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MGT 301-N2 – ARTICLE ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT LAST UPDATED MARCH 22, 2016

Assignment Overview What is this assignment about? Find and analyze an article in the mass media to which you can apply concepts and theories from your MGT 301 Organizational Behavior (OB) course.

Why do I assign this to students in MGT 301? The spirit of this assignment is to bring OB theories and concepts “alive” — that is, to make the point that what we discuss in class has real-world implications. How should I complete this assignment? First, find an article in a newspaper, magazine, etc., that deals with a topic that a) interests you and b) is related to organizational behavior issues. Then, write a paper in which you:

1) provide a brief summary of the article; 2) demonstrate how it applies to OB-related topics, theories and concepts; and

3) draw some conclusions of your own.

How should I write the paper? Please find guidelines for structuring your paper on page 4 of this handout. When is my paper due? Your paper is due on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. Please note that this assignment is worth 125 points (i.e., 12.5% of your final grade).

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.

è 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.

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Possible Topic Sources In order to find a topic, consider doing the following:

§ Read the MGT 301 textbook’s table of content and glossary § Flip through the MGT 301 textbook or other OB textbooks in the library § Read the Wall Street Journal or other newspapers, watch business news shows or listen to public

radio (e.g., “Marketplace” on WYSO, 91.3 FM, M-F 6:30-7:00 p.m., or www.marketplace.org) § Flip through some of the sources that are listed below § Talk to a reference librarian at Roesch library (they often have good ideas for writing papers) § Talk to friends/parents/etc. who work and find out what they think would be worthwhile pursuing § Still no idea and getting desperate? Come and talk with me!

Choosing a Good Article • The article should be a longer one (at least a 1,000 words long), so that you will have some materials

to work with. It is a good idea trying to find a “feature” piece (= a longer story in a newspaper, magazine, trade or academic journal). You may use more than one article—however, if you use several short articles make sure that they are related to an overarching topic or theme.

• Make sure that the source of the article is a credible one! In other words, choose a source with credibility (e.g., the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times). Materials from “RealFishyInc.com,” “Dubious.org,” etc., that you accidentally found while surfing the Internet are not eligible.

< Contact me or a librarian if you have any questions or doubts about the credibility of your chosen source. Please note that a Research Guide for this assignment is available at http://libguides.udayton.edu/kiewitz .

• In general, the article should not be older than 5 years. If you find something that is older and you think it is valid (there are classics out there that still hold water) talk to me first before using it.

• Please do not use articles we used in class (but feel free to use them as supplements to your article).

Possible Article Sources For starters, consider some of the following sources (also see: http://libguides.udayton.edu/c.php?g=15232&p=83032): Business publications:

§ BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, HR Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Workforce, T+D (= Training + Development Magazine), etc.

Newspapers: § Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Asia Times, Christian

Science Monitor, Investor’s Business Daily, Washington Post, etc. Magazines:

§ Economist, New Yorker, Newsweek, US News & World Report, Time, Wired, Slate, etc. Business trade press outlets:

§ Anything of interest to you … however, please use good judgment (or run those sources by me) before proceeding …

Many of these publications are available through the EBSCO (e.g., Business Source Complete or Academic Search Complete) and LEXIS-NEXIS (e.g., LexisNexis Academic - Business) databases, which you can access from the following library webpage: http://flyers.udayton.edu/search/m?SEARCH=Business+and+Economics&Submit2=Search .

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PAPER REQUIREMENTS

Form of Paper § Layout: See general instructions in the syllabus and the checklist (1” margins, 1.5 lines, stapled, etc.). § Length: In the past, students have submitted papers that were on average 3½ to 5 pages long. Please

note that I look for and evaluate content, not length.

Copy of the Article itself § Please turn in a hard copy of the article to me in class (but not on Isidore).

Submissions: 2x in class (paper & article) and 1x Isidore (paper)

Wednesday, April 13, 2016:

2 Submit 1) a hard copy of your paper and 2) a copy of the article in class. Make sure the paper includes a reference to the article’s source and is formatted correctly (see checklist at the end of this handout). If you are going to miss class that day, have one of your classmates turn in both the paper and the article or drop them off by sliding them under my office door (MH 711).

< Submit an electronic version of your paper only to Isidore. Use the filename protocol shown below. It is important that you stick to this naming protocol because it helps me uploading your papers to the Turnitin.com service without complications (please know that both *.doc and *.docx MS Word formats are fine).

[your last name]_[your first initial]_SP2016_Analysis.docx Example: Kiewitz_C_SP2016_Analysis.docx

I Do not submit an electronic version of the article to Isidore — instead, give me a hard copy in class.

