Richard M. Castaldi

For students who like to take on challenges and reap sweet fruits of their hard work - BUS 890 with Prof. Castaldi is a must take class! The course was well structured to enhance our learning and understanding of multi-functional strategic issues. Professor Castaldi, set the benchmark high, but at the same time provided his students with the means and guidance to reach the objectives of the course. The HBR cases that we analyzed were challenging as well as interesting and provided great insight on strategy formulation and strategy implementation. The knowledge we gained will remain with us beyond the four walls of our classroom. The required text/readings for the class are simple and easy to understand - good textbook! Prospective students - do the assigned reading, put your 110% efforts on the case analysis, participate in class discussions with quality contributions and you will get the grade you deserve.

I took Dr. Castaldi for Business 890. Although I heard horror stories from others and considered myself forewarned, I went ahead and signed up for his class anyways. Dr. Castaldi was always on top of things and ran his classes accordingly. I wouldn't say he's a "drill sergeant". His classes allowed for open discussions of students' opinions and those who say otherwise are just sore because their ideas weren't fully developed. You do have to have an extra layer of skin before taking this class but it's well worth it. Think of it this way: do you think future employers will cut you slack when you're fighting to climb up that corporate ladder? No - which is precisely why Dr. Castaldi teaches the way he does. (If you don't know your stuff while in school, what makes you think you'll be the genius employers are hoping for?)

Compared to every other class in undergrad and graduate programs, I learned the most from his class. There should be more teachers like Dr. Castaldi. If there were, SFSU would be one of the top schools and earning a diploma from SFSU would get you noticed. Isn't that what you want in the end?

Classes were structured around a golden textbook (one of which you'd probably keep for future reference and not sell back to the store immediately.) Lectures center around textbook reading but are mostly open discussions of ideas. Grades are based on two case studies which groups spend many hours working on. I never worked so hard in my life on schoolwork but it was all worth it and I would take his class again in a heartbeat.

What everyone said in the previous reviews is certainly true. He is intimidating. He is arrogant, and he does know his stuff. But dont let the "letter grades" fool you thinking that this is some great guy. Because he isn't. There is no denying that you will definitely learn alot from his class. The issue here however, is whether or not you would be willing to trade your social life, your patience, and your sanity in putting up with the crap that he will give you.

If you decide to take this guy, you better come correct because he is unlike any other professor at SFSU. Read the book and know your material. He gives out weekly quizzes based on the chapter(s) read the week before. After the quizzes there will be a class discussion and he will randomly pick on a person to answer one of his questions. If you are wrong or worse yet, dont know, he will tear you apart in class. Even if you have an answer but dont have any reasoning to back it up he will still eat you up.

Then sometime in the middle of the semester be prepared for some of your worst misery at this God-forsaken school. He hands out these cases of companies in which you and 3 other people are supposed to analyze inside and out. Financial, their competitors, the company itself everything. Our group easily spent 20+ hours working on each of the 2 presentations. Each week prior to the presentation he will come up to your group to check on your progress. Depending on how you favor with him, he will either hate what you have or love it. Best thing to do for those of you man enough to take him, find 2 finance majors in your class and partner with them because they will be your permanant group members.

If it wasnt for his piss-poor attitude I wouldve gave him a high grade so he gets a C- from me.

Exams: The wording he used on his exams were long and tricky. To make matters worse, he basicly rushes you to finish the 30+ questions on the exam so he can continue with his boring a*s lectures (I tooked this class in the summer, by the way). Lectures: Pretty much based on the textbook. He would ask questions based on the stuff we read in the book and pick-on a girl in the class at random to answer his questions. If she is unable to answer his questions correctly, he and his favorite students (more like kiss a*s) would laugh. Does this sound professional? You decide. Personality: Arrogant, cocky, know-it-all, etc.

