The critical review should include the
following:
1) The titles of the articles being reviewed using the
Harvard referencing system
2) An outline of the contents of each article
3) An explanation of the research method employed by
the authors and …
4) … an assessment of its advantages and disadvantages
5) A discussion of the findings of each article and …
6) … their contribution to the relevant debates within
Organisational Design
7) An overall assessment of each article, giving reasons
for your views
A critical Review of two articles relating to aspects of
contemporary organisational design
1
Organisational Design is extremely important area of
knowledge: it studies organisations and thus is
relevant to all of us, as well as influenced by many
different organisations at the same time – as
employees, customers, stakeholders, etc.
Organisational Design is concerned in particular with
how organisations can be designed in order to
achieve effective and efficient performance and how
they relate to the environment in which they operate.
Importance of subject (Point 6)
2
This work is aimed to present the critical review of two
articles published in “Organization Studies” journal,
relating to important aspects of contemporary
Organisational Design: corporate social responsibility
and bureaucracy. The first article, “Corporate Social
and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis”,
produced by Mark Orlitzky, Frank L. Schmidt and Sara
L. Rynes and published in 2003, presents the study on
correlation between corporate social and financial
performances and examines, whether concentration
on corporate social responsibility issues can help
business to win more profit. …
Article outline (Point 2)
2
… The second article, “The Persistence of Bureaucracy
– A Meta-Analysis of Weber’s Model of Bureaucratic
Control” by Eric J. Walton, published in 2005, tries to
determine the existence of the bureaucratic model
and questions the extent to which Weber’s model of
bureaucratic control is relevant to contemporary
organisations.
Article outline (Point 2)
3
Since the research method used in both studies is
meta-analysis, it is important to define it. According
to O’Rourke (2007), meta-analysis is the technique of
summarizing results from different previous studies. It
was used since the 17th century, but first formalized
in 1861 by G. Airy: “Summarizing results from
different studies eventually became the formalized
technique we refer to today as meta-analysis”. The
application of this method to the studies presented in
articles will be discussed and described further in
reviews.
Research methods (Point 3)
4
In brief, this work will present the review and overall
assessment of two articles. Furthermore, it will
discuss the findings of each article and their
contribution to the relevant debates within
Organisational Design.
Refer back to Question
Conclusion
21
To sum-up, two articles of a significant importance to
Organizational Design field were described and
reviewed. Firstly, Orlitzky’s research on Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) and its implication for modern
organizations were described. In comparison to the
second article, this one seems to be perfect. It has no
criticisms at all, and what is more it has been positively
reviewed and was the winner of Moskovitz prize. With
one voice, it can be said it represents an outstanding
research method that is relevant to the social
investment field. The second article also represents a
research important for modern organizational design. …
21
… It showed that Weber’s model of bureaucratic control
is still relevant in the organisations. However, it had to
be criticised due to the small number of studies. Such a
limited research was, nonetheless, able to draw upon
strong conclusions. All in all, both articles talk about the
fields that a modern organization may find crucial. Not
only CSR, but also bureaucracy is very important to the
organizational design field. The articles should be
essential for every manager that wants his company to
be successful.
22
Since Organisation Design shapes the nature of the
contemporary organisations, it shapes the nature of the
world we are living in, and thus it shapes the nature of
our lives. That is why it is an essential area of knowledge
that every organization should consider.
References
Barnett, Michael L. and Robert M. Salomon. (2003)
"Porous, Pious, and Prosperous: The Curvilinear
Relationship Between Social Responsibility and Financial
Performance”, Working Paper
Liston-Heyes, Catherine (2007) “Corporate Social
Responsibility and the Political Environment”, Journal of
Corporate Citizenship, Vol.25, pp. 1-14.
Griffin, Jennifer J., John F. Mahon (1997) “The Corporate
Social Performance and Corporate Financial
Performance”, Business & Society, Vol.36, pp. 5–31.
Ivanova, Y.V. (2007) “Middle Managers in a StateControlled Economy: How they Implement their
Decisions”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 22,
No. 4, pp. 392-410.
Margolis, J. D.,Walsh, J.P. (2001) “People and Profits?
The Search for a Link Between a Company’s Social and
Financial Performance”, Organization & Management,
Vol 22, No. 4, pp. 23-56.
Merton, R. K. (1940) “Bureaucratic Structure and
Personality”, Social forces, Vol.18, pp. 560 -568.
O'Rourke, Keith (2007) "An historical perspective on
meta-analysis: dealing quantitatively with varying study
results", Social Medicine Vol.100, No 12, pp.579–582.
Pfeffer, J. (1997) “New Directions for Organization
Theory”, Oxford University Press, New York.
Price, J. L. Mueller, C. W. (1986) “Handbook of
Organizational Measurement”, Pitman, Boston, MA.
Pugh, D. S. Hickson, C. R. Hinings, C R. Turner, C. (1968)
‘”Dimensions of Organizational Structure”,
Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 13, pp.65-105.
Selznick, P. (1949) “TVA and the grass roots”, University
of California Press, Berkeley, CA.
URL:
http://marcorlitzky.webs.com/CV/CV2010pubbdweb2.p
df/ (Accessed 12/11/2010)
URL: http://www.sristudies.org/Orlitzky+et+al+(2003)
(Accessed 9/11/2010)
Walton, E. J. (2005) “The Persistence of Bureaucracy – A
Meta-Analysis of Weber’s Model of Bureaucratic
Control”, Organization Studies, Vol. 26; pp. 569-600.
Weber, M. (1946) “From Max Weber: Essays in
Sociology”, Oxford University Press, New York.
Wood, Donna (2005) “Corporate social performance
revisited”, The Academy of Management Review, Vol.
16, No. 4, pp. 691-718.
Overall this is a very good piece of work –
well researched, well structured and well
presented. The review of the first article is
excellent; perhaps the review of Walton’s
article needed a bit more explanation of his
evidence for the conclusions he reached
about bureaucracy. You have also made a
very good attempt to place the articles within
the wider Organisational Design context.
Also a very well written assignment.
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