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Summary Topics in Business Economics
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Summary of the lectures and related literature. This summary covers 12 topics, along with the papers.
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Summary Topics in BusinessEconomics
Lecture 1: Academic writing
- Accounting+: Different theoretical perspectives on accounting.
- Important to know the different perspective to get the full picture.
- At least 8 different perspectives on organizations:
- View organizations as:
o Machines: How they work
o Organism:
o Culture: Every organizations has its own culture.
o Brains: All about information and how it is processed.
o Psychological prisons: Organizations can be very depressing and can be organized with a
toxic atmosphere which has a negative influence on persons.
o Instruments of domination: Instruments in hands of capital sector.
o Flux and transformation: Organizations don’t exist as sole entities, but everything changes
continuously.
o Political systems: Systems in which people have interest, organizations are a political arena.
- Organizational views of transfer pricing:
o Mainstream perspective: Rational perspective.
o Waterhouse: Four more perspective on transfer pricing:
Behavioural model:
Organizing model: Transformation and fluctuation.
Garbage can model:
Transaction costs model
- Accounting+: Presenting a lot of different perspectives.
o Accounting research is often based on economic theoretical perspectives, but it does not
need to be so…
o Accounting research is often performed on the basis of quantitative methods, but it does
not need to be so…
o Theoretical perspectives and research methods often correlate, but they do not need to do
so…
,Writing
- Two questions to consider before writing:
o Is my subject interesting and important and, if yes, for whom (science, practitioners)?
o What is my central argument (take-home message)?
- Four W’s (Webster & Watson):
o What’s new (how does this paper contribute to the literature)?
o So what (What is the impact and importance of the contribution)?
o Why so (what logic is behind the contribution)?
o Well done (how thorough is the contribution)?
- Clear organizations and development of arguments on the basis of:
o One theory or conceptual model
o Competing theories or assumptions
o Point of view
- Discuss the literature on the basis of concepts, not authors:
o Use Discuss something at one point in the paper and then not again concept matrix to
create an overview.
o Discuss the literature constructively, no ad hominem arguments.
o Discuss patterns in the literature, not specific articles.
- Use a clear text structuration (sections and paragraphs).
- Use subtitles and headings when necessary.
- Paragraphs are basic text units: Use key sentences at the beginning. All key sentences should add
up to the abstract of the paper.
- In the introduction, you give the basis of the paper:
o Begin with general and broad statements, than narrow down progressively to the specifics
of your paper (hourglass form).
o Do not plunge unprepared readers into your arguments, take some time and space to
introduce them step by step.
o Provide the take home message in the introduction.
- Writing style:
1. Omit needless words: Strive for accuracy and clarity:
Discuss something at one point in the paper and then not again: put together what
belongs together.
Avoid ‘mindless’ repetition of terms: Explain something correctly and completely
once, then do not repeat that in slightly different works.
2. Avoid metacomments: Outline the structure of your argument once, then not again. The
reader should be able to follow the line of your argumentation without ‘sign posts’. Do not
constantly repeat what you have done and what you will do in a paragraph.
3. Use repetition and parallel construction : Use repetitive ways of summing up or making
distinctions. Be boring, not creative: in the first place…, in the second place…, etc. Use
parallel construction to make comparisons of concepts or situations.
4. Write in plain language: Write in plain English. Be boring, be comprehensible.
5. Use ‘I’ and ‘We’ sparingly: Scientific texts are not editorials or opinion pieces in the
newspaper.
6. Avoid language bias: Use gender neutral language.
- Rewriting: Difficult and tedious:
, o Blind spot for your own work.
o Requires high and compulsive attention to details. Firstly, write a rough draft, then polish
and edit.
o Requires restructuring and discarding favourite phrases and sections. (Tip: first put the
favourite phrase in a footnote, then delete the footnote later on.
Bem, D.J. (1995) Writing a review article for Psychological Bulletin
Before writing
- The first question to ask about your intended review is whether it is likely to be interesting to a
general audience of psychologists.
- Second question: Has it a clear take-home message.
- Take risks in choosing topics, writing articles, and making submissions.
Writing
- First strive for accuracy and clarity:
1. Write simply and directly.
2. Organize the manuscript so that it tells a coherent story. This emerges from a coherent
conceptual structuring of the topic itself. For most reviews, it requires one of these three:
Guiding theory
Set of competing models
Point of view about the phenomenon
3. Avoid metacomments.
4. Avoid repetition and parallel construction
5. Terminology: Avoid jargon.
6. Ending: End with remaining questions (think back about the hourglass model).
Rewriting
- Rewriting is difficult for several reasons:
o Edit your own writing. You will not note ambiguities and explanatory gaps because you
know what you meant to say.
o It requires a high degree of compulsiveness and attention to detail.
o Rewriting usually means restructuring.
Rewriting again
- Often, papers are rejected and writers are invited to resubmit a revised version.
Webster, J. & Watson, R.T. (2002). Analyzing the past to
prepare for the future: Writing a literature review.
Beginning the article
- The introduction of the paper needs to motivate the topic, provide a working definition of the key
variables, and clearly articulate the paper’s contribution.
- The next section of the paper should provide more elaborate definition of key variables and set
the boundaries of the paper.
- Boundaries: Level(s) of analysis, temporal and contextual limitation, scope of the revies, and
implicit values.
Identifying the relevant literature
, - A complete review covers relevant literature on the topic and is not confined to one research
methodology, one set of journals, or one geographic region. A high-quality review is complete and
focuses on concepts.
- Structured approach to determine the source material for the review:
1. Start with the leading journals to let yourself lead to the major contribution.
2. Go backward by reviewing the citations for the articles identified in step 1 to determine
prior articles you should consider.
3. Go forward by using Web of Science to identify articles citing the key articles identified in
the previous steps.
Structuring the review
- Concepts determine the organizing framework of a review. (Make a concept matrix!)
Tone
- A successful literature review constructively informs the reader about what has been learned. Tell
the reader what patterns you are seeing in the literature.
- Do not fall into the trap of being overly critical.
Tense
- Use the present or past tense.
Theoretical development in the article
- A review should identify critical knowledge gaps and thus motivate researchers to close this
breach.
- Highlighting the discrepancy between what we know and what we need to know alerts other
scholars to opportunities for a key contribution.
Evaluating theory
- Good theories should be memorable and provide answers to why. They should explain, predict,
and delight.
Creating the discussion and conclusions
- Don’t end abruptly with a short summary.
Topic 1: Management control and organizational
behaviour
Paper Hofstede
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