Pendergast, William  

Pendergast was an okay professor. There was a ton of reading material which you need to read before class to be able to participate. Our class had a midterm, final, course workbook, and a group project. His tests covered a lot material, but they were a good assessment of the material discussed. For the group project make sure you go into his office hours to help you. His guidlines are ambiguous, and to get a good grade you need his help. Make sure that you keep up with the reading because it piles up.

He's not great but he's not horrible either. He just doesn't plan ahead very well. Powerpoint presentations are shown too fast, don't even try to take notes, he does email them to you but usually the morning before class or after class (not very helpful). I think for my quarter w/ him he was just learning because half the time I never even received him (many others had the same prob.) He gives you a practice test that is about 100 questions long and takes hours to complete (study w/ a group and break it up)it goes faster. However, he does take 17 questions directly from it and those questions are the test. There are a couple projects as well. He's just kind of a dull teacher with little enthusiam.

I do no recommend Pendergast for International. I feel like this subject has potential to be extremly interesting and i dreaded going to this boring class. there was a lot of reading every night and class consisted of him talking very slowly for 2 hours about nothing. VERY BORING!!! there were 2 impossible midterms which literally everyone failed and he curved 40%. This class was a joke. He is a really nice teacher just doesnt know how to teach. I recommend taking this class with someone that has enthusiasm and is fun to listen to.

If you have to suffer through this class, make sure you participate enough that he knows and likes you. Pros: it's not difficult material, if you force yourself to pay attention in class; a lot of this comes in handy in econ classes; he's a nice--if incredibly boring--guy. Cons: Just staying awake in class is an incredible feat. The group project is total busy work, and the tests are pretty much subjective; he had to go back after we got our grades and explain what he meant by certain questions (this bad communication, however, did not change the format of the next exam or our grades). He's a good guy, has lots of international management experience (get him talking about Bosnia or East Germany, he really enjoys that)...he's just not great at teaching or getting us to see why he loves his work so much or why we should love it.

If you have to suffer through this class, make sure you participate enough that he knows and likes you. Pros: it's not difficult material, if you force yourself to pay attention in class; a lot of this comes in handy in econ classes; he's a nice--if incredibly boring--guy. Cons: Just staying awake in class is an incredible feat. The group project is total busy work, and the tests are pretty much subjective; he had to go back after we got our grades and explain what he meant by certain questions (this bad communication, however, did not change the format of the next exam or our grades). He's a good guy, has lots of international management experience (get him talking about Bosnia or East Germany, he really enjoys that)...he's just not great at teaching or getting us to see why he loves his work so much or why we should love it.

Steer clear. He is just a mess. I haven't even taken the first midterm, but no one has any idea what could possibly be on it. Everyone is sort of laughing because failure is inevitable. His lecture is just a rambling nonsense that isn't worth taking notes on. We think the tests are coming from the book--its hundreds of pages of readings. I am sure there are more inspiring and interesting lecturers for 302.

boring. there is one midterm and a final. You are assigned a team and you have to do two analyses on a country using the Hofstede Value Dimensions. A TON of reading. If you want to learn more than hofstede value dimensions take another professor...don't get me wrong, he is nice, but very repetitive.

this is one of the most boring classes I have taken at Poly, which is a shame, because it has the potential to be an great class....2 group presentations (one on cultural values of an assigned country and another on basically whatever your group wants), a midterm, final, and a workbook which is busywork at its finest. and i don't want to be mean because it could be some kind of medical condition, but he clears his throat really loud like every other sentence and it gets REALLY annoying. maybe if he had some more interesting things to talk about I wouldn't notice it as much... avoid this class, it's useless.

Pendergast is an amazing man who has experienced the world like most of us could on dream about. He has so much knowlegde on the subject, unfortunately he's just not very good at presenting it. His clas is very dull and consists of him ready very slowly and quietly of random powerpoints. Study the cases, articles, and powerpoints before the exams and you should get a decent grade. Just don't expect to get a lot of valueable information out of this class. I actually took him for Bus 303 and 302. I preferred 302- a little more interesting. The group presentations are cool because you learn some interesting facts about the business world in other countries. Dispite his teaching ability, Pendergast is an amazing person who is more than willing to help you out. I had to interview someone for another class and he was more than willing to help me out. I can't emphasize enough how much knowledge he has, so if you have any questions about international business, contact him and just sit and talk with him for a while. You'll get more out of that than you will out of this class unfortunately.

Great teacher! P is awesome, class got boring at some points but overall it was a pretty easy class. There is a lot of cases and articles to read but they are interesting and not too bad.

Terrible. Worst class I have taken in over 240 units at Cal Poly. Tests are beyond simple, don't even study. The lectures are so painful you will want to rip your ears off. Seems like he could be doing a better job, but he doesn't. Frayne is supposed to be amazing for the international support, try to get into her class. Avoid him at all costs.

