Task Instructions and CRA

Task Instructions and CRA

Assessment 1: Annotated Bibliography

Due date: Friday, 11.59pm (Week 5)

Written annotation of three (3) journal articles related to an Organisational Behaviour topic (as approved by the lecturer) paying attention to the use of academic databases, each article's validity and utility, the reputation of the journal(s) in which these papers are published, the leadership of the authors and originality of contributions made by their research.

Formative or Summative:Formative and Summative

Business Capabilities (AoL goals):KS (1.1), PC (3.1)

Weight:20%

Length:700 words

Individual/Group:Individual

Related Unit learning outcomes:1,2,3Related Standards:PG Business Capabilities:KS (1.1),PC (3.1)Step 1. Select a Topic

Important to note the topic you decide on will be your topic for both Assessment Item 1 and Assessment Item 2 (so choose carefully!). Below, I have provided 5 general (broad) topic areas. You should select one of the five options as a starting point, and develop a more finite (narrow) topic to research for both the Annotated Bibliography and the Literature Review (this narrowing happens in Step 2, below).

Decision Making

Power

Work-Life Balance

Empowerment

Organisational Culture

I recommend choosing a topic area that appeals to you / interests you the most; perhaps because it might be something you would like to improve your understanding of, or perhaps because it might be something you see as needing improvement in your workplace. Whatever your motivation to selecting a topic, make sure it is something that interests you to maximise the personal value of your learning from the task.

Step 2. Find a question to answer

Now that you have a broad topic that interests you, think critically about why you chose that particular topic area. Why does it interest you so much? What is it that you would like to know more about? What could you improve in your workplace that relates directly to the topic? Use your answers to these questions to narrow your topic into a question.

For example, if I had a broad topic area of Teamwork, I would say I am most interested in knowing more about when to use teams and when not to use teams, because I think that sometimes creating teams to do fairly simple tasks is a waste of resources. So, to find out if what I think is justified/supported by experts, I would create a question like:

When is it inappropriate for organisations to use teams, and when is it most appropriate?

Step 3. Check your question with the Unit Coordinator

It is easy to create a question that may be too broad to practically answer within the Literature Review task, so send your question to Dr Judy Matthews jh.matthews@qut.edu.au

before the Week 3 lecture (at the latest) for approval. If your topic is not viable, the Unit Coordinator will provide advice to make your question more practical for the task.

Step 4. Start researching the topic

With your question approved by the Unit Coordinator, use the library databases (and perhaps Google Scholar) to find relevant journal articles that can be used to help answer the question youve created. While you will come across a lot of literature that may be relevant for the Literature Review (Assessment Item 2), the Annotated Bibliography requires you to use superior journal articles, sourced only from the best journals worldwide.

The Financial Times (2022) released a list of what it sees as the top 50 most influential journals in Business, using the journals to rank universities and their MBA programs. At least one journal article that you include in your Annotated Bibliography must be sourced from these top-ranked journals (https://infoguides.pepperdine.edu/FT50). All other articles must be from peer-reviewed journals.

Step 5. Write your assignment

Write your annotated bibliography, with a brief discussion (one or two paragraphs) following the annotations that develops a position/thesis statement that gives direction or perhaps starts to answer the question you developed in Steps 2 and 3 above. More detailed instructions for how to write your annotations will be given in Week 3 in class, and detailed instructions for developing your thesis statement is also provided below.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words per annotation) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

1. Select three (3) superior papers that you will use to investigate your topic/question (discussed and approved first with the lecturer). These should be from strong journals in the area of organisational behaviour research (as per Step 4 above). Provide the citation at the start of the annotation of these papers and identify the database of your search.

2. Annotate these three papers providing no more than one paragraph of information on each paper which evaluates the argument identified in each of the chosen papers.

Discussion

3. Begin the discussion with a thesis statement or problem statement or a belief statement that indicates your position on your chosen (approved) topic. Ensure there is a definition for the core concept/theory underpinning your topic, and that this is referenced to a principal work from a superior journal paper. Write a couple of paragraphs to synthesise the ideas from the three papers you have read so far, discussing their relevance and contribution to your chosen (approved) topic area. Identify an aspect of the topic that will be explored further in your next assessment item (literature review) and identify how this might be observed in your workplace (with a view to reaching a conclusion and making recommendations to address this issue or potential problem in the next assessment item). (Usually about 250 words).

The following resource provides tips for creating a thesis statement and examples of different types of thesis statements.

From https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/

Contributors: Elyssa Tardiff, Allen Brizee

Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

1. Determine what kind of paper you are writing:

An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.

