Critical Reading:

What is critical reading?

We started our examination of critical reading in session 2 of the manual and supported this with the second on-line tutorial. In this session we developed our thinking and skills with a formal presentation which highlighted:

Purpose

Argument

Evidence

Language

Conclusions

Quality of the article as an article, rather than the quality of the content

We then went on to examine these features in relation to one article:

Dickson, M.W., Castano, N., Magomaeva, A., Den Hartog, D. (2012) Conceptualizing Leadership across Cultures. Journal of World Business 47: 483-492.

We will follow the same procedure as we did in the previous session of linking the points raised in this written overview to a critical response to the following article:

Daverth, G., Hyde., & Cassell, C. (2016) Uptake of Organisational Work-Life Balance Opportunities : the Context of Support. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 27 15, 1710-1729

Throughout this programme I will select articles from across the range of LBS postgraduate programmes. In this case, I have focused on an issue of direct relevance to our Human Resource Management (HRM) and our Human Resource Development (HRD) programmes. This is of direct relevance to work in the Human Resources field. However, it will also be of interest to all of you who are learning about management and the interplay between individuals, groups and institutions. It develops our socio-psychological approach to management and adds important concepts to our thinking such as culture and cultures. We will pick up on culture in specific sessions and as a constant theme throughout this programme. I will choose articles carefully to represent all of the different programmes delivered in LBS.

Critical Reading:

As indicated in our previous session we are adopting an approach to reading which makes our critical approach explicit before it becomes implicit. In other words, it is a clear and deliberate attempt to read critically. When this becomes the norm, or in other words what we do normally, the explicit approach becomes implicit. It is then what we do or how we read normally and naturally. As part of this learning process let us now revisit and develop some of our earlier points:

Being inquisitive: asking questions before we start reading

One helpful starting question is What is the purpose of the article? We will use the term article as this is the major type of reading you should be doing. You can change or reword this question to what is the point of the article? Or a similar question which may be even more helpful is that of what is the author trying to make me believe or convince me of?

These questions will take us to an acknowledgement that an argument should be apparent in the article. An argument is a proposition or statement which expresses a judgement or an opinion. If the proposition is stated as an argument then the writer is trying to convince us that he or she is right and that we should be convinced and agree with the argument

Recognising that there is an argument should lead us to ask the question, do I believe this and why? The why question will then take us to a very interesting set of explicit critical questions

What is the argument based on?

Is it largely based on the power and authority of the expert?

This question can now take us back briefly to our consideration of power and authority (please remember our spiral curriculum model-introducing, developing, moving away and coming back to our topics and hence developing our learning)

Please remember our discussion of Max Weber and power and authority (see the manual, part one). Power is the ability to influence people and things. Where does this power come from? According to Weber it emanates from an individual s role or their personal authority, or their moral authority. Or, and I have highlighted this point deliberately here, from their expertise. In academic journal articles we will be influenced, almost exclusively, by the expertise of the writer. How does the writer of an academic journal article demonstrate their expertise? There are a number of answers to this question. We have mentioned some of them in the earlier session. I will remind you of these and add new ideas and developments before we read the article together.

Expertise:

Status: status is an interesting word. It is one warranting some consideration. In academic circles status refers to the position an individual holds, their eminence in a particular field, their standing or their prominence. In an article this is explicitly highlighted in the short biographical details found at the beginning of the article. Here, there are normally details of title, role and organisations which employ the author.

It is a good starting point in considering the level of expertise of the writer. Possibly more importantly, expertise is also provided through reputation. When you become familiar with the body of knowledge in your field you will start to recognise the key thinkers, writer and theorists.

If your article has been written by one of these writers you will recognise their level of expertise. We have used the word seminal on several occasions throughout this programme. Please start to use this terminology in your thinking and writing. If you come across key thinkers or seminal writers please respond to them. Recognise them and refer to them as seminal or original thinkers. However, even seminal writers may not always be right. In fact many seminal writers become the focus of much criticism.

Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge such people as being key contributors to a subject or body of knowledge. In the on-line session 2 article I made such a point. The topic under discussion in the article is leadership and cross cultural transfer. As I indicated look at the bibliography. It may become apparent who the key writer or experts are by examining the number of entries in the bibliography. In this example I highlighted the work of Gert Hofstede. There are a number of references to Hofstede.

If you are familiar with leadership, national cultures and cross cultural transfer you will be familiar with Hofstede s seminal and ongoing work. You will also be familiar with the followers and critics of Hofstede s theories. He has a significant reputation. Look for such writers and theorists in your specific programmes and build a catalogue of references and key thinkers.

The Article:

Daverth, G., Hyde., & Cassell, C. (2016) Uptake of Organisational Work-Life Balance Opportunities : the Context of Support. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 27 15, 1710-1729

I have attached a PDF copy of the article. Please refer to the article as we work through the following points.

