1. Background
Your boss just came back from an HRM conference. He is keen to learn more about the latest application of people management theories and concepts in organizations. Over lunch, he asked you to prepare a report on “Opportunities and Challenges to Organisational Socialisation.”
2. Your Task
For this assignment, you are to conduct a literature review on the subject matter to write the Report. The number of articles to examine is FOUR (4). Each selected article must not be (a) less than 2,000 words and (b) published before 2005.
A direct link to each of the four articles should be embedded in the Report. If this is not feasible, provide web links or append copies of the articles as appendices at the back of the Report. There is no restriction on the particular management or business journals that you can choose. However, they should be of good academic quality. For example,
Academy of Management Review
Academy of Management Perspective
Academy of Management Journal
Journal of Applied Psychology
Personnel Psychology
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Harvard Business Review
Leadership Quarterly
Journal of Management
Journal of Organizational Behaviour
Group & Organization Management
Human Resource Development Review
Human Resource Management Review
Human Resource Management Journal (UK)
Human Resource Management Journal (US)
3. Literature Review
(a) What is a Literature Review? A literature review is about digging into the body of knowledge that previous researchers have generated. Hence, it is a written account of what has been published on a topic in periodicals, research monographs, serials and magazines. In writing the review, your purpose is to convey what knowledge and ideas have already been established on the topic, and what are their strengths and weaknesses.
Your literature review will be defined by your research objective, the problem or issue you are investigating. It should not be a few citations of the materials available or a set of summaries. An important skill for any researcher is the ability to review the work of others and evaluate their methods, results, and conclusions.
(b) How to go about it? You should organize your search of the literature around the key concepts you are going to examine. The first step is to assemble a list of probable keywords related to what you are researching. You can start your search using more general terms (e.g. organizational socialization, employee orientation) before limiting it to more specific terms. You can also look out for articles that list the relevant keywords for your topic, which you then use to conduct more searches. Another way is to conduct a simple web search using a search engine, e.g. Google Scholar or Researchgate. However, online searches tend to generate a huge number of entries. You will need to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”
II. Report Format
4. Organisation of Report. While there is no fixed format that you must follow to organize or structure your literature review, you are required to cover the following elements:
(a) Introduction – Describe and provide an overview of the subject or issue under consideration, and explain why it is of importance to managers.
(b) Main content — Illustrate each piece of work by identifying and examining key points or ideas brought up by the writers. Relate the findings from the articles to challenges and opportunities in organizational socialization.
(c) Your conclusion – Conclusion is an opinion based on your findings. You should not take other people’s findings at face value. Do you agree with the authors’ interpretations? Evaluate and determine for yourself whether their conclusions are justified based on the data and arguments they presented.
In addition to restating the main idea of your essay, you will be required to propose feasible solutions and develop human resource policies and practices based on organizational behavior, management, and work psychology concepts.
5. Word Count. The Report should not exceed 2,000 words. The report should adhere to the formatting requirements below:
1).Font type: Times New Roman
2). Font size: 12 point
3). Line spacing: 1.5 lines
4).Margin: 1” all-round
6. Language. In general, use past tense to describe what has been done in the past. Use present tense to represent general ideas that are not restricted to a single time period.III. Assessment Rubrics
7. Annex A presents the assessment rubrics. The TMA will be assessed on the following aspects:
Understanding of concepts;
Depth of discussion/illustration;
Concluding section (integrating of findings to generate insights; concluding position on the topic, and a set of recommendations);
Language and organization, i.e., Is the paper easy to read and understand?8. Below is a checklist for you to review and improve on your assignment before submission. The items are not listed in sequence:
Have you examined FOUR (4) good quality articles of adequate length?
Are the relevant concept(s) clearly explained?
Have you explained why the topic is important to managers?
Are the relevant concept(s) discussed in enough depth?
Are the concept examples/illustration relevant and insightful?
Are the arguments logical? Is your review logically organized?
Are different points of view considered? Have you integrated previous studies?
Have you given credit where credit is due?
Have you provided a strong and convincing conclusion?
Have you applied the APA referencing style?
