Writing the Management

Paper/Thesis: Style and Strategy

Mahfooz A. Ansari, PhD

Professor of Management
mahfooz@usm.my
WWW.management.usm.my/WebPPPmahfooz.htm

School of Management
Universiti Sains Malaysia

July 01, 2003

5/11/2008 1
 Today’s Talk: Organization
The Six
Misconceptions

The Writing Rules

The APA Guidelines

Strategies to
Improve Writing
Preparing
Thesis and

Q & A… Dissertation

References
5/11/2008 2
 Six Common Misconceptions
About Management Papers

Misconception 1: Writing the management paper is the most routine,

least creative aspect of the scientific enterprise--requiring much time
but little imagination.

Misconception 2: The important thing is what you say, not how you
say it.

Misconception 3: Longer papers are better papers, and more papers

are better yet.

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Misconception 4: The main purpose of a management paper is the
presentation of facts, whether newly established or well established

Misconception 5: The distinction between scientific writing, on the

one hand, and advertising or propaganda, on the other, is that the
purpose of scientific writing is to inform whereas the purpose of
advertising or propaganda is to persuade.

Misconception 6: A good way to gain acceptance of your theory is

by refuting someone else’s theory.

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 Rules for Writing the
Management Paper

Rule 1: Your writing should interest, inform, and persuade your

reader

Rule 2: Write for your reader

Rule 3: Write clearly

Rule 4: Eliminate unnecessary redundancy

Rule 5: Avoid digressions

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Rule 6: Don’t overexplain

Rule 7: Avoid overstatement

Rule 8: Avoid unnecessary qualifiers

Rule 9: Use the precise word

Rule 10: Prefer simpler to more complicated words

Rule 11: Use concrete words and examples

Rule 12: Prefer simpler to more complicated sentences

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Rule 13: Use the active voice

Rule 14: prefer affirmative to negative constructions

Rule 15: Avoid dangling constructions

Rule 16: Avoid participles without referents

Rule 17: Avoid pronouns without antecedents

Rule 18: Avoid use of the indefinite this

Rule 19: Avoid split infinitives

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Rule 20: Use summary statements

Rule 21: Use transitions

Rule 22: Place yourself in the background

Rule 23: Cite sources as well as findings

Rule 24: Proofread your papers

Rule 25: Request a critical reading of your paper by an adviser or

colleague

Rule 26: Avoid sexist language

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American Psychological Association
(APA) Guidelines

 Typing the paper

 Grammar
 Headings
 References

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 Typing the Paper

Rules of Format

Paper: Type your paper on one side only of heavy, white, 8

½ x 11 inch paper.

Margins: Set a 1-in. (2.54 cm) margin on all sides (top,

bottom, and both sides of each page). Use 12 pt. Times New
Roman Font. Do not right-justify lines (i.e., use a uniform
printed right margin, as in printed pages) or use proportional
spacing (i.e., different spacing between words on different
lines). Do not hyphenate words at ends of lines.
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Vertical Spacing: Double space between all lines, without
exception. There may be times when you are tempted to single
space. Do not succumb to the temptation. Your paper should be
double spaced throughout (including tables, figures, and references).

Horizontal Spacing: Begin each new paragraph by indenting five

spaces: type all other lines starting from a uniform left margin.
Leave (i) no space after internal periods in abbreviations (e.g.,
U.S.A.), (ii) one space after commas, semicolons, and periods, and
(iii) one space after internal periods in first and middle initials (e.g.,
H. J. Baumgartel).

