Professional Documents
Culture Documents
School of Management
Universiti Sains Malaysia
5/11/2008 1
Today’s Talk: Organization
The Six
Misconceptions
Strategies to
Improve Writing
Preparing
Thesis and
Q & A… Dissertation
References
5/11/2008 2
Six Common Misconceptions
About Management Papers
Misconception 2: The important thing is what you say, not how you
say it.
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Misconception 4: The main purpose of a management paper is the
presentation of facts, whether newly established or well established
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Rules for Writing the
Management Paper
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Rule 6: Don’t overexplain
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Typing the Paper
Rules of Format
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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
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A comma should not be used
(1) before a final phrase or clause that amplifies the material that
comes before it
(2) in ratios and proportions
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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
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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.
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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.
(6) Long quotations may require permission from the owner of the
copyright on the material.
(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)
Spelling
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Capitalization
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When not to use capital: A capital letter should not be used
for first letters of
Italics
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Italics should be used for
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Abbreviation
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When not to use periods in abbreviations: Periods
should not be used with
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Headings
Method
Measures
Organizational commitment questionnaire.
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Writing References (APA Style)
Citations in Text
(2) If the author is cited indirectly, both the author’s name and the date
are placed in parentheses--e.g., (Ansari & Kapoor, 1987).
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(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)
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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-
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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
5/11/2008 36
Preparing Dissertation
and Thesis
―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
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Method, Results, and Discussion
Summary
References
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Manuscript Preparation Requirements
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Converting Dissertation or
Thesis into a Journal Article
Writing Style
Interpretation of Data
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Material for Oral Presentation
Tell the audience what you are going to say, say it, and tell them
what you have said
5/11/2008 46
Oral Presentation (continued)
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.
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