He is very nice, knowledgable and experienced in his field. Some of my friends got upset in the class and said he was boring. How can you be boring if you have worked on six continents, started business schools in the former soviet union and been a dean at a few places? I also found that he is witty, kind and willing to help. I loved him. But then again, I am and IB major and I get it. I really wish the other majors who just have to take something would stick to their own concentration because the only thing international about them is the food they get after being drunk downtown and they go to taco bell, dude. Pendergast is amazing. Drunk assholes, why don\'t you take accounting?

Very bland course for how much interesting information is taught. Your performance doesn\'t really matter in the class, his grades are almost all around the B+ area for EVERYTHING. So if you do well on the tests, you should get an A. The class was exceptionally boring. The homework booklet, as it has been said before, is the definition of busy work. Tests are heavily based off of slides and cases, so it is easy to do alright on them. If you can stay awake, you\'ll do alright!

The workbook for this class was the straw that broke the camel\'s back for me. I have never submitted a comment on this website before, but I just had to warn people about it. I think I am learning almost nothing and wasting a lot of time with the workbook. If you are OK with easy work, and don\'t care about having a challenge then this class is for you, otherwise I would not recommend it.

302 was not particularly hard, but the lectures were quite boring and you must read the articles and cases before class in order to participate. Study the PowerPoint slides for the midterm and final - know the Hofstede scores and what they mean! The workbook is easy, but it is 10% of the grade so don\'t leave it all until the last minute. Know the PowerPoint slides and the tests are not too hard.

Pendergast is an extremely interesting man. He has started two international business schools, traveled the world over, and genuinely cares about what he teaches. He sometimes comes off as a little dry, but it is pretty a intriguing subject. There is a lot of reading, but most articles are interesting so it never is too bad. The Midterm isn\'t that hard, as he tells you mostly whats on it. I\'d suggest taking the class, maybe even getting to know Pendergast. He\'s pretty genuine and you can tell he cares for his students and how they perform.

If you only have an hour to live, take Pendergast\'s class because it feels like eternity.

Dr. Pendergsst was great. He has so much knowledge and he actually DID what he talks about. The class is mixed with lectures, exercises, short cases. He gives exams which are okay IF you study and not wait until the last minute like I did. I never really thought about other cultures, I guess I always thought that everything was American or Western. Not only did this class make me re-think all of my education, it made me wish I had declared International as my concentration. Actually, I did but then I was told that I had to pick one concentration because our Dean had made a decision that all Business majors could only have one major. I picked another concentration and now I find out that we can\'t get jobs either. I would strongly suggest you take Dr. Pendergast and think about the world view. He has it. And for other courses, I hear Geringer, Frayne and actaully all the International electives are good except the Marketing course. And to Dr. Pendergast, thank you.

Solid teacher. The material is very straightforward. Concentrate on understanding the slides and keeping up with the reading. Though the class lectures may seem boring, hang in there because all other aspects of the class are straightforward and simple enough. The tests are all multiple choice and require memorization to succeed. Make sure to review the readings and understand the main concept behind the readings before the exam.

The material for this class is interesting but he reads directly off of his slides making it the most boring class ever. His tests are really specific so study everything. He curved our final grades 5%.

This class consisted of two noncumulative midterm exams, two group projects (including one presentation), and assignments in a workbook that you must submit at the end of the quarter. For the exams, mainly focus on the slides. Also, there's also a lot of reading involved in the class, so I would recommend at least skimming and knowing all of the articles and case studies. The course material is really interesting, but Pendergast can be a little bland. It's still a really interesting class and I learned a lot of information that will be useful when doing business in our globalizing world.

Good: Pendergast is a good teacher and he is more than qualified for this course. The material is interesting and very applicable for international - even domestic - business. There are two projects (easy) and the tests are not difficult IF you keep up with all of the reading. Bad: The class is do-able, but a lot more difficult if you don't keep up with the readings. There are several cases and a whole lot of articles. Participation/attendance is 30% of the grade so it helps to be able to talk about the articles and cases in class. Coursepack for sale: slo.craigslist.org/bks/3852290281.html

Not too bad of a class overall. He definitely knows the material very well. His lectures are extremely broad and it is hard to know what information to focus on. Therefore, the study guides don

I have only taken the first midterm but would like to warn students registering to NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. The last class I attended included only 10 students (note it is a 65 person class) because it is so worthless. He is so boring and the tests are ridiculous!! DO NOT TAKE!!

