Mike Lambert

I took his class in Fall 2004. First and foremost, this teacher is LOUD to a point it could be interpreted as yelling. However, this is so you will pay attention and will not fall asleep in class. Apart from that, Mike is very organized both in his lectures and materials. He was very funny in the class but only in the beginning. As the materials get intense, so does he. He uses points as his grading system. Do all the assignments and participate in the class and you will earn tons of points.

This class is loaded with assignments and group performances (Capstone). It takes a lot of your time. Before embarking on the Capstone simulation, I strongly suggest you do the tutorials first. It will help you understand how the whole simulation works. Make sure you are with a dedicated and committed group as your Capstone performance measure depends on it. If you are not happy with your members, get out and move to another group when you have the chance. Also, take advantage of the confidential peer reviews. Mike is very helpful during his office hours. He will go over analysis and diagnostics of your Capstone team results if you ask him to.

You will also do presentations. Hint: Make sure you look at him all the time no matter how often you read your presentation cheat sheet. Also, know your topics well because he asks questions.

The book was great easy and non-intimidating to read. Overall, it is a great class with a great professor. I highly recommend him.

Mike likes to be called Mike. Because he's a retired AT&T executive and not an ivory tower PhD, he creates a corporate environment in the classroom. He takes your picture on the first day of class and creates little 3x5 performance records for everyone, just like a real HR department would. Your card has all your grades on it, and you can look at it any time you want. He also uses the cards to get to know everyone, and he's very good with names and faces.

Being a hands-on type of teacher, he lectures very little. You could say he leads the class like a VP would lead a management meeting. There's lots of going around the room and getting people's opinions. He also holds a mock public hearing on a case that pits environmentalists against business. It's very, very interesting!

His grading is not based on tests but instead on a whole bunch of little assignments. You earn your grade mostly in little bites of 2% and 3%. And there's tons of groupwork. The group presentation is a big one, worth 20%.

Mike can appear gruff, but if you look closely, there's always a twinkle in his eye. It's obvious that he loves teaching. He's very respectful of students, and it's not true that he yells at people. What is true is that he expects and even insists that you participate. This is not a class where you can just sit in the back and wait for the bell to ring.

He likes answers to be specific, to the point, and to address the question he poses. This is as true in writing assignments as in class discussion. If you try to BS your way through a question, he'll continue asking you questions til its obvious to everyone that you're just BSing. So if you don't know, just say you don't know.

Mike is an easy-going guy who tries hard to make this "capstone" course meaningful and fun for everyone.

His grading system is based on an accumulation of points. Every point counts, so don't neglect any small writing assignment or any chance to answer his pointed questions thoughtfully/proactively if you want a good grade. The majority of the points come from group projects/research paper/presentation. Fair or not, that's pretty much just the way it is with most, if not all, of these BUS690 classes. Consequently, you do want to try to find good teammates. The computer simulation (which, will cost you $30+ to register) that he's been using is quite interesting, in my opinion.

Mike may look tough, but he really has a nice personality and a good sense of humor. He often asks questions that make students think critically, like a business manager. He cares that students learn something in this final class.

Recommended.

The way Lambert runs BUS690 has changed a lot; evidently in response to student feedback. This semester we ran a computer simulated business and did only a few case studies.

The work load was heavy for this class and required intense group work, but the payoff was that I came away with some valuable experience in writing business plans and doing consulting-type assignments, not to mention the experience of running a cyber business.

With this teacher you will always know what is expected and where you stand grade-wise. He is fair and is more approachable and workable than what he first comes across as in the first few classes.

I found that he really cared about what we learned and got out of the class and he put a lot of energy into making the semester a valuable experience.

Prof. Lambert was an interesting professor. I think he attempted to try to bring a real world atmosphere to class. I think this approach intimidated some people, especially women and non-English speakers. To me he was just funny. I think he thinks his work is more taxing than it really is. I didn't open th ebook after the third class.

He loves to yell at students. Other than that, I don't find the class to be very helpful in getting students to prepare for the business environment. He wouldn't talk about anything that a senior doesn't already know; but he does talk about the old stuff in a different way. Just treat him like your difficult boss and get used to it. You may need that kind of tolerance when you are out of the school anyway. He's a good pratice.

Lambert is very funny and entertaining in class. The class discussions and rolplays are lively. If you do alot of volunteer participation you will get a good grade in this class. I didn't learn a whole lot, but the class was fun, we discussed alot of current events, and he gives feedback throughout the semester. Oh, and you'll spend most of your time in two groups.

Mike Lambert way of teaching government, society and business is ok. It's the same subjects discussions that come over and over again nothing new that you have already learned. He uses small cards with your picture on it to remind him when was the last time you talk in class and then he'll call you all the time if your card is empty. Midterms and final were pretty easy, it was mostly essays. The quizzes sucks and it's a waste of time. This class is supposed to be a seminar where you express your own opinions but he tends to stuff his idea in your head.

Mike comes to class with good intentions and a long history at AT&T. But he's just putting a rubber stamp on the students as they PASS through his class. BUS 690 is supposed to be the capstone of your business education. Instead of being the dam that holds back those students who aren't truly prepared for the real world, Mike treats it as the last speed bump.

If you want and easy way to a passing grade... take Mike Lambert. I got a C with practically no effort. I chose which assignments I wanted to do... and which ones I didn't. Ther really is more to strategic management than you learn from outdated textbooks, but that would be too much work for graduating student, wouldn't it???