It's time for the Seasonal Break, a pause before we think about our accomplishments this year and what we want to achieve next year.
Many students who read this blog have finished their journey to the MBA or MSc. Others are still struggling through the assignments, the exams and of course the dissertation. I see students slow down during this season every year. Students who intended to phone me put it off until January. Others put that assignment they were struggling with in the drawer until the holiday season is over.
This is, for me, a time for a yearly break, a reminder that life is about many more things than simply our jobs. It is a pause before going on to the new, big project. We can, when we pause and reflect, often make better choices about what we are going to do in the New Year. In the busyness of the year, we often forget to take this time to pause and reflect on our lives, and our life directions. Sometimes, dreams over the past year have seemed difficult. Perhaps, they have seemed unreachable but during this holiday season it is surely the time to believe that perhaps dreams might just come true.
For many students, the MBA is their dream. Sometimes, the work that is required to achieve this dream can turn many students back. Many fear that they are unworthy, that they do not have the adequate qualifications or stamina to get this diploma. At this holiday season, it is time to see that no one gets this qualification at this or any other good university without struggle and hard work. Whether you have just returned to school after a long absence or whether you are fresh from your BA, this qualification will not fall into your lap without hard work. At this holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of believing that we can do it, that dreams can come true.
I have been privileged to work with many struggling students, many students who have gone on to get their degrees. For those you still struggling, please accept my seasonal wish. For those of you who read this blog regularly, accept my congratulations that you are still working toward your goal. And for everybody, have a happy holiday.
KB
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Important Words to Help Understand Questions
Today, in my second to last post before Christmas, I would like to go over some words that students see in their assignments or exam questions. Sometimes, we never examine what an instructor/tutor/professor means when they use these simple questions in assignments or exams. Many of us believe we understand what these words mean, but actually don't know precisely what is meant by these words. So, students can write around the question, hoping that they will hit the target somewhere in this process. Yet, these are common words that mean something quite specific in the context of assignment questions.
Let's start with "describe or outline." For example, a question that tells you: "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving." To begin with, to know things we must name them. However, that is not enough, we must be able to apply our knowledge in order to offer explanations of the terms we use.
Thus, when we are asked to "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving" or in fact anything, the tutor is being quite specific about what we must do. We need to name the steps, then we need to explain what they are, then we can give brief examples of these steps. So, we have used the steps of critical thinking by using knowledge, understanding and application. The Hierarchy of Knowledge, developed by Bloom, is specific about these steps and one of the objectives of the School of Management at the University of Leicester is to use critical thinking.
Objective, a word I used above, is an important word in learning. Teaching by objectives ensures that tutors have achievable, measurable goals. The definition of "objective" in the Oxford Concise Dictionary (10 ed. revised, 2002) defines "objective" (where objective is a noun) as: 1. a goal or aim. It also tells us that objective results are "2. Not dependent on the mind, actual". This tells us that we are looking for concrete facts, real data that illustrates our point. Thus, let's say a question asks: "Use any business or corporation to analyse whether its environmental policies reflect the objectives of Kyoto Protocol (1997)". Objective in this sentence is a noun, thus you will be looking for the aims or goals of the environmental policies of the company you are going to discuss. You will need to know (a) the intended results or objectives of the environmental policy of a specific business and (b) the intended results or objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. Both will require research on the environmental policies of a business you work at or one that you research through the databases at University of Leicester.
Your own business may not, in fact, be suitable if it really has no environmental impact and its policies will not provide a lively discussion of the Kyoto Protocol. To understand this, first you must be aware of the intended results, aim or goals of the Kyoto Protocol. Then you can judge what kind of business you should pick to make your points clearly. You need to be specific in showing how the Kyoto Protocol influences the business you are discussing.
Influence is an important word in many assignment questions. In the question above, we could reframe the question to ask the following question: "Use any business or corporation to illustrate how the Kyoto Protocol (1997) has influenced their environmental policy." This question has been very specific: the business or corporation you choose to discuss must directly have been influenced by the Kyoto Protocol. This influence must be shown to be direct. Thus, you must see direct and clear initiatives that the business has undertaken that are directly mentioned by the Kyoto Protocol. You must also take care to make sure that any environmental initiatives, such as increasingly lower emissions on the part of, for example, a Paper Company, a Metals Refining Company or a Chemical Company (see, for example, Abitibi (paper), Sherritt (nickel refining), or Dow Chemical) happened as a result of and after the Kyoto Protocol. If the business has stated their intention to use the Protocol and change their environmental policies, this will make that company a good company to discuss in your assignment.
Taking this question a step further, the question might also ask you to "analyse their environmental policies" or "evaluate" them. In the former example, you must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of environmental policies in a particular company and must explain or analyse how these policies and the Kyoto protocol initiatives are linked. This is where students often make crucial errors. They write general knowledge about the Kyoto protocol instead of actually examining the details of environmental policies in a specific business. The question is, in fact, quite specific. If you need to analyse or evaluate the environmental policies of a specific business, you must know how effective or ineffective they are.