I was worried about this class in the beginning - Pendergast doesn't exactly give a clear idea of what to expect for the tests. However, I ended up with an A in the course, so here is my best advice: the book isn't very useful - in fact, I only used it to read the cases. if you want to do well on tests, keep your focus on these three things: cases, articles, slides. read through all the slides, have main points for the cases and articles, and you should be perfectly fine, considering he usually curves anyways. also, show up to class the day before the exam, because he will give you some hints on things you may want to particularly focus on. another thing: while the syllabus says that participation is 20% of your grade, don't let that scare you - i showed up to 50% of the classes and rarely ever participated (in fact, usually i was doing crosswords or reading other books), and that didn't seem to effect my grade. SO... don't let this class get you nervous. just do as i did, and you should be fine. pendergast is a friendly guy and he's not out to get you.

The class is really easy. I didn\'t pay attention at all and got an A. For the midterm and the final make sure to study the slides on blackboard and you will do good. You don\'t need to buy the book or read any of the articles. Participation counts for 20 percent, but he gave everyone in the class 88.75 of the 20% so you don\'t have to answer any questions. Make sure that you do good for the simulation in the class, which counts for another 20%.

To start off with Pendergast is a really interesting guy, he has traveled all over the world and actually lived the International Business life. He's pretty smart but honestly one of the most boring classes I have ever taken in my entire life. I can't really hate on him though because the class was not time consuming by any means and when asked for help he was always there to help. His class is based 20% each on participation, company simulation, two midterms, and a group paper. Participation you start off with a B and work your way up just make sure he knows your name and it will, simulation if your a business major figure it out your going to run a company someday anyways, the group paper hopefully you sat down next to not slackers the first day of class he doesn't grade too hard its mostly on the paper not the presentation, the two midterms will be curved because you probably don't remember much from the lectures. The midterms are based on articles, cases and slides. Weekly articles? NEXT JOKE I never read a single one starting day one he puts them up in slide form later anyways. Cases? I wish I didn't buy the book I didn't open it once they get turned into slide form also. He gives out a study guide just flip through the slides and do it and you'll get passable enough to pull off your A. Also do well on IB jeopardy that is extra credit, and he tells you ahead of time the exact number of questions from which section so you can base what you need to study on. Great guy had important things to teach, that comment below saying an hour left to die it feels like an eternity? true completely, take this guy its not time consuming.

well for the most part BP was on okay teacher. His lectures however were extremly boring and he has a very monotone voice so its hard to pay attention to an already boring subject. the workload isnt to bad theres 2 midterms one project and a global simulation challenge. The midterms arent too bad, although everyone did terribly on it sk he curved it and then he ended up making the 2nd one way easier. And hes a pretty chill grader when it comes to the projects and the global simulation. Also attendance and oarticipation are 20% of the grade so make sure to be there almost every day and try to ay least talk every once in a while. Overall the class is really boring but he actually isnt that bad its a pretty easy to course to get a B in and with some good effort an A is easily attainable.

this class is very easy if you keep up with the readings, but the way he lectures is awful, he goes on long tangents all the time that often don't really relate to what he's teaching and won't be on the test, his voice and lecturing style are also just extremely boring, the study questions are annoyingly hard to answer as well because of how ambiguous his powerpoint slides can be (fragmented sentences for days) if you aren't filling in the gaps by writing down every damn thing he says in class, relevant or not (most often not.) but he's a fairly chill dude, curves the 1st midterm like no other

Pendergast is the man, I just finished his class for Fall 2013 and can say I benefitted from his expertise in intl. business. I would say that his class is straight forward if you are passionate or at least optimistic about the topic. His lectures are generally dry and can be very long. He gives out study questions every week which cumulate to represent the midterm and then the final. I memorized/understood the study questions and got A's on the midterm and final - it was evident that people struggled on his exams and I think it is because nobody took it seriously. There was only a handful of people that got A's in the class (a lot of B's and C's). If you approach the class with the intention of actually keeping up on the readings, PAYING ATTENTION/TAKING NOTES IN CLASS, and spending the time to work through his study questions you will excel and more importantly learn a lot.

Professor Pendergast is very knowledgeable in the field of international business and is very qualified to teach the course. Instead of using a textbook he gives us articles to read that we can relate immediately to the material we learn. READ THE ARTICLES, they are all very interesting, relevant, and most importantly, SHORT. That being said, BUS303 is a course that is unfortunately too long for a 2day/week class in a quarter system. With only two midterms, you can bet that there will be a lot of material crammed into each of them. A lot of people found Professor Pendergast's lectures were hard to follow, but you have to give him credit for being able to cram all that info into each class. He also gives you powerpoints to review off of (since lectures won't cover everything), which was honestly not very organized and purposely left incomplete for you to solve. But he was very understanding with grading. Most people failed the first midterm so he gave everyone a HUGE curve. He also realized that we didn't have time to cover a whole section in class so instead of forcing us to learn it ourselves for the last midterm, he just took it out. (He also gave out a study guide that was an exact replica of our midterm so shame on you if you did poorly.) Pendergast emails out a list of grades with everyone's student ID's so we can see how the rest of the class did. It looks like a lot of people struggled on the midterms, probably because they never showed up to class, but the MAJORITY of the class got a B or better, only 4 A's and only a few C's,nothing lower. So this class is definitely an easy B and might take a little bit of work for an A but impossible to fail.