J Academic Honesty This is not a team-based project and should be completed on your own. To ensure compliance with UD/SBA policies (e.g., http://www.udayton.edu/business/advising/student_resources/student_policies.php) on academic dishonesty, I will submit a copy of your paper to the www.turnitin.com service so to protect students from misuses of their work.

– INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS –

This document, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including but not limited to scanning, photographing, copying, uploading, or other electronic methods,

without the prior written permission of the instructor, Dr. Christian Kiewitz.

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STRUCTURING YOUR PAPER

Use the following 1.-7. 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 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 ⎯ 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.)1. In other words:

1 Dabbagh, N. (n.d.). Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive domain. Retrieved from http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/bloomstax.htm.

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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. (2015). Organizational behavior: Improving

performance and commitment in the workplace (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

I For what to do when you mention works in the text of your paper or quote from sources, see

the section on “IN-TEXT CITATIONS in APA 6th Style” below.

ARTICLE SOURCES and REFERENCES in APA 6th Style

APA 6th Style: GUIDELINES & TOOLS

• APA Formatting and Style Guide: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

o Formatting Guidelines for Electronic Sources (web publications):

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

o http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/cite/qutcite.jsp

o APA Classroom Poster Purdue OWL APA Classroom Poster

• UD Libraries’ Guide to Citing Sources:

o Roesch Citing Sources: General: http://libguides.udayton.edu/citingsources

o Roesch Citing Sources: APA Style http://libguides.udayton.edu/c.php?g=15325&p=83393

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o Tool for formatting references in APA 6th style:

o http://citationmachine.net/ (Note. Son of Citation Machine is a commercial product.)

Examples: ARTICLE SOURCES and REFERENCES SECTIONS

Citing a Newspaper article you found in a print copy:

o Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pages.

o Example: Miller, C. C., Perlroth, N. (2014, March 6). Yahoo’s in-office policy aims to bolster morale. The New York Times, pp. B1, B2.

Citing a Magazine article you found in a print copy:

o Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume, pages. o Example: Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

à Note: If the magazine has no volume number, only insert the pages numbers after the magazine’s name: Example: Dominus, S. (2014, March 31). Is giving the secrets to getting ahead? The New York Times Magazine, 20-27, 36-38, 46.

Citing a Newspaper or Magazine article you found online (website or database):

o Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper or Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

o Example: Dominus, S. (2014, April 2). Helpful workplace hints from the world’s most helpful guy. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/helpful-workplace-hints-from-the-worlds-most- helpful-guy/?ref=susandominus

Citing a journal article you retrieved from a website or database:

o Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page range. Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/ à Note: If the article has a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) assigned, use format below: § Citing a journal article with Digital Object Identifier (DOI) link assigned:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page range. doi:0000000/000000000000 (or http://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000 if you want word processors to automatically recognize the DOI as a hyperlink).

§ Example: Barney, J., & Felin, T. (2014). What are microfoundations? Academy of Management Perspectives, 27, 138-155. doi:10.5465/amp.2012.0107 (or insert http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amp.2012.0107 as the DOI link)

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Citing a Non-periodical Web Document, Web Page, or Report:

o Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://Web address

o Example: Dabbagh, N. (n.d.). Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive domain. Retrieved from http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/bloomstax.htm.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS in APA 6th Style

Basics: IN-TEXT CITATIONS (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/): In your paper, feel free to use a simplified version of the author-date method for in-text citation:

• Simply list the 1st author’s last name and the year of publication for the source in the text – such as (Jones, 1998) – unless you directly quote the material.

• If you directly quote the material, include the page number: (Jones, 1998, p. 14). o If your source material does not have page numbers, simply use the (Jones, 1998) format.

• Simply refer or quote our OB textbook as: (Colquitt, 2015) or (Colquitt, 2015, p. 206).

Examples: IN-TEXT CITATIONS (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/):

If you are directly quoting from a work, include the page number (“p. 123”) in the reference: According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199). Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?

If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation. She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

HOW TO TACKLE THE ANALYSIS PART

Suggestion for how to approach the Analysis Part of this Assignment

While there are many ways to analyze the content of an article you found, you might find it difficult to complete the analysis portion of the assignment. If so, consider working through the steps outlined below, which are meant to help you identify and examine links to OB theories and/or concepts.

Identifying Linkages

I. Read & Find. As a first step, skim the article and try to identify links or connections to OB theories and/or concepts. Then, go through the article a second time and mark up the passages that contain the links to OB materials in the article.

II. Evaluate. Next, you need to evaluate whether a specific link you identified provides you with enough source material to write about in your paper. Ask yourself whether the information provided in the article sufficient to a) establish one or more clear connections and b) discuss the connection(s) in a meaningful way?

