Organisational Behaviour in the UAE - Article 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 3  Methods used in data collection 5 Analysis 6 Limitations of the study 7 Strengths of the study 8 Weaknesses of the study 8 How the article contribute to organisational behaviour and UAE 9 Conclusion 10 References 12 Article critique Introduction The above study analyses the article regarding relationships among teamwork behavior, trust, and perceived team support as well as team commitment. The factors that influence team members’ commitment are also analysed in order to come up with the factors that determine teamwork behaviours, their trust and support. Eisenberger et al. (1986) describes that team commitment includes linking ideas with other team members and it also involves working in loyalty in a way that there exist some ties among group members. According to this article, a study was conducted where 548 questionnaires were issued to various teams that were participating in the competition. According to the data collected, teamwork behaviours, trust and team support were said to influence team commitment. Literature review The literature review of the article does not show the statement problem that is being discussed because the article should have shown what problem is being faced by various organisations in order to carry out this research. The literature review lacks proper interpretation of terms for example when discussing how teamwork applies trust in order to achieve team commitment. For example the writer suggests that trust can be even treated as a representative of all interpersonal relationships. This statement lacks originality and it is not well explained of how trust affects team commitment. The article shows that there is a positive correlation between trust and commitment and then says that findings gained in some studies demonstrated an insignificant relationship between the two variables. The above statement does not critically explain the relationship and the writer is not clear about how each variable affects the other. The study lacks originality for example trust is defined as the way one person perceives the role performance of another person to be reliable. The paragraph “in this study we examined factors of team commitment, including teamwork behaviours, trust and perceived team support. Since trust is critical within a team, our aim was to determine whether or not teamwork behaviour significantly influences trust. Finally, from the perspective of social exchange theory, the aim in this study was to determine if the members’ perceived team support would influence the interactions and trust among the individual members of a team”. Firstly, this paragraph should have been at the introduction part where the writer would have talked about what the study is all about. Secondly the paragraph lacks grammatical flow since it is written in both past and present tenses and thirdly there is lack of creativity as the writer does not show how the above variables help in the study. The research framework conducted that was based on motives and literature review and shown in figure 1 should not have been under the methods since it shows the findings of the literature review. The figure should therefore be drawn before the explanation of it is illustrated. The explanation is also not clear because it only shows what the arrows point at but fail to show how this is linked to team commitment. The literature review part is also too shallow and lacks enough evidence from other researchers or scholars.  Methods used in data collection The methodology should have been better arranged showing the data collection tools and techniques. The other stage should have shown why the researcher chose those techniques for collecting data. All the techniques should be listed stating the effectiveness of each and the limitation. The methodology part of the article should also come before the literature review in order to bring about originality. This is by showing that data written in the literature review was collected using the methods above. The methods part of the article shows that questionnaire surveys method was used to collect information regarding the study. The questionnaire method is different from the survey method and therefore the writer should have differentiated the two or should specialise exactly which method was applied. The writer states that the team used was the one joining national competitions in Taiwan and this shows that the sample collected could not have yielded much benefit to the study. Instead the researcher would have used a dynamic team that has been in the competitions for a long period of time in order to collect more data. The researcher was not ready in conducting this study because the article shows that the participants were contacted one week before their competition. The method used in contacting the participants is also not clear because the writer talks of email or telephone. This should have been email and telephone because it is something that has already been done. The method used in contacting them is also not the best to use because the researchers would have used other methods for example by visiting their place of work and analysing a particular group that would effectively contribute to the study. The questionnaire were distributed to about 548 participants but only 206 responded showing that the ones who responded were not half the total number. This shows that the finding collected could be wrongly assumed since a few number of people participated. The procedure shown that was used to collect information is also not clear where the writer talks of 13 items for teamwork behaviour and 11 items that measure trust. Analysis The discussion section of the article that shows the relationship among perceived team support, teamwork behaviour, and trust and team commitment should have been at the literature review section. This is because it is a continuation of the discussion of team commitment. The discussion part shows that perceived team support has more influence on team commitment and this is only according to the hypotheses test that was conducted. The paragraph “ with regard to the total effects of the independent variables on the dependent variables, perceived team support was the variable most influential on team commitment.” The writer has first mixed the tenses and should have shown that perceived team support seems to be the most influential variable according to the research carried out. This would have been a bit original and make sense by using reported form of writing and involving evidence from the data collected. The relationship between teamwork behaviour and trust section should also have been analysed at the literature review part since it analyses the subject of the study. The article does not have the findings or the study and the conclusion part. This should be included in order for the reader to get to understand what the writer feels about the study. The writer should also propose several recommendations that could be used by organizations in UAE in order to improve their team work abilities. Limitations of the study The limitation of the study is not included in this article which should include the challenges that the