BCOR 4003: Senior Seminar in Management

Review Tips for Exam

Simply put, the reason for having an exam in this class is to help ensure that everyone is familiar with the readings, and thus able to contribute to class discussion and the group project. As this course is about integration and higher-level analysis, my goal in writing the exam is to hit the key issues and foundations of each book, rather than fixating on details and nuances, while still making sure the exam is rigorous enough to ensure that everyone is familiar with the material.

To accomplish this goal, the exam will consist of a moderate number (6) of modestly broad questions. Three of these questions will be somewhat more focused, generally requiring an explanation of a key concept or idea (e.g., “What are the key elements of a Firm of Endearment,” or “What is the key theme behind Pink’s “sense” of Design”?) These questions will be worth 10 points each, and should be answered in a short paragraph (or, often, with an outline answer). The remaining three questions will require somewhat more in-depth answers consisting of a couple paragraphs, and will be worth 15 points each. An example might be, “In his article, Alderfer suggests there are three stages in an organizational diagnosis. What are these three stages, and what are the key activities (in general) for each?” Therefore the whole exam will be worth 75 points (or 25% of the points in the course); that suggests you might want to allow approximately one minute per point that a question is worth (i.e., 10 minutes for planning, writing and reviewing for the 10-point questions).

Perhaps the most important advice I can give you is to think through your answer before you start writing, and then review your answer after you have written it, in both cases to make sure you (1) understand the question, and (2) have actually answered it (and all of it!) I emphasize the last point because many of the questions have multiple sub-parts, and you don’t want to have answered only some of them.

Since we have spent considerable time in class presentations exploring the nuances of the Pink book, I am going to give less emphasis to it than to the Firms of Endearment book. I’d roughly guess 60% from FoE, 30% from WNM (including the presentations, copies of which are available on the course website), and 10% from class mini-lectures and other readings (also available on the course website.) In all cases, remember that I am looking for your understanding (not just recollection) of key concepts and themes; I am not going to test your memory of long lists of details, nor the nitty-gritty specifics of which companies are doing what.

If you wish, you may bring with you to the exam no more than 10 pages of notes to jog your memory. You should also bring a pen or pencil, whichever you find more legible; I will supply the exam with adequate space for answers, so there’s no need for a blue book. Laptops (or phones, PDAs, etc.) may NOT be used for your notes or to compose the exam, unless I have written documentation of them being needed as reasonable accommodations.