The Organizational Behaviour in the UAE - Assignment Example

Running Header: Article Critique Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Literature review 4 Methods 6 Analysis 9 Weaknesses of the study 9 Limitation of the study 10 How the article contributes to the organizational behaviour and UAE 10 Conclusion 11 References 12 Article Critique Introduction This article analyses a method used in systematic communications management in technology driven change projects, however the introductory part does not show the background of the study. The introduction is therefore not clearly stated about the problem of the study as it should show what problem has been experienced by various firms in order to show how the problems can be eliminated. The writer then talks about the significance of the methods of communications management, which involves change processes. This study evaluates an article on the methods for systemic communications management in technology-driven change projects. The article is critically analyzed as well as the strengths and weaknesses in terms of style of writing, definition of problem, methodology used and the analysis. This subheading should have been the continuation of the introductory part since it tends to explain the background information of the various methods used in communication management. It introduced the changes and their effects and how employees can be affected by the changes in the organisational structure. The article shows that the transformation occurring in organizational functions can be effectively implemented if all the stakeholders develop an understanding of the new reality and if they possess the necessary practical knowledge. Burnes (1992) describes that employees should also be able to support the transformation and should adapt to the situation present. This part is well explained as the writer tries to show how systematic communication is important in any organisation. The paragraph that shows that the pressure to innovate is acting as a driver of corporate change is also well explained as the writer shows that the market environment, the changing customer needs and the innovative technologies are some of the factors that influence changes in the organizational set up. This paragraph is well explained and shows the drivers of change however, the writer should have expounded on the data and should show how every factor leads to corporate change. The paragraph headed by project organisation as the classical form to introduce innovations does not involve the organisation of the project. Instead, the paragraph shows the strategic and operational goals of the IT projects. It also shows an example of companies which fail to complete their projects or where the problems fail to be successful. The paragraph also lacks a systematic grammatical flow especially at the last sentences of the paragraph which show the many authors who have concluded that over 70 percent of the BPR projects fail to yield the expected outcome. The writer has also not shows what most of the initials in the paragraph stand for, for example DAX, CRM and BPR, which may confuse readers who may not know what each of these initials, mean. Literature review The literature review of the study is not specified however, the part that shows the significance of communication in the successful structuring of corporate change gives much literature about the study. The study does not show what other researcher have found out about the topic and the part headed by the significance of communication structuring is not well explained in the study. The section shows the systematic analysis and the comprehensive analysis of the project success factors. The section also shows how Lechler analysed the success factors for example through 44 empirical studies which evaluated about 5,000 projects. This part seems to be analysing the work of other researchers and explaining the method they used in coming up with their own findings. I find that the writer of the article is not original because they should have stated their own methods of analysis. This part is also not supposed to be under the literature review or under the heading stated but should be placed at the methodology section. In this article there are many subheadings whose contents do not talk about what the heading is all about for example the heading that shows the lacking methods for the communications management in projects. The section lists the name of authors alphabetically instead of listing the methods of communication used or what those authors say about the methods of communications management in projects. These authors listed are about twenty and the writer does not show what is examined in the texts. Instead the writer would have talked about the methods of communications giving evidence from the texts as stated by the authors that have been listed in this section. This shows that the article lacks a continuous flow and the one reading have to pause there and imagine what the writer was implying. After this section the writer gives the conclusion part which state that continuous market pressures forces companies to introduce new innovations which are done through projects. This conclusion to begin with is wrongly placed since it is in the middle of other literature part. It also shows that market pressures force innovations yet the study does not explain the market forces in details and how they affect the organisational set up. The sentence found in the conclusion part which states “it is this deficit we aim to address with the method presented in this paper”. To begin with, the sentence is grammatically wrong and secondly, this sentence should not be at the conclusion section since it shows what the study aims at achieving rather than what the study have achieved. The sentence should have therefore been put at the introduction part to show the reader the objectives of the study. There is also another heading that shows the analysis framework and definition of terms. The contents found in this section however do not match the title of the subheading because there are no terms to be defined. The analysis framework shows a diagram involving change project, effectiveness controlling and two stages of implementation plan. The diagram shows that the first part of implementation describes the technical change which materialises in the form of changed processes, new IT and new organisational structures. The other part of implementation shows the necessary change of mindsets. The sentence that follows that state, “the terms Implementation I and II were originally introduced by (e.g. Schmid 2001, 48f.) and are incorporated here (in respect, please also see Figure 1).” The whole of this sentence does not have any benefit to the study because first it is grammatically wrong. The part of the in-text citation should not have been started by “e.g.” and should not have brackets as it is indicated in the study. Methods The research questions as shown in this study should be placed at the introduction part of the study. This is where the researcher set question that will be answered at the end of the study. Questions such as which specific communication activity steps are necessary and which criteria will determine whether the method can be used successfully for systematic communications management should be asked at the beginning of the study. The research question part should also contain the aims of the study and the researcher should include questions that critically answer the topic of the study. The research methodology should also be designed in a way that will be capable of answering the research questions. The methodology of the study shows that the holistic approach will be used which include St. Gallen-Management -Concept. The part that indicates the research methodology in this article does not show what types of methods were used in collecting data. The section instead shows some literature about business management and how one should understand the behaviour of the social systems. This shows that the writer does not understand what should be comprised of the methodology