essay writing

Assessment 2: Finishing your ethical

decision making essay

Due Friday 19 June MGMT861 – TRIMESTER 1 2020

Assessments two

This revision lecture adapted from the Week 6 lecture on Academic writing is to help you as you complete Assessment two, the essay on Ethical decision making and leadership and focusing in particular on New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Remember to keep to the rules: academic

writing

 has a formal structure to organise ideas and is concise and to the point

 supports ideas with references from academic literature.

 relates to theories, models and concepts, and causes of a given topic.

 often explores alternative explanations for these theories or events.

 follows traditional conventions with punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

Assessment

2: Structure

Your essay should include:

An introduction,

Essay body paragraphs, that combine to make up the THREE sections

Conclusion.

The introduction – Keep It Simple

 tells the reader what the essay is about and what the following paragraphs (called body paragraphs)

will discuss.

 may summarise very concisely, in a sentence or two,

your position on the issue (your argument or thesis

statement).

 is usually 10 -15% of the total word limit.

The introduction – like THE LIST on the outside of a box of chocolates…

 Cadbury Favourites chocolate box

 On the outside is a list that contains all the different chocolates you find inside the box

 The list should MATCH what is in the box

 The list should not include anything NOT in the box

 The list should not leave out anything IN the box

 Likewise with your introduction – no surprises in the

essay, nothing left out, nothing extra added: stick to

the list

The body

paragraphs: (about 80%

of the word count)

are used to support your argument/s.

contain a first sentence (sometimes called a topic sentence) that tells the reader what the paragraph is about.

explain or develop this idea in the rest of the paragraph.

Assessment 2 will have several body paragraphs in each of the THREE sections. Do NOT make your paragraphs too long!

Using the

ITAC method to

write a paragraph

Issue – Statement of the issue to be discussed

Theory – statement and definition of the theory/models/concepts that will be used

Application – application of the relevant theory/models/concepts to the issue being discussed

Conclusion – conclusion showing the rationale of the application section.

Using the ITAC method to write a paragraph

Example of how to structure a paragraph is the ITAC model:

 Issue – "This section will discuss ethical decision making and will consider two ..... "

 Theory – "Leadership can be defined as.... (ref)" "Crisis communication is... and... (ref)"

 Application – "Ardern can be described as a xxxx leader (ref) because she did yyy and zzz. What this shows is that ....

 Conclusion – "The type of communication used is therefore zzz and was shown to be .... in the ...."

Using ITAC – using a paragraph from Assessment one (Question 2a)

ISSUE: Herzberg's two-factor theory can be used to analyse the motivation at Perpetual Guardian.

THEORY: Herzberg’s theory(Daft & Marcic, 2017) states that there are two dimensions that impact an employee’s behaviour and motivation in the workplace – hygiene factors that contribute to dissatisfaction and motivators, which generate satisfaction. According to Herzberg characteristics of high satisfaction levels include a sense of achievement, recognition and responsibility.

ANALYSIS: Tammy Barker acknowledges motivator factors as she speaks positively of the new work week, stating she feels her needs are recognised and that there a sense of raised morale due to the increase in work-life balance. CEO, Mark Jephson, acknowledges hygiene factors: aspects leaders need to be aware of in order to avoid employee dissatisfaction, such as working conditions needing to be high and policies sensible, to avoid employee dissatisfaction (Daft & Marcic, 2017).

CONCLUSION: In summary both Herzberg's motivating factors and hygiene factors can be seen to be present at Perpetual Guardian due to the implementation of the four-day workweek.

Presenting

arguments in your

writing:

Be logical: Use a paragraph structure that ensures each sentence follows logically from the previous one.Be

Stay on topic: Always stay on topic, and try to keep one point, argument or topic per paragraphStay on

Edit: edit carefully, so that you avoid repetition.Edit

Evidence and excamples: Support every point, argument of topic with evidence and examples that are appropriately referenced: cited in text and included in your reference list.

Evidence

The conclusion

is the final paragraph, where you summarise the points made

in your essay body paragraphs.

does not include any new information.

is about 10 -15% of the total word limit.

You MUST include reference both in-

text and in a reference list

 Support your writing by published authors with in-text citations and a

reference list.

 Citing other authors’ work is critical as it shows

 you have read the literature,

 understood the ideas, and

 integrated these issues and varying perspectives into your assessment writing.