Q: As a critical reader what does page 1 tell us?

The Title:

It is an interesting title. It addresses a practice and concept of particular relevance and importance to human resource development. It may be of relevance to scholars interested in workplace practice and students wishing to learn more about effective work life balance processes. Please note the final phrase in the title, i.e. the context of support. This short phrase highlights one of the central features of the article.

Having read this title carefully and critically I assume that the article explores the significance of a context of support as being significant to the uptake of work-life balance initiatives.

Rule:

Read the title carefully. A well-written title will capture both the content and the approach in the article. I think that this title does both.

Date:

Remember our rule from the earlier sessions. You should aim to use contemporary articles whenever possible. The contemporary time frame is publication within the last five years. We can legitimately refer to this article (2016) as contemporary.

Journal:

The international Journal of Human Resource Management. This is a well-respected publication. Notice the international context highlighted in the title. As a critical reader ask the question whether the content and approach has an international dimension. This may require a careful reading or it may be implied by the author nationalities or locations and an international focus may be addressed in the abstract.

Authors:

Look at the biographical details provided. Journals provide a range of biographical information, some scant and others more detailed. This journal provides the normal details. From the details provided we know that two of the authors work in Business Schools in the North West of England and their colleague works in the Population Research Centre, University of Texas. I would assume some international or cross national analysis in the study. Please check this later.

Q. Does the article have an international focus?

R. Please answer this question later having read the article

Abstract:

Remember to read the abstract carefully. It is a valuable resource for the critical reader and the critical writer. Both of which you will have to become and demonstrate in your programmes. An abstract, as we have said previously, should be a short well-written statement of:

what the article is about,

why it was written,

how it was written,

What the findings are.

Q. Does this abstract contain these features?

Having read the abstract I know that the article will address the relationship between structure and culture in adopting work life balance strategies. I know that the study is based on a comparison between two organisations based in Eire. I know some of the findings and I know that further research will be advocated as an outcome. If I was interested in this topic the abstract encourages me to read it.

R. This is a well-written abstract

Introduction:

A good introduction sets the scene for the study. It should indicate why the study is important. It should tell us what other writers say about the issue under study. It should make clear where the gaps are and therefore why there is a need for this particular study. The final part of a good introduction should be a logical and coherent statement leading to the research question or research processes which are about to be used in the text.

Q. Does this article have a good introduction?

It starts with a helpful opening statement which defines and contextualises work life balance. It goes on to indicate some of the questions raised about implementation of approaches using a small but appropriate number of references to support these points. The process adopted is identified and this leads to an outline of the approach taken in the article. It provides a smooth transition into the literature review. Notice the approach used to make the transition.

(Please note that I will use italics to highlight the extracts taken from the article.)

Extract:

The paper is structured in the following way. We begin with an outline of the literature on structural arrangements for WLB before consolidating the literature on various dimensions of work life culture. Second, we present the methodology underpinning the research and the findings for both case sites. Finally, we elaborate the notion of context of support and discuss the implications of the study for future research.

(p. 1711)

We refer to these helpful transitions as signposting. In other words a good writer helps the reader through their work by explicitly telling the reader what is happening. Please look for signposts and try to use them in your work.

R. This a well-written introduction.

The literature Review:

A good literature review should demonstrate all of the qualities we identified in the first session of our programme for Mastery. It should demonstrate familiarity with the literature or body of knowledge. Remember how we demonstrate familiarity, we do this by showing that we know who says what and when. We know the main figures, the main theories, the main theorists, the seminal writers and the contemporary writers. In an academic article it should be clear that the writer knows more than the minimum and that informed choices are being made to support and develop the argument.

Q. Does this literature review demonstrate such a level of mastery?

A close reading of the literature review demonstrates a knowledge of and engagement with the research and the literature. The literature is not used to describe the concepts but to develop arguments and perspectives. It would be relatively easy to highlight these points from all parts of the literature review. I have added one here as an example:

Extract:

The benefits of WLB opportunities include the potential for increased employee commitment and retention (Allen et al., 2003) and productivity (Lewis, 1997, 2001). However, it has been argued that research needs to be more sensitive to context, relationships and history ( zbiglin, Beauregard, Tatli, & Bell, 2011) not least because cultural aspects of organisational functioning have been shown to affect uptake of structural WLB opportunities.

(P.1712)

You may consider that these references are a little elderly and not contemporary but they are used here to develop the argument put forward in the article.