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Not sure whether an article provides sufficient information? In general, if the source material allows you only to speculate that there “might” be a connection and nothing more, you probably do not have a solid basis for developing meaningful arguments (e.g., the link is alluded to, implied, mentioned in a tangential way, etc.). In other words, if you have to “read into” the contents of the article too much in order to establish links, the article might be not optimal for this assignment. (By the way, if you have any doubts or questions, please do not hesitate to discuss the appropriateness of the article with me.)

I. Annotate & Analyze. In this part, first gather information about the theory or concept to which you are trying to make a connection, then describe and explain the connection (i.e., analyze).

1) Information about Theory or Concept. For each theory or concept note the following information: a. Name of theory or concept: _________________________________________________ b. Definition of theory or concept: _________________________________________________

2) Location of Link in Article. Where in the article do the author(s) refer to the theory or concept? For this part, either describe in your own words how the author(s) refer to the theory/concept, or quote the respective passage(s) from the source material(s). For the latter option, copying and pasting is fine.

3) Analysis. Explain how the materials or passage you identified under point 2) is linked to the OB theory or concept.

a. Among others, ask yourself a) how the materials or passage refers to/is connected to/points to/is a symbol for/… the particular OB theory or concept, and b) in what ways (e.g., does it exemplify/illustrate/prove/disprove/counter/extend/… the particular OB theory or concept?).

b. For example, your analysis could involve answers to the following questions: o What is/are the implications/suggestions/insights/advice/… from the article regarding the

theory or concept? § How is that different/similar/equivalent/the same/… compared to what is discussed

in our OB textbook? o What does a reader or does not learn about the theory or concept? o What is missing in the article? …

c. Try to provide specific evidence to support your assertions (quotes and paraphrases must follow APA style).

d. Avoid simply saying that something is related to something else (e.g., a concept). Instead, do explain HOW and/or WHY you think the material is linked to a concept, ties into a theory, etc. Note that merely describing or restating what is written in the article will not get you full credit. Description vs. Analysis. Remember that the focus of this assignment is not mere description but analysis, which refers to the process of breaking down material into its component parts in order to gain a better understanding of the material.1 As such, analysis may include identifying relevant components and examining the relationships between parts. That is why I ask you first to identify the relevant components of the relationships you identified under points 1) and 2) (i.e., which passage is linked to which theory or concept?). Now that you identified the relevant components, your task is to examine these relationships for the analysis part.

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A Common Question

Q: How many links to OB theories and/or concepts should I discuss in my paper? A: Ultimately, the answer depends on the depth of your discussion (i.e., the deeper the discussion, the

fewer links). Typically, papers include discussions of 3 or 4 links. In addition, please note that I have a preference for deeper, more thorough discussions … as quantity does not impress me as much as quality.

ANALYSIS WORKSHEET

1) Information about Theory or Concept. For each theory or concept note the following information:

a. Name of theory or concept: _________________________________________________

b. Definition of theory or concept: _________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2) Location of Link in Article. Where in the article do the author(s) refer to the theory or concept? For

this part, either describe in your own words how the author(s) refer to the theory/concept, or quote the

respective passage(s) from the source material(s). For the latter option, copying and pasting is fine.

a. Location in Article (e.g., section/page/column/paragraph/sentence): _____________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3) Analysis. Explain how the materials or passage you identified under point 2) is linked to the

organizational behavior theory or concept:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

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CHECKLIST

Winning attitude

q I started early with the assignment–thus I’d enough time to give it some thought & find a good article.

Content

q I chose a good article as a source. Specifically, it is … a) from a reliable source, b) not older than 5 years, c) long enough so that I have enough materials to work with (please know that you may choose several short articles that are related to an overarching theme or topic). d) speaks mainly to OB issues (that is, the article deals foremost with OB … the inclusion of other topics is okay but your article’s content shouldn’t be 80% strategy/finance/etc. and only 20% OB)

q The main part of my paper focuses on analyzing the article’s content, not just describing it.

Format

My paper is formatted correctly:

q is stapled and typed q uses Times, Times New Roman or a similar

serif font in 12-point size

q line spacing is 1.5 lines q has 1” margins all around q has page numbers

Article(s) and Article Source(s)

q I included a reference of the article’s source including author, date and source information in APA 6th style format

q I attached (stapled or clipped well) the original article to the hard copy of my paper

IN CLASS: Wednesday, April 13, 2016

q I gave a hard copy of my paper and a paper copy of the original article to my professor in class on Wednesday, April 13, 2016

ON ISIDORE: Wednesday, April 13, 2016

q I submitted an electronic copy of my paper to Isidore on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 o Please note that you do not submit an electronic copy of the original article to Isidore

because you are turning in a hard copy to me in class

q I named the file according to the specifications listed on page three of this handout o Ex. Kiewitz_C_SP2016_Analysis.docx