James R. Glenn, Jr.

I am also very surprised by some of the negative reviews here. Not sure if these students were even awake in class or frankly participating in the same class that I experienced. Prof Glenn is extremely intelligent and thoughtful in his discourse. Opinionated? Of course he is; this is an ethics class folks. The whole point is to develop, formulate, and express your opinions on ethical matters in a group setting. If you want to get a rubber stamp for just showing up and being liked regardless of the quality of your thinking or your willingness to speak in class, go to a different school or pick a different teacher. But if you're seeking an MBA to actually get value out of the material, take Glenn's class, you won't be dissappointed.

I'm pretty amazed at some of the negative reviews posted here. I guess it goes to show that all of our opinions are subjective.

Personally I found this class to be one of my favorites. Professor Glenn does have his own opinions which he shares with the class but he encourages everyone to offer ideas and opinions and never once did I see him harsh on anyone with an opposing or alternate opinion. In fact I learned a bit from him on how to listen to and respect the full spectrum of opinions. The class did start out a bit strict with admonitions that we would not be able to ask questions about the syllabus after week two. That didn't bother me in the slightest as I've noticed more teachers are putting these types of policies into place. Could they be tired of students asking redundant questions all semester long? Actually thinking back I suspect this might have been a ploy to get the classroom conversation started - a conversation that developed all through the semester.

Regarding the asian bias: I didn't notice one but being a white chick I probably am not the best judge. I did notice that we had a fair representation of asians in the class population. While those students tended to be a bit quieter, I was generally very impressed with the quality of their discourse and wished these students would speak up in class more often.

My favorite thing about this class is the 15 line and 1 page writing limit. Professor Glenn's aim is to get students to think and write intelligently, succinctly and creatively. In my enternal quest to improve my both my research, evaluation and writing skills, this class served my needs perfectly.

The only cristicism I have about the class is that students were permitted to read thier papers from their desks instead of presenting them in front of the class. I would have preferred to see the students present their papers in a professional manner in front of the group.

Overall, I found the professor to be extremely fair, kind, intelligent and helpful. The class isn't easy, there is a fair amount of work, at times the topics are a bit dull but this is definitely a class that you get out what you put into it. I enjoyed the class very much - it was often the highlight of my week.

Glenn is a very competent and nice teacher. I personally enjoyed his class. But he does tend to get a bit boring and goes on and on about certain topics. Going to class and doing homework is a must. He assigns case questions from the book for every weeks lecture and everyone gets called on at least once (you read your answer straight off your paper but it's not collected). For his midterm and final, he hands out a list of perspective questions ahead of time and he picks 2 questions for the test. He also have 2 projects (one individual & one group) where you write out a 2 page paper and you read it straight off the paper in front of the class.

Glenn has a weird grading system. He keeps a 3 1/2 x 5 card for everyone w/ their pictures on it and he writes all your grades on that note card. When you read your case question answers or projects, he gives you a grade immediately after hearing your answer and writes it on the card. So you can always see how well you are doing in his class.

He also gave this semester's class a choice if we wanted to take the final or not. If we chose not to take it, he'll count the final grade the same as what we got on our midterm (so do good on the midterm!!!). But this just may be because of the fact that he was overwhelmed by the extra classes he had to take on this semester. This isn't a hard class, but it does require a lot of work.

Glenn is a good teacher. He cares about the students and puts a lot of effort into the class. He's not perfect though. His politics get in the way a bit and he does like to hear himslef talk but it's generally interesting so I didn't mind. There's a lot of work for the class and you do need to know how to write but I would rather have a challenging class than something simple. This IS grad school, afterall!

Glenn definately has a left wing slant. But I am OK with that, in fact, I was quite pleased that my political ideologies matched up with his and I very much enjoyed wathing him put the smack down on any right wing facists in the class. He would also try to school people that had "illogical opinions" on matters of the facts.

But all that aside, here is the real deal on why Glenn is a brilliant teacher: The way he structures the homework requires you to answer 2 questions on a casestudy in 15 lines which you then read in class. Everyone in class talks and this prevents you from falling asleep in class! You don't need to turn in any work, all you need to do is write a concise answer and read it.