Participation is 20% of your grade, so just talk in class and make sure he knows your name. His tests cover a lot of material. The first one, everyone ended up failing, so he curved it. The second one, he gave out all the questions ahead of time. Just memorize and study the material. Also go into office hours to have him help you on your group project and you will probably get an A on it if you do what he tells you.

BUT DOES ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THE COUGHING THO.

Looks like George Bush.

Instead of bringing your case study book from the book store, bring your pillow to class. Last but not least, i don't know how else to put this but, STOP THE DAMN COUGHING. TY

Overall: This class was easy yet frustrating and a waste of time because Pendergast doesn't know how to engage the class in his lectures. He's very redundant and VERY hard to follow thus resulting in people not showing up to class and not paying attention. I still attended class cause I felt bad since he seems like a nice person and hoped to get a good participation grade but he ended up giving everyone an 85+/100 when more than half the class didn't show up the whole quarter. For both our midterm and final he gave us the questions to the tests and all we had to do was find the answers and memorize. You didn't need to attend class OR read the articles OR read those long a** case studies to have passed the tests. I collabed with a group on google docs to divide the questions since there were 100 of them and that helped a lot. He curved the midterm by 17 points and the final by 9 and I got B+ on both. I wasted A LOT of time reading articles and case studies before the midterm as a safety net just in case he would have never gave us the questions to the test. Group project was easy. Just read a case study and present it. I was really excited to take this class thinking I would actually learn something since I was interested in international business but I learned very little and I would have much rather preferred to read a book if he had one so I can know wtf is going on just a little :( I didn't mind that it was easy though :) For final grades: Mostly everyone got B's , a handful of A's and like 2 C's. Nothing below a C Grading Scale: 20% Participation, 20% group project, 30% midterm, 30% final Bottom line: take this class for easy A or B but won't learn anything

STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS!!!!!! Wow this was literally the worst class I've ever been at at Cal Poly. You will be bored out of your mind. Pendergast has a hard time engaging his students and is not a good teacher. He is a really nice guy and I feel bad for this negative feedback but honestly he should just retire or travel... The way the class worked: Team project, 2 exams. He gave out a massive test bank and pulled out questions from there. Sounds easy? WRONG. He created all those questions and you'll have trouble finding the answers even with all of the material laid out in your face and with google. Our class created a google doc filling out all the answers together and no one got an A. He'll probably curve the exams though... Good luck if you're enrolled with him, I heard he only teaches for fun during fall quarters

Not gonna lie, Pendergast was a total snooze-fest. Worst part is that you have to attend a pointless lecture just to show you're there. It helps if you have other things to do, like homework from a different class. He doesn't do attendance, BUT he does notice if you're there or not and he will dock participation points if he knows you ditch a lot. That was what bumped me down from an A to a B+. You'd think his midterms would be easy A+ all the time considering he gives you the test questions BEFORE the test, but it's really not. His questions can be worded weirdly and can be answered by two different responses. He always has a bunch of options as answers, like a) a, b, c; b) b, c, d; c) a, c, e; d) none of the above. AND THIS SUCKS, because it can be so hard to figure out which ones are the right ones. He literally needs students to point out flaws in his questions for him to realize there's a problem. It helps to get the whole class in on a big Google Doc to answer the questions together, BUT beware that some people may be putting down the wrong answer as correct. I mean, it's easy to get a B on the midterms, but getting the A's is the hard part. His slides are long as hell, and you don't need to follow along in class AT ALL. You only need the slides for when you wanna reference them for the midterm questions.

Extremely nice guy and articulate lecturer. I would reccomend any Business student take him if your at all interested in international business and/or consulting.

Basically class is 25% participation, 25% midterm, 25% final, and 25% group project case update. Both midterm and Final are short answer and completely subjective. His grading is random and impossible to figure out. I think he might be under pressure to keep grades evenly spread because of grade inflation or something because the high was a 91 on midtern and 89 on final. He curves slightly, but it didnt really reflected in final course grade. He is a great prof as far as in class lectures and so forth, and has excellent experience overseas, but because of his completely subjective grading system he wears a target for student complaints about grades. His particpation score is not kept daily so it leaves room for huge errors, and major mistakes on student grades. However, I would recommend him for a professor since his class was worth the time. Just have fun playing Russian Roulette with your grade. His spreadsheet showed I think 5 grades that were A or A-.

Taking this instructor is like being in a Twilight Zone episode. You just can