1
MGT5OBR ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Assessment 2: Individual Assignment
This individual assignment provides you with an opportunity to develop your critical thinking skills
and skills in reading and understanding academic journal articles.
This assignment is an Article Analysis. Your task is to compare and contrast three academic journal
articles. You need to:
(a) Summarise each article
(b) Analyse the articles
(c) Provide recommendations
As a general guide these three main parts should be roughly equal in word count. The introduction
and conclusion should each be approximately 10% of the length of the paper.
Instructions
1. Select one of the articles provided by the workshop facilitator, and then use the li
ary
databases and search engines to find two additional journal articles published on the same
topic.
In approximately week 3, your workshop facilitator or the subject coordinator will provide a short list
of recent academic journal articles. Select one of the articles for inclusion in your report.
The two additional journal articles must have been published between 2010 and present and must
e selected from the following list of journals:
*Journal of Organizational Behavior
*Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes
*Journal of Applied Psychology
Academy of Management Journal
British Journal of Management
Human Relations
Journal of Management
Leadership Quarterly
*It is recommended that you start your search
within one of the journals marked with an *.
These journals principally publish topics in
organisational behaviour.
**Note: These are the exact names of the
acceptable journals. Click on the journal name to
go to the online li
ary access page (La Trobe
sign in may be required).
2. Read each article thoroughly.
Pay particular attention to the introduction, literature review, and discussion sections. You can skim
the methods and results sections. You will use this information to analyse and compare and contrast
the articles.
3. Write your essay
The individual assignment should be written in a neat, professional and engaging manner using an
essay format.
Your essay should have the following sections:
http:
onlineli
ary.wiley.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/journal/10.1002/(ISSN XXXXXXXXXX
http:
www.sciencedirect.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/science/journal/ XXXXXXXXXX?sdc=1
http:
www.sciencedirect.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/science/journal/ XXXXXXXXXX?sdc=1
http:
ovidsp.tx.ovid.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/sp-3.25.0a/ovidweb.cgi?QS2=434f4e1a73d37e8ceb49f
fe17c3e8f0887af26ec1e236f2ca70b4426cb6bebc635f2968b168c15539d0615db36080a771afd6da9259c9b3ca17860396db0cd27797f31109738222ad83d544b24948b491040f7ff0b3d566e03ff562abfa1e8c8b3f48a94eefda1780660d946ba0014a76cdc4bc97a72f2aee200f6ee8621feeacf2d869877f29960ed794516b1b0a6db3a6f8b12046d94be7f4df180e0039a4d9b9890b7bcee9e2a556ff10cfb46b2a414686d41626e7c085193493c578c55de11d4d47400be1e83c6881b2173b831a1f6cc69b0d568b4e4d9624b5f77b1d2
http:
web.a.ebscohost.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/ehost/command/detail?vid=0&sid=6543dd2a-1e07-4a0d-a5f9-c57f1b3b6db3%40sessionmgr4010&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#jid=AMJ&db=bth
http:
onlineli
ary.wiley.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/journal/10.1111/(ISSN XXXXXXXXXX
http:
journals.sagepub.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/loi/hum
http:
journals.sagepub.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/loi/jom
http:
www.sciencedirect.com.ez.li
ary.latrobe.edu.au/science/journal/ XXXXXXXXXX?sdc=1
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• Introduction
o Try to write something engaging to capture the reader’s interest.
o Clearly identify the topic that ties the three articles together (e.g., motivation,
organisational citizenship, etc.).
o Include a
ief overview of the assignment and how it is organised.
• Article summary
o Briefly summarise the articles. Focus on describing the key concepts and main points
from each article (e.g., the theoretical concepts).
• Article analysis
o Identify and discuss on which points they agree and on which points they differ. Can
the differing opinions be synthesised? If you deem an author’s position more
credible explain your arguments. If you disagree with an author’s position, explain
your reasoning. Do the research findings matter, and can the research be applied in
eal work settings?
• Recommendations
o Based on the above analysis, what specific recommendations can you make for
managers or organisations? Aim for 2 to 4 clear and concise recommendations.
▪ Don’t simply re-state the authors’ recommendations from each article; develop
your own recommendations based on all three articles.
▪ If it isn’t possible to make any recommendations (e.g., all the articles were
severely flawed), explain your reasoning.
• Conclusion
o Summarise and integrate your findings. Identify any limitations within your essay.
Final comments.
• References
o Provide references as a separate page at the end of the document.
You need to use the APA or Harvard Referencing System.