None of the bad reviews or the horror stories stopped me from taking strategic management from Castaldi.I admit he's not easy to please but how else are you planning on learning good strategic management? You have to come to class ready to discuss the chapters because he builds on the existing material. It wouldn't hurt to read the footnotes even. Raise your hand, participate in class, if you can't make the class e-mail him in advance. He's a reasonable person but treat him as you'd like to be treated, with respect. We did 2 cases, one on a brewing company and one one airlines. They were challanging yet fun. It takes a lot of hours to analyze the cases. Make sure you have someone who knows about finance in your group. He's very respecting towards non-English speakers and he makes that clear from the beginning. Bottom line is if you're on this program seriously there's no better way to integrate all you have learned during your MBA. What I've learned in this class will help me looking at problems both in business and in the real world. Now, if you're a slacker do not take this class from Castaldi. because at the end, when your peers are evaluating you he'll know you didn't contribute enough. I hope this review helps future students.

Castaldi was moody all the time. He was also the most intimidating professor. He interrupted students' presentations all the time. You would be at ground zero. This is maybe a great class for those who are NOT sensitive people as he called his ways of criticizing people "professional, helpful feedback, or motivating." I didn't find his words of wisdom motivating, really. I learned nothing from him, what I learned is from my classmates. What I got out of his class is nothing from him.

At the end of the class, he said he was willing to provide recommendation for jobs/graduate schools whenever students needed him. He was a good guy, but not the kind of good guy I'd prefer to be my professor.

I TRY TO MAKE THIS REVIEW AS COMPLETE AND HELPFUL AS POSSIBLE. Dr Castaldi is definitely a great teacher; he's motivated to teach strategic management classes. 2 cases in the course took my group 20 hours each outside the classroom to finish. Students are expected to read and understand the chapters before class and be prepared to get at least one question during class discussion. Exams were easy if you read the chapters. Ok, that was the good stuff.. He's also the most intimidating professor, he interrupted students' presentations all the time. "Is this the best you can do graduating seniors?", "It took you three weeks to discover that?", and "You're at ground zero" are commonly used phrases. This is a great class for those who are NOT sensitive people as he called his ways of criticizing people "professional, helpful feedback, or motivating." I didn't find his words of wisdom motivating, really. At the end of the class, he said he was willing to provide recommendation for jobs/graduate schools whenever students needed him. He was a good guy, but not the kind of good guy I'd prefer to be my professor. THOSE OF YOU LOOKING FOR GOOD PROFESSOR FOR BUS 690, YOU MAY WANT TO COMPARE CASTALDI TO PROF. SALLY BAACK!

I had this class over winter session. Dr. Castaldi expected people to read and understand the text and he made that clear from the beginning. I found his teaching style to be very straight forward. His tests were more than fair and he was an entertaining and knowlegable teacher. He removed the mystique from management and dealt with the subject matter in a straight forward and understandable way. I highly recommend this winter session class for anyone who is willing to keep up on the material. I think he is an excellent teacher. He just doesnt take any crap.

Dr. Castaldi is one of the most challenging professors in San Francisco State. He will grill each and every student if they don't know the answer, so be prepared when you step foot in class. The work deals with readings (obviously) in your management book, but KNOW the material! Alot of you are going to take Rick over the Winter break! Beware he has a Doctor Jeckel--Mr. Hyde persona! And watchout when he starts blinking his eyes continueously, the roof is going to blow up. Rick will call each and every student indiscriminately during the semester, so please, please, remember the material or your $495.00 + the cost of the book will be a waste! Rick's test deals with multiple choice and two to three essays given each Thursday during the winter break semeter. There is some homework, but the bulk of your duty is to READ + UNDERSTAND the terms by heart. I have to give it Dr. Castaldi, he does make the class very interesting, moreover his own life experience are spectacular to say the least. He has a tremenduous amount of knowledge in the business world, so take him seriously. Dr. Castaldi has so many examples about management or just business in general to make the course move as smoothly as a baby's bottom. Dr. Castaldi concentrated with the subject at hand and didn't get off from, but unfortunately catered to the cute women in class and belittled the rest of us. The text was straight forward, but he may have changed the text for next semester. In that certain amount of time we would go through one to two chapters a day, (remember Castaldi teaches Management 405 every winter the rest of the semesters he teaches mostly Business 690) reason being, it's Winter break. Rick is prepared and you should be too if you want to do well in any class he offers BE PREPARED!