Discussion: Initial Literature Review

MGMT 8705M: Organizational Behavior Performance and Evaluation

Hints

Week 2: Initial Literature Reviews

Hints for Week 2 Discussion
This week, you will be asked to work more in depth with your literature. In the
Discussion this week, you will begin to talk about the literature you have been finding
about your area of interest. One great way to accomplish the analysis of each article is
to utilize the literature matrix consistently throughout the development of all your
projects. When you review articles that are peer reviewed you should be able to see
how the authors base their assumptions. You will be developing your understanding of
the topic and building your argument.

Example
Theme: Organizational Behavior
Topic: Individual Employee Motivation and Behavior
Issue: Impact and influence of reward and recognition on employee performance
and job satisfaction; Impact of leader/member relationship
Palmer, Johnson, & Johnson (2015) conducted a study into the value of accurate
feedback, with the goal of determining how relevant feedback is to performance,
and more specifically, how important was the accuracy of feedback on employee
behavior. Their study found that the accuracy of the feedback did seem to help
improve employee performance. However, they found that even exaggerated
performance feedback is better than no feedback at all. The authors conclude by
pointing out that “[m]anagers who might be tempted to underreport performance
to get employees to work harder may be causing damage rather than increasing
organizational output (in addition to other legitimate concerns related to credibility
and ethics)” (p. 235). The findings of this article inform a possible research study
into the impact of feedback on employee motivation and performance.

Reference
Palmer, M. G., Johnson, C. M., & Johnson, D. A. (2015). Objective performance
feedback: Is numerical accuracy necessary? Journal of Organizational Behavior
Management, 35(3/4), 206–239. doi:10.1080/01608061.2015.1093059
Permalink to article in Walden Library:
https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx
?direct=true&db=edswss&AN=000365671100003&site=eds-live&scope=site

Note:

• Clicking on the link above will not work. Please copy the entire link and paste it
into the location bar of your browser to access the resource in the Walden
Library.

Criteria for “superior” initial post:
þ Student accurately includes the complete reference and link from a peer-

reviewed article and provides a thorough and detailed written rationale for the
selection of the article and explains how it contributes to the project.

þ Student consistently follows APA writing style and basic rules of formal English
grammar and written essay style. Student communicates in a cohesive, logical
style. There are no spelling or grammar errors.

þ Student demonstrates full adherence to APA style with respect to source
attribution, references, heading and subheading logic, table of contents and lists
of charts, etc. There are no APA errors. Citations and references support
position.

Hints for Week 2 Assignment
When you fill out your literature matrix, consider everything you can learn from the
article. For example, Phipps-Taylor and Shortell (2016) conducted a meta-analysis that
provides a good starting point for finding additional literature about your topic of interest.
When an article is a meta-analysis of the literature, you can see the relationships
among the variables the authors sought to understand. The other benefit of a meta-
analysis is that you will be able to find other potential literature about your topic of
interest. When you begin to select your topics, you will want to identify the scope and
primary concepts. Your literature should focus on the intersection between two or more
of the issues under one topic. Ask yourself, what are the concepts I am trying to
understand or explore? You may not find articles that talk about the concepts together;
that is when you need to construct your argument and understand what is important to
you about the topic you selected. Interdisciplinary review of literature is very common.
Often researchers work to identify concepts used by other disciplines to explain similar
underlying concept.

Example (extract)
See the Excel workbook “Literature Matrix” located in this week’s resources.

Reference
Phipps-Taylor, M., & Shortell, S. M. (2016). More than money: Motivating physician
behavior change in accountable care organizations. The Milbank Quarterly, 94(4), 832–
861. doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12230

Criteria for “superior” Assignment:
þ Student provides a total of 11 or more relevant peer-reviewed journal entries with

some related to the ethical and social change impact of the research.
þ Student presents a detailed and thorough explanation for every entry provided.
þ Student has no spelling or grammar errors. Matrix is organized, clear, and easy

to understand. Correct APA format and style is applied.