaching style can make it feel like it's not worth it to put in much effort.

This class is very east but painful to get through. The questions for group discussion are not well thought through and are quite low in terms of need for critical thinking. Very skippable

Only off thing about this course is the role-playing, not sure how it connects to the class, but its not a deal-breaker.

You'll develop of framework for maneuriving life/relationships that will increase the likelihood that you'll accumulate more power. You can probably get this yourself from reading the Pfeffeer Power book though. The class will help reinforce it and increase your chances at implementing the suggestions in your life.

A good course that isn't too heavy. The assignments are not too heavy, and the interviews for people in power are pretty valuable. Would like to have had more solid takeaways and directly applicable methods/techniques though.

An excellent course and professor. The real value of the class is not in lecture but in the activities that force you to debate and consider your actions and how they can help you as a person and in your career. The readings are interesting, even if they are not as discussed in class too much; think of them as a course supplement. Difficulty is not too high, but the value is largely what you put into the class - some opt to sit on the sidelines or turn off their cameras, but doing so is a missed opportunity to be engaged and grow. I feel the most engaged in this class of all my classes. There is value in this course for anyone who wishes to grow in character and confidence. The watchword for this class is empowerment, not victimhood - this is a nice change of pace from cultural fads that emphasize blaming others for lack of success.

This class is a complete and utter waste of time and money. I've never been so disappointed in a class in my life. If you just want to sit in a breakout room for 3 hours until 930pm to chit chat with your classmates then take this class. The professor barely does any actual teaching (maybe every 2-3 weeks he'll teach a topic or theory for 5 minutes) and just puts us in breakout rooms to do stupid and pointless exercises that he never connects back to any learnings. There's a lot of reading but he never brings up or reinforces anything from the readings. Also the book that everyone says is great (Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't) is super archaic and reinforces frustrating gender stereotypes. As an example, the author of the book said Anita Hill continued to spend time with Clarence Thomas because she wanted to personally gain/benefit from being around him. A complete victim-blame. It's upsetting that this book is actually being used to teach business leaders in 2020.

If you actually take the time to dive deep on the exercises, class discussions, and readings this can one of the most valuable MBA classes. However, you need to invest the time. If you just show up to class it really becomes very repetitive. I wish the cases were more diversified and the lectures were a bit more structured. We are half way trough and I feel that either the cases became repetitive, or the discussion became superficial. Regardless, I still recommend the class.

The entirety of this course could be summarized in just a speaker session. It just repeats over and over with the same case with different people. In the past, this class was apparently focused on bringing in interesting speakers, however in the online setting this has shifted to cases and not for the better. Definitely should be a 1.5 credit, it's a huge waste of time as a 3 credit class.

The case studies and material are interesting reads. I did not come into the class expecting a lot of lectures because this is not a topic that can be taught in the traditional sense. It is a soft skill that we are trying to develop and the breakout rooms and refelction exercises serve the purpose they are meant to serve.