researcher faced while collecting data. The writer should analyse the methods that were used to collect data in this case the structural model test, the reliability and variability method used in collecting data. The advantages, disadvantages and the challenges faced in collecting data about the study should be shown in order for other researcher to be aware of the best method to use whenever there is need to collect data. The data analysis part of the article which shows the various methods used to carry out the reliability and validity test does not show how the researcher comes up with the values for example the composite reliability which is shown to be 0.8 and the other one which is the average variance extracted is shown to be greater than 0.5 above the threshold value. In this analysis the researcher just approximates values and comes up with a conclusion that the test shows that there is good reliability and validity in the latent variables. The structural model test used should also be simplified in a way that will be understood by other researchers. The writer also does not show which are the dependent variables and the independent variables in the study. This therefore leaves the person reading the article confused not knowing exactly which variables are stable. The references of the study are not well referenced for example the writer has not followed the Harvard referencing guide. The in-text references are also not well inputted for example in the sentence “the measurement of team commitment was based on the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ; Bishop & Scott, 2000) and there were eight items.” This input reference is wrongly placed since it is put under one bracket with the initials for (OCQ). Such mistakes make the reader confused while reading the article and therefore show that the study lacks originality. The writer has also mixed used italics at wrong places for example in showing the perceived organisational support. This has been used at various parts of the study yet they do not seem to contribute any benefit to the study. Strengths of the study These factors will encourage team members and improve their commitment to their job thus improving the organisational productivity. This shows that the level of support that members get influence their future attitudes and behaviours and therefore they are able to share various ideas within the team. The reliability and validity model used in determining the effects of the variables could be applied in any organisation but should be used by statistics that would not use assumptions. The results of the study should also be explained to the managers so as they can also explain to their team members in order to enable the rest of the team to understand how the values are attained. Weaknesses of the study This shows that the article is generally weak at various point of analysis. The article’s grammar should be improved in order to create a flow and to enable the person reading to have interest in the subject that is being discussed. The article is also not well organised for example the first page of the study is wrongly done. First, there is an abstract that shows what the study is all about and how the data was collected. There is also a short paragraph after that defines team commitment giving an example. At the bottom of the page there is information showing where the publisher of the study are situated and the page numbers are at the bottom while in the other pages the page numbers are at the top. This shows improper editing of the article before being released to the general public. The location of the publishers should also have been placed at its own page rather than being mixed up with the abstract of the study. How the article contribute to organisational behaviour and UAE The above article contributes to the organisational behaviour in various ways. These ways are included in the discussion shown about the relationship among the variables. Teamwork behaviour is said to involve coordination, cooperation and sharing information. Members working in an organisation are sensitised on the need to cooperate and share their ideas with their team members in order to maintain team commitment. The article also enable team members to develop trust for their colleagues as it is explained using two models which include affective-based trust and cognitive based trust. The article says that when individuals develop trust with their colleagues with in the team then they work more comfortably since other members of the team fill the roles of psychological comfort and models. The study also contributes to development of UAE countries since organisations found there are able to utilise the study in order to improve their organisational behaviour. This is effectively used once managers implement the culture and train their workers on the need to observe trust, perceived team support and by observing the right behaviours while at work. Team commitment can also be improved by effective training of members to become the valuable asset in the organisation. Organisations in the UAE should also choose the developed leaders who are capable of training their team members in how to maintain trust and team behaviour. Team commitment can also be improved through the provision of good working conditions. It is therefore important for UAE firms to observe that their team members are satisfied with the job conditions. Since perceived team support is seen as a factor that significantly influence the commitment of team members, the UAE organizations should ensure that their managers pay attention to show support to their team members. This support can be shown using various methods such as promoting good working conditions, offering promotional systems and providing job protection (Park et al. 2005). Conclusion Though this article has some strengths for example how it benefits the organizational behaviour and the UAE, it also have various weaknesses which do not benefit the academic learners or even practitioners who would be interested to use the study in their research work. Most of the models used in collecting data are assumptions and they are not well explained in the study. The researcher should have therefore used simple methods in collecting data such as issuing questionnaire and analysing the outcome using a simple model for example by tallying. Lack of originality of the article makes the reader not get interested in completing the article. The articles readability is poor and therefore has no benefit to the academic learning and practitioners. In order for the article to be considered as original, the writer should ensure that all the variables indicated in the study are well explained. The writer should then show how these variables influence team commitment and finally the relationship among the variables should be determined to come up with the variables that mostly affect team commitment. References Eisenberger, R Huntington, R Hutchison, S & Sowa, D 1986, Perceived organizational support, Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 71, pp. 500-507. Park, S Henkin, A & Egley, R 2005, Teacher team commitment, teamwork and trust, Exploring associations, Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 462-479. Read More