Please reference throughout and provide a full reference list at the end according to the Harvard referencing system.
-Who is responsible for employees’ motivation at work? Critically examine this question drawing on scholarly articles and theories discussed during your tutorials and lectures.
Essay guidelines
-Format:
The essay is to be of length not exceeding 2000 words, including footnotes, but excluding any contents’ page and appendices/annexes/bibliography. It should be
a) Printed on an A4 sized paper;
b) Font: Times New Roman, Size 12;
c) Line spacing: 1.5;
There are just a few points I think might help in the preparation of your essay. They are for general guidance only!
Planning Ahead
I. Plan your research and start your reading and writing weeks, not days, before the essay is due.
II. Essay as well as exam questions sometimes contain one or more of the following KEY WORDS, which are your main guide as to what is required:
(a) Analyse/Examine: consider the various parts of the whole and describe the interrelationship between them
(b) Compare: examine the objects in question with a view to –
(c) Contrast: examine the objects in question for the purpose of demonstrating differences
(d) Define: give a definition or state terms of reference
(e) Discuss: present the different aspects of a problem or question and draw a reasoned conclusion (f) Evaluate: examine the various sides of a question and try to reach a judgement
(g) Summarise: outline the main points briefly
III. Question the question itself. Consider its possibilities, scope and limitations. If you are unclear about what is wanted, ask for clarification.
Review all your materials and decide what your line of approach (argument, plan) will be.
Sort your ideas into a pattern that will best support the development of an argument. This is a very important part of your work. It is rarely sufficient to summarise material. Try to use techniques such as analysing (detecting unstated assumptions, seeing interrelationships between ideas, distinguishing facts from hypotheses), synthesizing (arranging ideas or information in such a way as to build a pattern or structure not clearly there before), and evaluating (making judgments about the value of material and methods for given purposes).
It is your responsibility, not your reader’s, to see that you make sense of your material.
An introduction outlining the question and the organisation of your answer is necessary. In the same way, a conclusion that sums up and clinches your argument is necessary. Remember that side and sub-headings may be helpful in some subjects. This may be achieved by a carefully planned outline. One basic framework for an outline is:
(a) Introduction
i. Comment on the subject of the essay (what do you understand by it? how is it important? etc). Define the terms of your discussion, note different perspectives and highlight which ones you intend to you use in your argument and why. Try to signpost, i.e. indicate the main points to be made and the order in which they will be presented.
(b) The Main Body
i Develop your line of argument through several main ideas.
ii. Support each idea with examples and illustrations drawn from the books, articles and any other sources you have used.
iii. As you develop your essay, make it clear how your arguments in one place relate to others you have used or will use.

(c) Engage in a critical reflection of your argument. This can be done in several different ways. You could either note the critiques of the approaches you used for instance or highlight alternative perspectives in order to draw out and acknowledge the weaknesses and limitations.
(d) Conclusion
i. Summarise the main ideas.
ii. Form a tentative answer by way of final comment to the question.
Be prepared to write more than one draft – in the first you will concentrate on content rather than style. In terms of tone, try to aim for a well-reasoned, considerate argument along the lines of ‘There are different perspectives… on the one hand…. on the other hand….considering each side, I argue that…. However, also have to acknowledge the critiques in the literature such as …’
Things to avoid
Try avoiding phrases such as ‘I think’, ‘I believe’, ‘In my opinion’. They are not concise or critical enough. Better ways to start a sentence are ‘In light of theory abc, I argue that’, Furthermore, drawing on perspective xyz, I conclude/suggest that xx’.
Referencing
While you write, make sure to correctly reference the works you use, this is particularly relevant with respect to the essay. I.e.: ‘According to Rahim and Afza (1993), there is a positive correlation between expert power and job commitment. This indicates…’
Or alternatively: There is a positive correlation between expert power and job commitment (Rahim and Afza, 1993), which indicates…’
Addition:
The textbook is an introduction to Organisational Behaviour and is meant to give you a good grounding and overview of the subject area. It will serve as a good starting point. But your job is to do research, read widely and construct a coherent argument which acknowledges the breadth of perspectives on the subject at hand and comes to a balanced concluson. You may wish to mention some of the early theories of motivation – such as Maslow’s work. However, I have now made it very clear that there is little research support for Maslow. It therefore does not make sense to write an essay on a theory that has not been supported. It does not mean you cannot use it, but you would want to look for more original research. In tutorial 1 we spent a lot of time working with original research and discussing how to identify good articles with google scholar. This should foreground your research into the essay question. Simply summarising from the textbook and making inferences from what you summed up, is not good enough for a high mark or indeed an above average one.
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