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Pagination: Number pages consecutively, starting with the title page.
Use Arabic numerals. The only pages after the abstract that are not
numbered are the figures. Each figure should be numbered
consecutively on the back of the page. Number pages in the upper
right-hand corner to the right of the running head. Running heads are
the key words of the title, so that if pages become separated from the
manuscript, they can be returned to it later. In theses/dissertations,
running heads are not required; preliminary pages usually carry roman
numerals.
Rule of Legibility
Printed Output: Make sure that your printer, word processor, or
typewriter produces clear, sharp, black type. Faint copy is difficult to
read and annoying to the reader. Avoid using colored (e.g., red, green,
or blue) type, as it often does not reproduce well during the duplicating
process.
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 Grammar

Punctuation

Comma: A comma should be used

(1) before and and or in a series of three or more items—e.g.,

(affective, cognitive, and behavioral)
(2) before and after a nonrestrictive clause—e.g.,
(Item 5, which had lower factor loading, was deleted)
(3) to separate two coordinate clauses joined by a conjunction—e.g.,
(Fishbein and Ajzen proposed that, and we confirmed that)

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A comma should not be used

* before or after a restrictive clause—e.g.,

(The manager who completed the questionnaire also participated in the
experiment)
* between two parts of a compound predicate—e.g.,
(The results contradicted Fishbein and Ajzen’s hypothesis and indicated that
the effect was non-significant)
* to separate two independent clauses not joined by a
conjunction—e.g., (8 years 2 months; 3 min 40 s)

Semicolon: A semicolon should be used to

• separate two independent clauses that are not joined by a

conjunction
• separate items that already contain commas
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Colon: A colon should be used

(1) before a final phrase or clause that amplifies the material that
comes before it
(2) in ratios and proportions

Hyphen: A hyphen should be used in

(1) a compound with a participle if the compound precedes a noun

it modifies
e.g., The truth-telling participants …
(2) a phrase used as an adjective if the phrase precedes a noun it
modifies
e.g., A subject-by-subject analysis …

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(3) an adjective-noun compound that precedes and modifies another
noun unless the adjective is a comparative or superlative
e.g., High-anxiety group of managers …
(4) all compounds involving self
e.g., Self-report data, self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-confidence
(5) all compounds involving a number as the first element in which
the compound precedes a noun
e.g., Second-session results …
A hyphen should not be used in
(1) a compound with an adverb ending in –ly
(2) a compound involving a comparative or superlative
e.g., ―lie detector‖
(3) a modifier with a letter or numeral as the second term
e.g., The session 2 data …
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Dash:
A dash should be used to indicate an interruption in the
continuity or flow of a sentence. Dash is indicated by two
hyphens—e.g., -- (There should be no space before and after a
dash)
Double Quotation Marks should be used:
(1) to introduce a word or phrase used in a special or unusual way
(Use quotation marks only the first time a word is used.)
(2) to reproduce material that is quoted verbatim
(3) for names of articles

Quotation marks should not be used:

(1) to qualify statements or to hedge bets
(2) for long quotations, use block format
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Observe the following rules in using quotation marks:

(1) Omission of materials within a sentence of a quotation is indicated

by the use of three ellipsis points (…). Omission of material
between sentences of a quotation is indicated by four ellipsis
points (….). Ellipsis points should not be used at the beginning or
end of a quotation.

(2) Insertion of material within a sentence of a quotation is indicated

by brackets [ ]. Such insertions are usually used to clarify the
quotation for the reader or to make the grammar of the quotation
consistent with the sentence or paragraph in which it is embedded.

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(3) Two kinds of changes are permissible in quotations without any
indication to the reader: (a) The first letter of the first quoted
word may be changed from a capital to a small letter or vice
versa, and (b) the punctuation mark at the end of the quotation
may be changed to fit the syntax of the sentence in which you
have embedded the quotation. All other changes must be
indicated by ellipses or brackets.

(4) The source of a direct quotation should always be cited. Include

in the citation the author (s), year, and page number (s) of the
quotation. If the quotation is

(a) in the middle of a sentence, cite the source of the

quotation in parentheses immediately after the quotation;

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 (b) at the end of a sentence, cite the page number in parentheses
after the end of the quotation, but before the final punctuation
mark; (c) in block format, cite the page number in parentheses
after the end of the quotation and after the final punctuation mark.