There are a few assignments that you need to turn in, tho not many. The tests are easy cause you have the questions beforehand.

Take Glenn if you are an ethical liberal.

I thought it was a great class and that Prof. Glenn was a great teacher. Going into it, I wasn't real excited to take an ethics class, but it turned out to be my favorite class this semester. For all of the people who wrote comments about being a great writer: that's not necessarily true--he allows you to read your own work so that your grammar/spelling is not exposed unless you speak improperly. The people that have problems with this are international students who do not know the language well enough to be here in the first place. Great class, Greater teacher.

I really wanted to like this class and Prof. Glenn. His attempt at having students try to connect to the course was like attending one of thoses murder mystery dinners. You feel involved, but although you're initially intrigued, you soon find out that you are part of a sophomoric plot. Dr. Glenn insists that you ask questions about the course syllabus the first two weeks only or suffer the consequences. He likes to use a lot of half meaning and innuendo and there are a lot of confusing (and unexplained) abbreviations. Hence the questions. (Col. Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick) His initial warning to international students that "his" class demanded excellent English speaking skills was a clear put down. The amount of money that we pay for our education makes these classes at least partly "ours". Dr. Glenn is very far left of center and likes to carp on liberal themes that would make an environmentalist nervous. If you want to "play the game" and speak to "his" issues, then have at it. Dr. Glenn is very articulate and very intelligent. I respect his educational degrees and hope that with age will come a little humility. His grading is VERY subjective and you can't count on anything. He spends a lot of time trying to confince students that he doesn't look at names when he grades, but I find it hard to believe.

An international student can get at least an A- in Professor Glenn's Bus 784 class because I got one. It did not come cheaply however as this class requires some serious work to get a decent grade. Grades aside, it is a truly unique and rewarding experience in learning for people who are ready to take on challenges that will enrich them, rather than just sit tight and bored in a classroom. The topics he covered in the books were really interesting and the homework he assigned every week was stimulating, except maybe for the group project, not because it had to be done in a group, but because of the assignment's design. The requirement to write no more than 15 lines about any given complex question is intended to help you put dilemmas into focus so that you can present an issue concisely and quickly to an audience. The formula works because at the end of the semester, I felt my writing skills had improved. His class also aims at sharpening your listening skills by making you listen to other students' presentations in class. Although I sometimes disagreed with those opinions, I learned from them and I got to know my classmates. Also, I think Professor Glenn's emphasis on ethics is right on for business students, especially in light of Enron's story. The 2 written exams were very fair. One week before the exams, students were given a set of 10 questions, 2 of which would be on the exam. You could either chose to prepare for them... or not, and take your chances. As for the grading, he used 2 systems. He graded your oral presentations immediately after you finished. That was quick, but the grading method could be perceived as subjective. I believe however that Mr. Glenn, an ethics professor, made every effort to recognize any bias he might have and put it aside so he could evaluate students as fairly as possible. The hardest part was to try to figure out what your answer's weaknesses were when you got a lower grade than expected. I eventually stopped looking at my grades when I got tired of that "what is it?" game and I ended up focussing more on the material and enjoying the class more, which was the purpose of the class anyway. I liked his system of grading the written exams. He asked all the students to use black pens only and handed out exam sheets that had room for the exam on one side and a space for the student's name on the other so they could be anonymous when he graded them. Overall, I think Professor Glenn uses solid teaching and teambuilding/group learning principles in his Bus 784 class, but you need to be prepared to do your homework because he has high standards. In my view, he accomplished what he said he would do at the beginning of the semester. If you are not committed to learning from the class in addition to earning a grade, you might get discouraged by the lack of clear direction in which to focus your efforts. If you are looking for a quick A or if you are having difficulties with written English, this professor may not be for you. I recommend his class because it is a great opportunity to explore some difficult subjects in depth and refine your critical and ethical thinking as well as your writing skills. It is an exercise in balance. As another student said in his review, it is not what you say, as you are not judged on your opinions, but how you say it.