You should be aware if the company has been sued or cited for an environmental emissions or some other problem such as dumping. You will only know about this by good research, research that examines what a company says (for example in their yearly corporate reports) versus what a company actually does (for example newspaper articles, press releases or other public documentation). They may not write about environmental problems in corporate reports but a thorough search on the databases at University of Leicester will uncover the realities of the situation. These facts will fuel the analysis or the evaluation that you are going to make in your assignment. Evaluation and analysis imply that you should be weigh factors out in a particular field. This will be the same whether you are discussing a company's environmental policy or its corporate culture.
The tutor wants you to use evidence, that is data about a particular company, to show or demonstrate what this company's environmental record actually is and demonstrate its policies in regard to the environment. The same thing would hold true if the question was, for example, "Using Porter's five forces model, analyse the business strategy of a company of your choice." You should use a company which will prove to be a good example of business strategy and an good demonstration of Porter's five forces, not simply a company that you know. A dynamic, interesting discussion that shows how the five forces work with excellent examples using relevant evidence to demonstrate the theory is what the tutor wants to see.
When you approach an assignment question, you shouldn't, as I pointed out above, think of this as a good opportunity to discuss the copmany you work in currently. Some students think this will make doing the assignment easier. As I pointed out above, in fact if your copmany really has no environmental impact then you should do research and find a good example of the question that has been posed. Tutors mark many assignments. Providing lively debate, interesting examples and thought provoking evaluations, make your assignment stand out. Bold choices tend to provide better assignments.
KB
Let's start with "describe or outline." For example, a question that tells you: "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving." To begin with, to know things we must name them. However, that is not enough, we must be able to apply our knowledge in order to offer explanations of the terms we use.
Thus, when we are asked to "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving" or in fact anything, the tutor is being quite specific about what we must do. We need to name the steps, then we need to explain what they are, then we can give brief examples of these steps. So, we have used the steps of critical thinking by using knowledge, understanding and application. The Hierarchy of Knowledge, developed by Bloom, is specific about these steps and one of the objectives of the School of Management at the University of Leicester is to use critical thinking.
Objective, a word I used above, is an important word in learning. Teaching by objectives ensures that tutors have achievable, measurable goals. The definition of "objective" in the Oxford Concise Dictionary (10 ed. revised, 2002) defines "objective" (where objective is a noun) as: 1. a goal or aim. It also tells us that objective results are "2. Not dependent on the mind, actual". This tells us that we are looking for concrete facts, real data that illustrates our point. Thus, let's say a question asks: "Use any business or corporation to analyse whether its environmental policies reflect the objectives of Kyoto Protocol (1997)". Objective in this sentence is a noun, thus you will be looking for the aims or goals of the environmental policies of the company you are going to discuss. You will need to know (a) the intended results or objectives of the environmental policy of a specific business and (b) the intended results or objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. Both will require research on the environmental policies of a business you work at or one that you research through the databases at University of Leicester.
Your own business may not, in fact, be suitable if it really has no environmental impact and its policies will not provide a lively discussion of the Kyoto Protocol. To understand this, first you must be aware of the intended results, aim or goals of the Kyoto Protocol. Then you can judge what kind of business you should pick to make your points clearly. You need to be specific in showing how the Kyoto Protocol influences the business you are discussing.
Influence is an important word in many assignment questions. In the question above, we could reframe the question to ask the following question: "Use any business or corporation to illustrate how the Kyoto Protocol (1997) has influenced their environmental policy." This question has been very specific: the business or corporation you choose to discuss must directly have been influenced by the Kyoto Protocol. This influence must be shown to be direct. Thus, you must see direct and clear initiatives that the business has undertaken that are directly mentioned by the Kyoto Protocol. You must also take care to make sure that any environmental initiatives, such as increasingly lower emissions on the part of, for example, a Paper Company, a Metals Refining Company or a Chemical Company (see, for example, Abitibi (paper), Sherritt (nickel refining), or Dow Chemical) happened as a result of and after the Kyoto Protocol. If the business has stated their intention to use the Protocol and change their environmental policies, this will make that company a good company to discuss in your assignment.
Taking this question a step further, the question might also ask you to "analyse their environmental policies" or "evaluate" them. In the former example, you must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of environmental policies in a particular company and must explain or analyse how these policies and the Kyoto protocol initiatives are linked. This is where students often make crucial errors. They write general knowledge about the Kyoto protocol instead of actually examining the details of environmental policies in a specific business. The question is, in fact, quite specific. If you need to analyse or evaluate the environmental policies of a specific business, you must know how effective or ineffective they are.