(5) In general, commas and periods are placed inside quotation

marks and other marks of punctuation are placed outside, unless
they are part of the quoted material, in which case they are placed
inside.

(6) Long quotations may require permission from the owner of the
copyright on the material.

Single Quotation Marks should be used for quotations within

quotations.
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Parentheses: Parentheses should be used to

(1) set off items that are structurally independent from the rest of the
sentence--e.g., (see Table 1)
(2) enclose the date of references cited in the text or references
e.g., Ansari (2000)
(3) enclose abbreviations for previously cited items
e.g., (TTTT) [By the way, TTTT stands for Toliver Test of
Tolerance for Trauma]
(4) enclose letters or numbers enumerating items in a series
e.g., (i); (ii); (iii); (a); (b) …
(5) enclose the page number of a cited quotation
e.g., (p. 111); (pp. 420-421)

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(6) group terms in mathematical expressions
On the OB/Leadership/HRM Quizzes set by Dr. Mahfooz, there is
a correction for guessing, so that overall score is a function of
both right and wrong answers:
e.g., R – (W/4)

Brackets: Brackets should be used to

(1) enclose material inserted in a quotation by someone other than the

quoted writer or speaker
(2) enclose parenthetical material within parentheses

Spelling

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 Capitalization

When to use capitals: A capital letter should be used for

the first letters of
(1) noun followed by numerals or letters indicating membership in
an enumerated series (except for enumeration of pages,
chapters, rows, and columns)
(2) trade and brand names
(3) exact, complete titles of tests or instruments
(4) names of factors from a factor analysis
(5) names of university departments referring to specific
departments within specific universities
(6) major words in titles of books and journal articles mentioned in
the text
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(7) the first word in titles of books and articles cited in the
references of a management paper—e.g.,
Damager, M. A. (1976). A factor analysis of damaging
tactics. Journal of Management, 5, 420-421.
(8) all major words of journal names appearing in the
references of a management/psychology paper
(9) major words of table titles
e.g.,
Table 1
Descriptive Statistics and Zero-order Correlations
(10) first words of figure captions
e.g.,
Figure 1. A typical framework of damaging people.

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When not to use capital: A capital letter should not be used
for first letters of

(1) names of conditions or groups in an experiment

(2) names of effects taken from analyses of variance (ANOVA)
(3) names of laws, theories, and hypotheses

Italics

When to use italics: Italics are indicated in type-written manuscripts

by underlining the words or symbols to be italicized. But you may
italicize with word-processors.

5/11/2008 25
Italics should be used for

(1) titles of books, periodicals, and microfilms in the text

(2) introducing new, technical, or important terms
(3) letters, words, phrases, or sentences cited as linguistic examples
(4) letters used as statistical symbols or algebraic variables
(5) volume numbers in reference lists

When not to use italics: Italics should not be used for

(1) Common foreign words and abbreviations
e.g., a priori, post hoc
(2) Names of Greek letters, alpha and Beta
(3) Abbreviations: The National Phrenological Society (NPS)

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 Abbreviation

When to use abbreviations: Use abbreviations sparingly.

Explain each abbreviation the first time it is used.

When to use periods in abbreviations: Periods should be

used with

(1) initials of names

(2) abbreviations of state and territory names
(3) Latin abbreviations

5/11/2008 27
When not to use periods in abbreviations: Periods
should not be used with

(1) Capital-letter abbreviations, including acronyms

IQ, APA, EQ, FBI, ANOVA, AAM, SEM, LMX
(2) Abbreviations of metric units
(3) Abbreviations of nonmetric measurement

When not to use abbreviations: Do not use nonstandard

abbreviations or abbreviations that you make up. Do not use
the abbreviations S for subject, E for experimenter or O for
observer. Although these abbreviations were once standard,
they are no longer used.

