Mackey, Alison  

This is the first C I have recieved in my entire life. I hope that says something to all of you out there watching their GPA. Do not take him--this class was a nightmare!

Mackey openly admitted in class that she is "anti-social." She even questioned why people like her would be hired for a teaching position (I kid you not). Unfortunately, her teaching ability seems to reflect her negative outlook on her abilities. She presents nothing to the class. Instead, 30% of your grade is based off of class participation on Harvard Business Cases you read the night before(which don't show up on the test). This means everyone throws out statements (no matter if they are coherent) just to get their participation. While this happens, she just calls on hands and contributes nothing. An hour and 45 minutes later of students trying to get their participation and she dismisses you. She'll do absolutely nothing. Then comes the test, which is based completely off of the textbook (which she never references or makes sure anyone understands). So you'll cram and hope that you covered the material from the book that she used on the test. Then when the tests are passed back, whoever complains that they got a question wrong because they didn't understand it will get the points--while the students that didn't miss the question will get no such boost in their grade. Overall, this teacher is unprofessional (won't check e-mails, won't present the topics in class, and tries to avoid controversy by giving better grades to the students that complain). Don't take her! She is a waste-of-time. Meaning, buy her book and study it on your own time, she won't help you.

One of my favorite teachers at Cal Poly. She really understands business strategy and teaches it well. You can tell she is really passionate about the material. If you can work your way through the reasoning behind good and bad business decisions, and make a valiant effort to participate, you wont have any problems. If you take the time to absorb the material, you will realize that this is one of the few classes that you unknowingly apply everyday. If you need 401 take her!!

Pointless class where you have to read and analyze Harvard Business classes in every lecture... participation is 25% of your grade so you must talk in class or she will \"lower your grade\" though I didn\'t talk a whole lot and skipped a couple classes and my grade ended up just fine. Group paper and presentation at the end of teh quarter. No midterms or finals. Take it, it\'s not that hard.

The class is very discussion based. It's best to be familiar with the case study but it is possible to get away with not being an expert on the details if you are genuinely engaged in the discussion. The key to this class is having a really good team you can trust and with some leaders in it that actually get work done. She's a nice person and not a bad professor to take a class from.

Solid professor. The class involved a ton of papers which can be a pain, but she tends to be a very easy grader and just wants students to understand the concepts. I originally did not want to take her because participation is 25% of your grade, but she is very lenient and grades pretty easily on participation as well. The final exam itself was fairly straightforward and very subjective. You need to apply the theories discussed in the essays and class lectures which is not bad at all. She is passionate about what she does and will reward you if you try. Don't hesitate to take her. She is a genuine person and from my impression of her, it seems she just wanted students to understand the concepts.

Mackey is a solid teacher who legitimately cares about her subject and students. I am much in agreement with the comment below. The papers/assignments she gives can be tedious and frustrating but in the end they are great tools for learning the concepts. I would much rather struggle through some of these calculation assignments than memorize terms from a textbook that is essentially intro to marketing on steroids. You get out what you put into this class.