Assignment: FINDING TOPIC AND ARTICLE
Choosing a Good Topic
• First, consider complex topics from the text-ones that have many subtopics-such as social trends in the workplace, leadership, politics in organizations, health issues, group dynamics, cross-cultural workplace issues, problems and opportunities for newcomers/older workers/expatriates, job performance and how to enable/evaluate it, motivating employees in difficult times, organizational culture and its effects, organizational change, communicating in the workplace, diversity or other topics that deal with employees' attitudes, perceptions and/or behaviors.
• Second, narrow down possible topics to ones that you have some opinion about before beginning your search for articles, so you will have your own ideas to consider in addition to those presented in possible articles.
For example, maybe you liked the topic of diversity in the workplace because you experienced something similar in a recent internship, or you read about it, or discussed it with friends, etc. Thus, finding an article on, say, "managing diversity" would be good because a) you have an interest in the topic already, b) you could tie the article to a number of topics related to diversity that we discussed in class or that are discussed in our textbook (i.e., challenges to managing diversity or organizational practices), and c) it is likely that you have opinions regarding this topic because of your prior experiences.
STRUCTURING YOUR PAPER
Use the following seven HEADINGS to structure your paper:
(AND INCLUDE THOSE IN THE PAPER!!!)
1. MY INFORMATION
Put your Name and MGT 301-section number (stated on the syllabus) on top of the first page.
2. ARTICLE SOURCE
Next, provide the reference(s) to your source article(s) in APA 6th style. Below please find guidelines, online tools, and examples that help you with formatting your reference(s).
o Only here: list the reference(s) of the article(s) you are analyzing = source article(s).
o List any other reference(s) you use under the heading "7. Reference(s)" (see below).
3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Under this heading, provide a brief overview or review of the overall article. That is, summarize the article's content in no more than one developed paragraph (i.e., an executive summary).
4. THESIS
In 1-3 sentences, clearly state how the article applies to an OB topic and/or its subtopics. In other words, what is the general theme of the article, what are the main ideas expressed in the article?
o For example, ask yourself what the article "is about": Does it discuss job satisfaction across generations, motivating employees after mergers, achieving work-life balance for working mothers, handling abusive supervisors, team building for virtual teams, leading in startup companies or non-profit organizations, or business ethics and bribery issues in sales jobs?
o Aim to be concise by crafting a thesis statement that is short and to the point (typically, your thesis statement should not be longer than 3 sentences long). In addition to stating the thesis of your paper, you may also include your own opinions of the article/topic in the thesis statement (or you can do this later in the paper).
5. ANALYSIS
Then, for the majority of the body paragraphs, analyze, or break the article down into components showing how the article applies to the topic/subtopics you have chosen. The analysis part is the main part of the paper ¾ consequently, this is where you should spend most of your time and energy (plus, this is where you can get the most points). This part should roughly take up more than half of your paper. Here are some points you want to reflect on before starting to write:
o "Analysis refers to the ability to break down material into its component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. This may include the identification of the parts, analysis of the relationships between parts, and recognition of the organizational principles
involved." (Dabbagh, n.d.). In other words:
This assignment is about ANALYSIS, not description.
o In order to help you with this part, please see the remarks and Analysis Worksheet below.
6. CONCLUSION
Finally, what are your opinions and conclusions regarding the article/topic? For example, you may critique the author's arguments, point out problematic issues with the article, play devil's advocate, or bring up ideas not addressed adequately by the article. To get started, you might want to ask yourself the following questions:
o What do you think is important about the article/the topic/the presented arguments?
o Do you have any thoughts or comments that a reader should consider in addition to what is discussed in the article?
o Can you speculate how the issue(s) discussed in the article may develop in the future?
o What is the overall take away or conclusion from your analysis of the article's content?
7. REFERENCE(S)
List any reference(s) other than those to the article(s) you analyzed (= source article/s) here in APA 6th style. For example, the complete reference for our OB text book is:
o Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., & Wesson, M. J. (2017). Organizational behavior: Improving performance and commitment in the workplace (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Article: Positive organizational behavior: Longitudinal effects on subjective well-being by Kathrin Heinitz1, Timo Lorenz, Daniel Schulze, Julia Schorlemmer.