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 Headings

APA editorial guidelines make provision for five levels of

headings:

(1) A centered headings typed all in capitals

(2) A centered heading with initial letters of main words capitalized
(3) An italicized centered heading with main words capitalized
(4) An italicized heading flush with the left margin, with initial
letters of major words capitalized
(5) An indented italicized paragraph heading with the initial letter
of the first word capitalized and the last word followed by a
period
For example,
5/11/2008 29
 STUDY 1
External Validation
Method
Measures
Organizational commitment questionnaire.

The complete set of five headings is usually needed only in very

long articles, for example, reports of multiple experiments or
surveys. Most papers require three headings. In that case, choose
second, fourth, and fifth headings. For example,

Method
Measures
Organizational commitment questionnaire.
5/11/2008 30
 Writing References (APA Style)

Citations in Text

Standard Format: References that are generally available

may be cited either directly or indirectly:
(1) If the author is cited directly, the date follows the author citation
in parentheses.
e.g., Ansari and Kapoor (1987) found that ingratiation is used
most often with the immediate boss.

(2) If the author is cited indirectly, both the author’s name and the date
are placed in parentheses--e.g., (Ansari & Kapoor, 1987).

5/11/2008 31
(3) If the date is mentioned in the text, it need not be repeated in
parentheses. In 1987, Ansari and Kapoor …
(4) If a work is cited more than once on the same page or within a
few pages, the date need not be repeated if there is no resulting
ambiguity.
(5) Multiple references to work of the same author published in the
same year are assigned lowercase letters to distinguish them when
they are cited. The letters should be assigned alphabetically, by
title name--e.g, Ansari (1988a, 1988b)

Multiple Authors: Follow these rules in citing work of multiple

authors:
(1) If a work has just two authors, cite both names and the date every
time you make a citation.

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(2) If a work has more than two authors, cite all names and the
date the first time you make the citation--in later citations, you
need only cite the first author, followed by ―et al.‖and the date.
If the two different pieces of work shorten to the same form,
then always cite the full references to avoid confusion.
(3) If citations with multiple authors are made directly, the names
of the authors are connected by ―and.‖ If citations are made
indirectly (that is, parenthetically), the names of the authors are
connected by ―&‖
e.g., Bhal and Ansari (2000); (Bhal & Ansari, 2000).

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 Examples of Writing References
Ansari, M. A. (1990). Managing people at work. Newbury Park, CA:
Sage.
Bhal, K. T., & Ansari, M. A. (2000). Managing dyadic interactions in
organizational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ansari, M. A. (1989). Effects of leader sex, subordinate sex, and
subordinate performance on the use of influence strategies. Sex
Roles, 20, 283-293.
Ansari, M. A., & Tandon, K. (1991). Organizational climate as a
moderator of the relationship between leadership styles and
influence strategies. Management and Labor Studies, 16, 175-
187.
Ansari, M. A. (1989). Leadership styles and influence strategies:
The moderating effect of organizational climate. In B. Fallon,
H. P. Pfister, & J. Brebner (Eds.), Advances in industrial
organizational psychology (Volume 5, pp. 59-65). North-
5/11/2008
Holland: Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. 34
 Examples of Writing
References (continued)
Ansari, M. A., Daisy, K. M. H., & Aafaqi, R. (2002, September). Fairness
of human resource management practices and commitment: The
impact of procedural justice climate. Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the British Academy of Management, London.
Ansari, M. A. (2003). Need for nurturant-task leaders in Malaysia: Some
empirical evidence. School of Management, University Science
Malaysia, Unpublished paper.
Ansari, M. A., Ahmad, Z. A., & Aafaqi, R. (in press). Organizational
leadership in the Malaysian context. In D. Tjosvold & K. Leung (Eds.),
Leadership in Asia Pacific: Managing relationships for teamwork and
change. Hong Kong: World Scientific Publishing.