An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.

If you are writing a text that does not fall under these three categories (e.g., a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

2. Your thesis statement should be specificit should cover only what you intend to discuss in your literature review (second assessment task).

Thesis Statement Examples Thesis statements are sometimes called Problem Statements or Belief Statements

Example of an argumentative thesis statement:

High school graduates should be required to take a year off to pursue community service projects before entering college in order to increase their maturity and global awareness.

The paper that follows should:

Present an argument and give evidence to support the claim that students should pursue community projects before entering college

Example of an analytical thesis statement:

An analysis of the college admission process reveals one challenge facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.

The paper that follows should:

Explain the analysis of the college admission process

Explain the challenge facing admissions counselors

Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent studying, attending class, and socializing with peers.

The paper that follows should:

Explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peer

Annotated Bibliography20 marks

Criteria High Distinction (7) Distinction (6) Credit (5) Pass (4) Fail (less than 4)

Assurance of Learning goal KS1.2: Ability to select and use effectively a range of tools and technologies to locate and/or generate information appropriate to the disciplinary context

Selection of appropriate literature and

evaluation of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of each source cited

(15%) All articles selected are from high quality, appropriate journals and the source and/or authors credentials have been carefully evaluated to substantiate authority. They are closely linked to the chosen topic.

Each annotation presents a highly insightful evaluation of the articles research themes/arguments/

conclusions, research methods, intended audience and value of its outcomes. The annotations demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the topic. Articles selected are from quality, appropriate journals. They are linked to the chosen topic.

Each annotation presents a summary with evaluation that is somewhat insightful, of the articles research themes/arguments/conclusions. Research methods, intended audience and value of its outcomes could be better attended. The annotations demonstrate understanding of the topic. Each evaluation is appropriate in length. The source and/or authors credentials could have been evaluated further to substantiate authority.

Articles selected are from appropriate journals. There is some linking to the chosen topic but it could be more explicit.

Each annotation presents an evaluation, with some insight, of the articles research themes/arguments/

Conclusions. Research methods, intended audience and value of its outcomes should be addressed. The annotations demonstrate some understanding of the topic. Evaluation of the source and/or authors credentials needs to be developed. Articles selected are of appropriate quality. Each annotation presents a summary of the articles research themes/arguments/conclusions, but there is limited acknowledgement of research methods, intended audience and/or value of its outcomes. Largely this is a descriptive account rather than an evaluation demonstrating insight. There is no evaluation of the source and/or authors credentials. Links are made to the chosen topic but they are limited.

Few or none of the articles selected are from high quality, appropriate journals and there is little or no evaluation of the source and/or authors credentials to substantiate authority. There articles are poorly linked to the chosen topic.

There is little or no evaluation of the articles research themes/arguments/

conclusions, research methods, intended audience and value of its outcomes or there are errors or omissions in the annotations given. There is a lack of understanding of the topic and the annotations are not of the appropriate length.

Criteria High Distinction (7) Distinction (6) Credit (5) Pass (4) Fail (less than 4)

Assurance of Learning goal KS1.1: Demonstrate and apply integrated and advanced discipline knowledge and professional practice knowledge, including knowledge of relevant research principles

Demonstrate knowledge of chosen issue or claim within a well- defined OB concept; Draft a thesis statement or problem statement to clarify significance or meaning or direction for the reader

(5%) Demonstrates excellent comprehension and significance of an issue, or claim, or event in a body of OB literature and categorises or clarifies the meaning and translates this into an excellent logically linked thesis statement (or problem statement or belief statement) that is either analytical, explanatory or argumentative. Demonstrates good awareness of the scope and scale of an issue or claim within the given OB context but may be limited by poor links or limited argument development. The discussion offers a definition and explanation but perhaps the thesis statement is not fully developed or does not match the definition or explanation given or argument needs more development.

Is able to identify/name an issue or claim within an area of OB literature and give indications of the outcomes or implications that make it problematic. Links may be weak between definition, problem identification or thesis statement. Thesis area links well to the explanation and definition. Thesis statement is not specific or clear. Consider whether you are arguing; exploring or explaining your views on this topic.

Is able to identify/name an issue or claim within an area of OB literature but there is limited links to the definition, and/or the thesis statement. The thesis statement does not identify clearly the focus of the following assessment item (literature review).

Does not identify the issue or claim within an area of OB literature OR identification is insufficient and there are limited or poor links to explanation and/or thesis statement. Thesis statement is weak or non-existent. The thesis statement does not help the reader to identify the direction of the following assessment item (literature review).