Mr. Glenn has a unique teaching philosophy and system. It is challenging and sometimes uneasy to get used to. He will always listen to your opinions but seldom give his own ideas. You are encouraged to think out of the box but you have to watch the boundaries by your own. One plus of his class is that you have a chance to listen to your classmates' answers and papers all the time and if you are a careful listener you can learn from each other. However, since this class is a very subjective class, his grading is also rather subjective. And as it is not easy to guess his preference, you are much on your own to try to figure out essays that can be maximizely close to his assumed preferences. You can learn many things and skills in his class. But as for the grades, it much depends on your luck.

I could see where students who are not completely fluent in English would struggle in his class. However, in all fairness, Prof. Glenn acknowledges this on the first day, and states that foreign students may wish to acquire more English proficiency before taking his course or try a different professor. A topic such as math might be easier for non-native speakers of English. However, discussions of business ethics require the ability to express abstract concepts, and that can be difficult even for native English speakers.

I personally enjoyed his course. The case studies in the text were interesting, and I enjoyed the discussions between members of the class. The whole point of the class was that there are no right or wrong answers to anything - it was not a class where memorizing notes gets you a good grade.

Glenn gets a solid A. Anyone who thinks he is a bad teacher doesn't get the point of the class. The point is that there is no right or wrong answer to any of his questions. He is just asking for your opinion and for you to justify that opinion. If you don't understand that or if you don't have an opinion on the issues he raises then I feel sorry for you. Good luck as an MBA. You'll need it.

I didn't like Glenn very much because I thought he was too prejudice. If he liked you, it was obvious to the rest of the class. And if he didn't like you, it was really obvious in your grade. The work is based on your opinion and creativity and he doesn't give out A's unless you make some spectacular point IN HIS OPINION. He didn't give feedback on how you did or how to improve your grade.

He gives a lot of homework; there is reading every week and you have to write answers to case questions. He limits you to 15 lines, but you still have to read 2-3 chapters for the week. Most of the assignments were done orally, so foreign students should avoid this guy at all cost - he will grade you down if you don't have perfect English. He encourages class participation, but some students took that to mean they should say anything to get on his good side, even if it was irrelevant. If one student were to monopolize the class, he would not deter this person either.

The exams were horrible. Students submitted potential test questions and he chose ten, then two of the ten were on the exam. Unfortunately, some of the questions were incorrect either grammatically or theoretically and he didn't bother to correct them.

I somewhat liked how prof. Glenn presented material in class. But much of the material was useless and I do not remember most of it. Some of the class time was spent on answering questions from the students about the chapters that were assigned for homework. The rest of the time was devoted to reading the prepared answers for homework questions. I do not know how the class was usefull for me. His grading system pretty much sucks. To get an A you have to write exceptionally well and show ideas that are original. But the questions are based on a material from the book, what original can you write about the book material.

I have completed six courses in the MBA program and this course is by far my favorite. This class was highly interactive and thought provocing. I really enjoyed Professor Glenns teaching style. Not only did we learn from him but we learned from each other. This class helped to improve my writing skills and my ability to think critically. He rewarded students for creativity and original thought, a very different approach to learning from traditional teachers. For as much as I enjoyed this class the one component that made me somewhat uncomfortable was the subjective nature of the grading. I was never sure whether what I was producing would be perceived as creative and original. Also, there wasn't an obvious way to learn what you had done right or wrong or how you could improve your work. Even with this said, I highly recommend Professor Glenn. He really made me think!

He's a tough teacher. Too much works! Really fast in explaining during class lecture. He won't mind leaving you behind even though you're left behind without understanding what he's talking about. Aggresive teacher! But, won't teach you much, I bet! The first day I was in the class, I was amazed of the way he's teaching the class. It was just so fast that I couldn't catch up with the materials and the things he talked in class. After break or end of class, most of students would ask each other to make sure if they don't miss anything during his lecture. He expected a lot of participation even though he couldn't teach and explain the materials well in class.

In order to get a good grade from prof. Glenn, you should have a really excellent writing skill. This professor allows students to answer to a very broad question only within 15 lines. Besides, you should be very creative regarding solutions for a given topic. Every class prof. Glenn calls students and you are supposed to read your answer to the case qeustions, which is also 15 lines. There are one group project, and one individual project, which are both 2 page-long. I would not recommend this class specially to international students and even not to English native students. No one in class got 'A' and only one 'A-' was given.