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 Strategies to
Improve Writing Style

 Writing from an outline

 Putting aside the first draft, then reading it after a delay

 Writing a draft, preferably more than once

 Asking a colleague to critique the draft for you

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 Preparing Dissertation
and Thesis

 Journal Article  Thesis/Dissertation

 ―Copy‖ manuscript
 ―Final‖ manuscript
 Submitted to the Journal
 Submitted to Graduate
 Short life span
 120-words abstract School
 Long life span
 350-words abstract

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 Content Requirements

Preliminary Pages

 Title page
 An approval page
 An acknowledgment page
 A table of contents
 A list of tables
 A list of figures
 An abstract

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Introduction

 Similar to that in a journal article, except that the author of

a thesis/dissertation may be expected to demonstrate
familiarity with the literature by developing the
background more comprehensively

 The decision about length is not fixed—varies from

department to department and University to University

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Method, Results, and Discussion

 Similar to that in a journal article

Summary

 The trend is to substitute the abstract for a summary

References

 Generally, only references cited in the text are included in the

reference list.
 Students are required to be familiar with a broader spectrum of
literature than that immediately relevant to their research. In such
instances, the reference list may be called a bibliography.
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Appendixes

 Space and content requirements may limit the use of appendixes

in journal articles

 The need for complete documentation often dictates their inclusion

in thesis/dissertation

* Verbatim instructions to participants

* Original instruments (such as questionnaire)
* Details of sampled organizations
* Detailed statistical analysis

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 Manuscript Preparation Requirements

 Each university has requirements for the format of thesis and

dissertation

 The purpose of these requirements is to impose consistency in

manuscripts by individuals from various disciplines

 Reasonable exceptions may include:

-- Tables may be more readable if single-spaced

-- Justified margins may substitute for ragged right margins
-- End-of-line hyphens may be acceptable
-- The left-hand margin must be wide enough for binding
usually one-and-a-half in. or 4 cm
5/11/2008 42
 The sections of a report, thesis, or dissertation (Introduction,
Theoretical Framework, Methodology, Results, and Discussion)
are frequently regarded as chapters
* Each chapter begins on a new page
* Chapters may or may not include a chapter number
* In APA style journal articles, the introduction is not labeled;
the arrangement of pages in most theses or dissertations may require
that the introduction be labeled

 In a journal manuscript , figures, tables, and footnotes are placed at

the end of the manuscript; in theses and dissertations, such material is
frequently incorporated at the appropriate point in text as a
convenience to readers
5/11/2008 43
 In thesis and dissertation, pagination may usually carry lowercase
roman numerals

 Double spacing is required throughout most of the manuscript

* While single-spacing would improve readability, double-spacing
is usually encouraged
* Single-spacing can be used for table titles and headings, figure
captions, references, footnotes, and long quotations
* But double-spacing is required between references
* Long quotations may be indented five spaces or half in.
* Judicious triple- or quadruple-spacing can improve appearance
and readability (after chapter titles, before major subheadings, before
footnotes, and before and after tables in the text)

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 Converting Dissertation or
Thesis into a Journal Article

Trimming the Length

Writing Style

Interpretation of Data

5/11/2008 45
 Material for Oral Presentation

 Tell the audience what you are going to say, say it, and tell them
what you have said

 Concentrate on only one or two main points, and keep reminding

the audience what the central theme is by relating each major
section of the presentation to the theme

 Omit most of the details of scientific procedures, because a listener

cannot follow the same level of detail as a reader

 A verbal presentation should create awareness about a topic and

stimulate interest in it

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 Oral Presentation (continued)

 Do not read your presentation

 Having written notes in front of you while speaking will help you
keep your focus

 Rehearse your presentation until you can speak comfortably;

the best rehearsal is under condition similar to the actual presentation

 Look at your notes only occasionally

 You are prepared for the oral presentation when you can
succinctly tell your audience, eye to eye, what you want them
to know

5/11/2008 47
 References
American Psychological Association (2001) (5/e). Publication
manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Sternberg, J. (1993). The psychologist’s companion: A guide to

scientific writing for students and researchers. New York:
Cambridge University Press.

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