You should be aware if the company has been sued or cited for an environmental emissions or some other problem such as dumping. You will only know about this by good research, research that examines what a company says (for example in their yearly corporate reports) versus what a company actually does (for example newspaper articles, press releases or other public documentation). They may not write about environmental problems in corporate reports but a thorough search on the databases at University of Leicester will uncover the realities of the situation. These facts will fuel the analysis or the evaluation that you are going to make in your assignment. Evaluation and analysis imply that you should be weigh factors out in a particular field. This will be the same whether you are discussing a company's environmental policy or its corporate culture.
The tutor wants you to use evidence, that is data about a particular company, to show or demonstrate what this company's environmental record actually is and demonstrate its policies in regard to the environment. The same thing would hold true if the question was, for example, "Using Porter's five forces model, analyse the business strategy of a company of your choice." You should use a company which will prove to be a good example of business strategy and an good demonstration of Porter's five forces, not simply a company that you know. A dynamic, interesting discussion that shows how the five forces work with excellent examples using relevant evidence to demonstrate the theory is what the tutor wants to see.
When you approach an assignment question, you shouldn't, as I pointed out above, think of this as a good opportunity to discuss the copmany you work in currently. Some students think this will make doing the assignment easier. As I pointed out above, in fact if your copmany really has no environmental impact then you should do research and find a good example of the question that has been posed. Tutors mark many assignments. Providing lively debate, interesting examples and thought provoking evaluations, make your assignment stand out. Bold choices tend to provide better assignments.
KB
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Cyber Road to Hell : The Scholastic Road to Wisdom
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." We have all heard this statement, a statement which is loosely attributed to Samuel Johnson by his emanuensis, Boswell. We have also heard that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Why is this and what does this have to do with our MBA/MSc assignments?
The Cyber Highway is studded with little bits of knowledge. Are these gems, treasures or are they junk? If you are writing a paper on organizational behaviour and culture, for example, a simple search on Google, will find the University of San Francisco and a number of articles at their website at:
http://cps.usfca.edu/academics/obl/obresources.htm
There is an article on Maslow here and the application of his Hierarchy of Needs and another article on Elton Mayo. None of them have the kind of source materials you will need for an academic paper at the MBA level. This is why these aren't good places to get our thinking processes started for an assignment on organizational behaviour.
Notice that there aren't any sources given for most of this information although it comes from a university. A broad strokes version of Martin Luther and the work ethic is given on a page entitled "Ageless Search for Better Ways." It says: "With the Reformation, the Protestant 'work ethic' emerged based on Luther's glorification of work theory. Calvinism brought further consolidation to this principle and with it the virtues of thrift, frugality and the honorable acquisition of wealth." Sweeping statements - but where are the sources to back up these statements? All of this may be true but the information to back it up isn't here. You would need good resources on Calvinism, the reformation and the tie between religion and the 'work ethic'.
Obviously, University of San Francisco is reaching out to find potential students and attract them to their programme in business. This is good business practice but these pages are not intended to be scholarly material. You will find plenty of other similar sources on the internet. They look good but they aren't meant for use in scholarly papers. Students at institutions such as University of San Francisco, must also look for sources for their papers, not at their university's popular website, but in the books, journals, databases and other literature that is the scholastic backbone of the subject. There is no easy way out.
Many students begin their assignments by first surfing the web. As many of my regular blog readers know, this is the wrong way to scholastic achievement. What students should do is begin their work with a highlighter in hand, re-reading the module tutor's phrasing in the question to consider important words in the question such as analyze, apply or evaluate. These words signal what the module tutor is actually looking for in this assignment. Module textbooks and workbooks are a good second place to look to ensure you understand what all the words in the assignment actually mean. If you have trouble with meanings, you should invest in a good comprehensive Oxford Dictionary. Additionally, the library at Leicester has several copies of the Handbook of Organizational Studies by Stewart Clegg (pub. Sage) for more unfamiliar terminology in the field. Handbooks often have fuller discussions of terms, such as 'Organizational Culture' or 'Maslow', and these are sources you can cite in any paper. You can interlibrary loan materials from books such as this handbook, through the library. The business librarian, Andrew Dunn, may assist you if you need any help in this regard.
Next time we will talk about understand the meanings of some key words in assignment questions.
KB
The Cyber Highway is studded with little bits of knowledge. Are these gems, treasures or are they junk? If you are writing a paper on organizational behaviour and culture, for example, a simple search on Google, will find the University of San Francisco and a number of articles at their website at:
http://cps.usfca.edu/academics/obl/obresources.htm
There is an article on Maslow here and the application of his Hierarchy of Needs and another article on Elton Mayo. None of them have the kind of source materials you will need for an academic paper at the MBA level. This is why these aren't good places to get our thinking processes started for an assignment on organizational behaviour.