Length: The total length of the assignment is a maximum of 2,000 words (+/- 10%)
(Reference list and title page are excluded from the word count)
Weighting: 40% of your total mark.
Due date: Sunday ending Week 8 by 11:55pm
Submission: Submit via the LMS (Assignment Turnitin). Hard copies are NOT required
Format: The document should be written as clear, concise essay. It is important that
your essay has a logical flow and good structure, makes use of relevant
subheadings where appropriate, and that you write using coherent,
integrated text, avoiding grammatical and spelling mistakes. For reading (and
marking) ease please use a 12-point Cali
i font with 1.5x spacing.
Marking Criteria: Please refer to the LMS for marking criteria.
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Tips
• Focus your discussion and analysis on the key concepts and theories in the articles.
• Focus your discussion and analysis on the information contained in the three articles, and
only the three articles.
• You can skim the methods and results sections for each article, especially for highly complex
statistical analysis. Teaching staff understand that these sections are often complex and
difficult to understand, and they will not expect detailed analysis of these sections. The
paragraphs just before the Methods section will usually give a
ief overview of how the
study or studies were conducted, and the first few paragraphs of the Discussion section will
usually give you a
ief summary of the results.
• Use in-text citations throughout your report and include a separate reference page at the
end of the document.
• In the main body of the report, use in-text citations to identify the articles and the source of
your ideas. In APA and Harvard style, this means you should provide the author surnames
and the year of publication when discussing something from that article. For example, ‘Smith
and Jackson XXXXXXXXXXargued that Concept X …’ or ‘Concept X can be defined as … (Smith and
Jackson, 1997)’.
• Ask for help if you are unsure about what to do.
• Refer to Assessment Help Guide (located on the LMS).
• Only use the three articles as references.
MGT5OBR: Assessment 2 Marking Guide
Individual Assignment
CRITERIA* A: Excellent (> 80 %) B: Very good (70 – 79%) C: Good (60 – 69%) D: Acceptable (50 – 59%) N: Unacceptable (<50%)
Article Summary
(25% of
assessment mark)
Article summary has
excellent focus on relevant
and key points (e.g., main
theoretical perspectives, key
concepts, findings,
elevance). Demonstrates
deep and
oad
understanding of the theory
and research in all three
articles.
Article summary has very
good focus on relevant and
key points (e.g., main
theoretical perspectives, key
concepts, findings,
elevance). Very few and
very minor e
ors in
understanding of the theory
and research in all three
articles.
Article summary is good and
mostly focussed on relevant
and key points (e.g., main
theoretical perspectives, key
concepts, findings). May
have some areas that are
somewhat superficial or
ased on minor e
ors in
understanding --OR--
discussion of two articles is
very good but discussion of
third article could be
improved.
Article summary is
acceptable but could be
more focussed relevant and
key points (e.g., main
theoretical perspectives, key
concepts, findings). May have
some areas that are
moderately superficial or
ased on some minor e
ors
in understanding, reasoning,
or logic.
--OR--discussion of one
article is very good but
discussion of other two
articles could be improved.
Articles not described, or
description is unclear, or
discussion is focussed on
mostly i
elevant points with
limited analysis. Or
description is based on
disconnected bits of
information or many direct
quotes with no actual
context or discussion. Very
limited or highly superficial
analysis, or significant
misunderstanding.
Article analysis
(25% of
assessment mark)
Excellent analysis.
Thoughtful, well-argued
comparison of all three
articles. Clear position with
extra careful reasoning and
logic.
Very good analysis.
Comparative points
explained in clear, concise,
and accurate manner.
Clear position with very
minor e
ors in reasoning or
logic.
Good analysis. Comparative
points are mostly clear and
focused. Or two
comparisons are clear and
focused but third/ overall
comparison could be
improved.
Solid analysis but could be
more focused or clear. Or
one comparison is clear and
focused but other
two/overall comparisons
could be improved.
Analytical skills not
demonstrated.
Or analysis describes
disconnected bits of
information or many direct
quotes with no actual
insight or analysis.
Recommendations
(25% of
assessment mark)
Excellent recommendations
that are based on clear and
logical application of the
overall article analyses and
comparisons.
Very good
ecommendations that are
ased on clear and logical
application of the overall
article analyses and
comparisons. Very few and
minor e
ors in reasoning,
accuracy or relevance.
Good recommendations but
could be more strongly
elated to the overall article
analyses and comparisons.
May include some minor
e
ors in reasoning.
Solid attempt to formulate
ecommendations but may