 All references should be in APA6th or APA7th style. This is the style used in

all AUT business writing.

‘Good’ and ‘Poor’ referencing…

Good referencing shows:

 Meticulous attention to detail.

 Direct quotes in “quote marks”

 Authors cited. Teamwork has been found to be effective when… (A, 2009; B; 2014; C, 2012)…

 Authors cited, year + page no. for quotes.

A (2009, p. 41) says that “teamwork is…”.

 Reference list is in APA 6th edition and in

alphabetical order.

Refer to the APA 6th edition guidelines from the AUT library

Poor referencing shows:

 Material is copied but no authors are cited = plagiarism.

 Material is copied but is not in “quote marks” = plagiarism.

 Authors are not always cited

 Authors may be cited but year, page number may be missing for

quoted material.

 Reference list not in alphabetical order, is inconsistent, e.g. use of

first names, missing volume number, all pages not included,

inappropriate use of ‘and/&’, et al., no DOI etc.

Referencing in Assessment two

 When using definitions and theories you must provide evidence e.g. for ethics, decision making, leadership, and communication.

 These definitions must be used from source rather than your textbook. For example:

Maslow, A., & Lewis, K. J. (1987). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Salenger Incorporated, 14, 987.

 Rather than:

Daft, R. L., & Marcic, D. (2016). Understanding management. Nelson Education.

 For assessment two you can use other appropriate material e.g. media articles, websites, reports.

 You do NOT need to use academic journal articles for this assessment

General tips

Address the issue: Make sure you read over your work

to check you have kept to the topic.

Structure your writing: Use the ITAC method here if you

like – Issue, Theory, Application, Conclusion – to structure

your paragraph.

Make sure when mentioning theories and concepts e.g.

ethics, leadership that you define them clearly and use

them correctly.

Keep to the context and use minimal quoted material

to support your argument.

Don't just DESCRIBE what happened. Use the theories to

analyse WHAT happened and then explain WHAT IT

MEANS – create an argument that is easy to follow.

And now for the

checklist...using the marking rubric CHECK OFF THESE THINGS...

Content – Section 1 (BOLD wording is

from the marking rubric – distinction section)

Clearly and accurately identifies at least two critical decisions (including one ethical), business or national leaders must make in covid19 crisis. Clearly and

accurately identifies stakeholder groups and skilfully analyses how their

needs must be met.

Questions to ask:

 Have I explained/defined decision making and ethical decisions?

 Have I identified TWO critical decisions?

 Is at LEAST one of them an ethical decision?

 Have I identified the needs of stakeholder groups?

Content – Section 2

Excellent analysis of Ardern’s leadership/management style.

Contrasts, compares, and evaluates other management or leadership styles in the crisis with perception and insight.

Questions to ask:

 Have I defined leadership and different leadership styles?

 Have I identified Ardern's style of leadership and explained WHY and HOW

she evidences this?

 Have I discussed other leader/s? And compared or contrasted them with

Ardern?

Content: Section 3

Perceptive discussion of features, functions, and importance of effective leadership communication in a crisis. Comprehensively identifies and evaluates features of Ardern’s communication.

Questions to ask:

 Have I defined communication theories/models that would be effective in a crisis?

 Have I identified how Ardern used different ways to communicate?

 Have I asked WHY these were used and how EFFECTIVE they were?

 Have I used relevant examples and quoted material in my analysis of Ardern's communication?

Introduction

 Have I included an introduction that introduces what is contained in the

essay NOT an overview of the Covid-19 global pandemic?

 Does it mention all THREE sections one-by-one and what is contained in

them?

Conclusion

 Have I written a final paragraph at the end that sums up my findings from

all THREE sections.

Literature and Referencing

Shows evidence of in-depth independent research and reading.

Illustrates answers with superb examples from reading/research integrated into the discussion.

Utilises high level critical thinking to justify their discussion/choices.

The conventions of academic writing (e.g. citations & references) follow APA 6th edition style meticulously.

Questions to ask:

 Have I included a range of material in referencing my answers?

 Have I referenced all statements I make in the essay and included/cited in the reference list?

 Is my reference list on a new page, heading centred, alphabetical, APA 6 or 7, hanging refs?

And

finally....

Have I done a spell check?

Have I read over my work

(several times) to check for

any other errors?