Notice that there aren't any sources given for most of this information although it comes from a university. A broad strokes version of Martin Luther and the work ethic is given on a page entitled "Ageless Search for Better Ways." It says: "With the Reformation, the Protestant 'work ethic' emerged based on Luther's glorification of work theory. Calvinism brought further consolidation to this principle and with it the virtues of thrift, frugality and the honorable acquisition of wealth." Sweeping statements - but where are the sources to back up these statements? All of this may be true but the information to back it up isn't here. You would need good resources on Calvinism, the reformation and the tie between religion and the 'work ethic'.
Obviously, University of San Francisco is reaching out to find potential students and attract them to their programme in business. This is good business practice but these pages are not intended to be scholarly material. You will find plenty of other similar sources on the internet. They look good but they aren't meant for use in scholarly papers. Students at institutions such as University of San Francisco, must also look for sources for their papers, not at their university's popular website, but in the books, journals, databases and other literature that is the scholastic backbone of the subject. There is no easy way out.
Many students begin their assignments by first surfing the web. As many of my regular blog readers know, this is the wrong way to scholastic achievement. What students should do is begin their work with a highlighter in hand, re-reading the module tutor's phrasing in the question to consider important words in the question such as analyze, apply or evaluate. These words signal what the module tutor is actually looking for in this assignment. Module textbooks and workbooks are a good second place to look to ensure you understand what all the words in the assignment actually mean. If you have trouble with meanings, you should invest in a good comprehensive Oxford Dictionary. Additionally, the library at Leicester has several copies of the Handbook of Organizational Studies by Stewart Clegg (pub. Sage) for more unfamiliar terminology in the field. Handbooks often have fuller discussions of terms, such as 'Organizational Culture' or 'Maslow', and these are sources you can cite in any paper. You can interlibrary loan materials from books such as this handbook, through the library. The business librarian, Andrew Dunn, may assist you if you need any help in this regard.
Next time we will talk about understand the meanings of some key words in assignment questions.
KB
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Reference Lists
Okay, last time we discussed organizing assignments. This week's post is about making references in your assignments, that is, using Harvard style which is the accepted style at University of Leicester.
There are two resources every student should know:
1. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/refworks.html
This is the page for Refworks, a bibliographic database available to all students at the University of Leicester. It is free. You simply create an account and log in from your computer. It will allow you to create different bibliographies for different assignments. It will also house all this information on the server at University of Leicester. When you make a bibliography, it will print out the information in the correct format and you can add it to your paper.
2. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/sources/subject3/harvard.html
This is a page at the University of Leicester showing you how to do citations using Harvard. You will still need to use this source for in-body citations in your assignments. What this means is that you need to follow Harvard style when you quote a source within a paper or use a paraphrase of another author's words. This source will show you how to handle a quotation of less than 20 words or one that is greater. The instructions should be followed to the letter. That is, quotations of more than 20 words in Harvard are treated like this according to the library page above:
There are two resources every student should know:
1. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/refworks.html
This is the page for Refworks, a bibliographic database available to all students at the University of Leicester. It is free. You simply create an account and log in from your computer. It will allow you to create different bibliographies for different assignments. It will also house all this information on the server at University of Leicester. When you make a bibliography, it will print out the information in the correct format and you can add it to your paper.
2. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/sources/subject3/harvard.html
This is a page at the University of Leicester showing you how to do citations using Harvard. You will still need to use this source for in-body citations in your assignments. What this means is that you need to follow Harvard style when you quote a source within a paper or use a paraphrase of another author's words. This source will show you how to handle a quotation of less than 20 words or one that is greater. The instructions should be followed to the letter. That is, quotations of more than 20 words in Harvard are treated like this according to the library page above:
Long quotations: more than 20-25 words. It is suggested that with long quotations you should leave a line's space above and below the quote, indent it from the left, and enclosing it in quotation marks.
"Most people would prefer to die in their own home and even when people die in a hospital or hospice most of their care will take place in their own homes with the help and unpaid work of their close family and friends ( lay carers). People who die at home will normally do so as the result of a long-term illness, often marked by persistent and distressing symptoms." (Taylor and Field 1997:17)
Note: Harvard is different from MLA or APA in several important ways. In the long quote above, the placement of the quotation marks is essential as is the spacing. Normally, of course, the document would be in Times New Roman 12 pt.The citation below in Harvard:
Gibaldi, J. 1995. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.
would be different in that in APA round brackets are used around dates:
Gibaldi, J. (1995). MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.
while in MLA the date is at the end:
Gibaldi, J. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.
I strongly recommend that students use Refworks for their bibliographies. I also tell students not to use Ibid. in their bibliographies. While it is accepted usage in APA style, Harvard is not APA. The placement of periods, commas, capitals and spaces is important. Do not vary in any regard from the accepted format. I am always open to questions about these issues.
KB
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