section. The section also does not make much sense to the reader as it indicates that a central building block of communications management is the situation-specific communication in the corporate context. The writer also shows that the term communications management tries to integrate concepts from management theory, business communication, psychology and the communications sciences and thus develop new ideas and methods for practical application. First, these sentences have no benefit to an academic learner since they are not grammatically correct and they are also not particular to the subject of the study. The section that includes a method for communication in projects should not have existed because first is only having three sentences which do not explain the heading at all. The writer did not show what method is effective to use to improve communication in projects. This section should have also shown other methods used in the projects and how they contribute to the success of the project. Burnes (1992) describes that the diffusion research tries to show the pace of changes in an organisation. For example the article shows that social, political and economic systems change at a linear pace while technology changes at exponential speed. This shows that technological changes at a faster pace than human beings can adapt. This part of the article that talks about the diffusion of technology should have been at the literature review section and under the analysis of technological changes and how they influence communication. This sections talks about the Rogers’ model which defines diffusion as the process of communication in which innovation is implemented through certain channels over time (Kerzner 2001). Change management section should have been placed in the literature review section since this is one of the variables of the study. Change management will enable the researcher to come up with better factors that influence communications management. The section however is not well explained as it does not show how this helps in project management. The writer only shows where the information about change management can be retrieved without explaining what each author views the concept of change since not all would have the same aspect of change management. The other part of the article is the communication science where the writer shows that this provides different communication models that reduce complexity in project management. The section only consists of only two sentences which are wrongly referenced for example “The best-know formula is probably that of Lasswell (who says what in which channel to whom with what effect) from 1948 (Lasswell 1948).” The in-text citation in this sentence has been repeated and the message is also not clearly understood. The corporate communication part shows how communication is useful in accomplishing organisational change. The criterion of development requirements for the presented method is a subheading in its own. The subject is talk about the design used in developing simplicity, communicability and the effectiveness. The section also tries to explain what a method is for example those used in demonstrating fundamental theories or in describing the rules of use such as who? when? what? and how?. Analysis To begin with the study does not start with a good introduction that shows the background of the study. The introduction part should also include the problem statement stating the objectives of the study and the aims of the researcher. However, in this article we find that the introduction part just has few sentences which are not well connected to the topic of study. The aims of the study are also placed in a different section of the article and they are not well stated. The research questions which should also be at the introduction part are also placed at their own heading and the writer does not show how these questions were formulated. The methodology used to collect data is also not included in the study. The study includes many subheadings with very few sentences and some of these sentences do not explain what the heading is all about. The writer should have tried to reduce on the number of subheadings and to only have a few which would include introduction, methodology, literature review and conclusion of the study. These subheadings tend to be confusing and have no benefit to both the academic learner. Weaknesses of the study The study’s readability is poor since the writer has included present and past tense in one sentence therefore the reader may not understand the concepts right. The difficulty level of this study is where the writer fails to discuss a subject according to the subheading stated. The reader may find difficulty while reading a grammatically wrong sentence and thus the study does not have much benefit both to the academic learning institutions and to practitioners. The study has so many headings some of which are repeated or mean the same for example there is diffusion process and diffusion research. These two have the same data and therefore there was no need of repeating the same analysis Limitation of the study The difficulty encountered while collecting information above this study involves difficulty in evaluating what the writer meant to mean for example in sections which totally can not be understood. It is also difficult to find the best part of the study that has benefits to the academic learning or to various practitioners. The study does not follow the correct style of writing for example the English used in the study is both UK and US English mixed. The Harvard style of referencing is also not adhered to in the article. The acknowledgement part of the article should be at the beginning before the introduction but not after the conclusion part. How the article contributes to the organizational behaviour and UAE This article is in some way beneficial to the organisational behaviour and to countries in UAE. The study shows how communication management is important in implementing technology- driven change. This study sensetises the organisation on the need to manage workplace communication and to improve communication systems in order to ensure effective projects are set up. The organisational behaviour is also changed for example by understanding how change is managed. The article shows that change can not be separated like discipline but is a synthesis of various disciplines. The organisation as well as the members of UAE learn that communication should be designed basing on the identification of the innovators and imitators. The organisations are also shown how to use the diffusion method which involves communicating innovation through certain channels. These channels communicate to members of a social system for example in an organisational set up or people from one region such as UAE. The diffusion process also shows various stages which include innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Organisations and UAE countries are capable of determining which stage they are at in their innovations once they utilise the information given in this article. Conclusion The above study shows insights of various theoretical and practical disciplines. The study adds interest and relevance to the organisational behaviour and to UAE members due to the direct cooperation with the industry. This promotes transfer of knowledge therefore reducing the dangers of practical methods. The theoretical approaches used in this study are beneficial though they lack originality and lack of proper explanation. The evaluation of the study shows that it has no benefit to the academic learning. This is because the article would not benefit students as it will only confuse them therefore leaving them with issues. The practitioners wishing to use the above article in their profession would also not benefit since the study’s readability is poor in most sections and below quality. References Burnes, B 1992, Managing change, 2nd ed., Pitman Publishing, London. Kerzner, H 2001, Project management a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling, 7th ed. Wiley. Read More