As Seen on YouTube: Virginia Tech Favorite

Professor Christopher Neck takes an unconventional approach to teaching management theory: He uses music and personal stories

by Kristen Fiani

Christopher Neck
Virginia Tech

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BusinessWeek asked business undergrads to tell us about their favorite professors. Here's another installment in the series.

Compare the résumés of most top business professors and they're likely to look very similar. You'll find some impressive degrees from equally impressive universities, a smattering of awards, and a laundry list of research they've completed and companies where they've worked. But how many include "star of popular YouTube video" on their list of achievements? Most likely only one: Christopher Neck, professor of management theory at Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.

At the end of each semester, Neck serenades his students with a customized version of the Sugar Hill Gang classic Rapper's Delight. The lyrics change every time to include names of current students and any memorable experiences from class. Neck says his performance has improved over the years, but an aspiring hip-hop artist he's not. He's doing it for the students. "It's a powerful way to give them a send-off," he says. "They tape it on their cell phones and post it on YouTube. Once the clip reached 9,000 views, I told them to get a hobby."

Neck's intense passion for teaching and for his students comes across loud and clear in the time and effort he puts into planning and presenting topics in class each day. His attentive nature is one of the main reasons that students at Pamplin voted Neck their favorite professor in BusinessWeek's 2006-2007 survey of undergraduate business students. "He is an outstanding speaker and influential role model," commented one student in the survey. "He teaches not only about business but about how it affects your life as an individual."

In Times of Trouble

Neck's close connection with his students had its biggest challenge in the spring of 2007, when a gunman killed 32 people on the Blacksburg campus before committing suicide. Neck says that, following the tragedy, he canceled his final exam but allowed any students who wanted—about 10% of the class—the opportunity to take a "condensed" final to improve their grade. No students faced having grades lowered by taking the final.

"I basically told the students that grades were secondary in this situation and that I'd work with the entire class to help us get through this," he says. "I spent more time with students during the final three weeks of the semester than I think I ever have via phone calls, meetings, online—dealing with grades, personal issues, etc."

Neck estimates that half of the 1,000 students in his management theory and leadership practice section are from outside of the business school. Communications majors are required to take the course, and it has become a popular elective among engineering majors. Neck has found that his unconventional approach to covering the material appeals to a diverse crowd. "I'm very fortunate to have students who appreciate me trying different things in the classroom," he says. "They are willing to let me take chances and aren't just focused on the next test."

Management Through Music

Often, the chances Neck takes are in the form of music. Once a semester, he invites a local band to perform for the students for a lesson on teamwork. "We break down the performance in terms of management, since a band is a planned, team effort," Neck says. The students also analyze nonverbal communication after watching an a cappella group, whose members cue each other without words. "I try to do things to engage the students and make it relevant to them," he says. "My goal is that 10 years from now, they remember what we did in class, not what the final test covered."