Individual Assignment

This assignment will give you the opportunity to go beyond the bounds of what is covered in this course. I want you to analyze and critique a current article (no more than 6 months old) from a newspaper or a business magazine. The article should be related to any of the topics covered in Organizational Behaviour. Once you have selected the article, your task is to research whether the article’s information is accurate and based on theory and/or empirical research. The purpose of this assignment is to develop your critical analysis skills. You will learn to evaluate the extent to which the information and/or recommendation presented in a news story is valid. Note, the purpose is not to discover whether the information is true or false, but whether it is supported by valid research and theory. Think of the assignment as practice for the potential occasion when your future boss asks you whether an idea presented in an article is valid and therefore could be applied in a company or, whether it lacks support, and therefore should not yet be trusted.

Below you will find information on what type of article you should analyze, what type of articles can be used to validate the information in the article, and the format requirements for the assignment.

Sources for the Assignment

Selecting a News Story
You may choose a current article (published within the last 6 months) of any length from a non-academic source as long as the topic discussed in the article is focused on managing people in the workplace. Thus, the article must relate to the topics covered in MGT B23. A non-academic source constitutes articles that are not published in peer reviewed journals. I recommend that you find the article in either a newspaper (e.g., The Globe and Mail, The New York Times), or a magazine (e.g., Macleans, Forbes, Time, Fast Company).

Validating a News Story
In order to determine whether the recommendation published in the news story is valid, you must compare