R. This is a well-written literature review.

Language and Style:

As critical reader we need to be aware of how language is used in an article. We will start by making the obvious but important point that an article is a piece of writing. The argument is expressed in words. How the writer uses language will influence the reader in taking the article seriously and being convinced of the argument. Simplistically, to refer to our first session on Mastery , we expect a piece of writing at this level, to be correct, engaging and interesting. We also expect that the conventions of the piece of writing will be followed. In the case of the academic journal article some of the conventions include:

Tone: rational, depersonalised, measured, in control, authoritative, decisive

Informed: aware of the body of knowledge, evident familiarity with a range of appropriate literature which is evidenced by reference

Style: confident, skilled style, not only the basics of correct grammar and syntax but also an explicit engagement with the reader, signposting, helping the reader to make sense of the article

Rhetoric: do you remember rhetoric or the skilled use of language to convince? You may even remember the Where s the beef? rhetorical question we discussed in session 1 and 2? I suggested that rhetoric is a powerful tool for convincing an audience of an argument. Politicians and maybe even some managers do this well. However, the conclusion we arrived at was that in academic work there must be The beef . There must be more than a skilled use of language, status and structure. As a critical reader we will be aware of all of these features but we will also be looking for evidence as the basis of effective argument.

Q. Is language used appropriately in this article?

The Article:

The article is written at the correct level for its assumed audience. There is an implicit recognition of shared knowledge and understanding. The authors assume that their reader is familiar with the concept of work life balance and doesn t spend a great deal of time explaining this to the reader. When you are new to writing for a particular audience or to writing at a particular level we tend to overwrite and over explain.

The basic tip is to have a clear sense of who the audience is, what they know and what they may not know. It is the what they may not know which has to be explained. The article is written for a particular audience of academics and scholars interested in the specific topic under consideration. As such the level of explanation, the use of technical language and jargon is appropriate for this audience. Please read the following extract carefully and consider how language is used and what is explained.

Extract:

Organisational support for WLB uptake can operate at a proximal level (support from immediate supervisor) and distal level (organisational level, e.g. effective communication about availability of formal WLB opportunities, support from senior/HR managers) (McCarthy, Cleveland, Hunter, Darcy, & Grady, 2012). An argument has been made to distinguish between organisational and managerial support because employees may find their supervisor supportive and the organisation unsupportive (or vice versa) (Allen, 2001 McCarthy et al., 2012).

We retain the two aspects together to avoid any confusion with the notion of perceived organisational support which incorporates structural1712 G. Daverth et al.dimensions of WLB (McCarthy et al., 2012, p. 1257). However, the level of support (managerial and/or organisational) will become important later in the paper. (p. 1712-1713)

I have chosen this extract as it demonstrates that when jargon or technical terms such as proximal or distal are used then the authors explain the jargon terms to the reader. However, they do not do the same with terms such as cultural and structural which they assume the reader will be familiar with. We will continue to examine language and the use of language as we work together.

R. the language and the style of the article are appropriate and engaging.

Evidence:

We are now at the point where we can revisit the concept and practice of using evidence to support argument. Remember at the heart of the article is a purpose, point or argument. The author wants to share something with us or convince us of something. The question therefore to keep in mind as a critical, masters level student is why should I believe this? the usual answer to this question is through the use of evidence.

Q. Evidence is (Why not try to finish this sentence now?) .

A dictionary definition will say something like this: Evidence is the available body of information indicating whether a belief, argument or proposition is true or valid

The body of information available to the writer of an article includes:

anecdotal evidence,

engagement with secondary sources, in other words previously published literature and research,

Engagement with primary sources, in other words research completed by the author that has not been published previously.

We will look at how the authors Daverth, Hyde & Cassell (2016) of our article use evidence to develop and support their argument.

Anecdotal Expert Evidence:

There is little, if any, anecdotal evidence in this article. By anecdotal and expert evidence I mean examples of where the author uses their personal experience and expertise to develop a point. You may find many examples of an anecdotal approach in speech arguments. Again, please remember the points we made in the first session about mastery. Here we talked about rhetoric and the ability to influence through language and how we use language.

We also highlighted orators, politicians and public speakers as examples of individuals using language to convince. A fairly common technique used to convince in speech is the use of anecdotes. Anecdotes are stories, usually powerful personal stories which are used to argue or make a point. We often joke about mature people telling stories about how it wasn t like this in our day. When we think about it even in these situations an argument is being made. In this case that it was better in the past. Stories are then used to support the argument.

You may find that many of your programme lecturers use anecdotes to make their points when they are teaching you. I know that I do this at times. Hopefully, I also tend to point out that this is only a personal anecdote. If I teach you on your programme you may have a view as to whether I do this well, too often or not enough. The point I am making here is that we can try to convince an audience by using our personal experience and personal stories.

Q. In an academic piece of writing should authors use anecdotes?

R. I would suggest that in an academic piece of writing at Masters Level there should be no anecdotes or claims to truth based on personal experience. Personal experience may be a prompt or rationale for the paper but it should not be developed any further.

Secondary Evidence:

In our programme I am deliberately taking a broad view of evidence. As the previous points imply, I am proposing that everything we read in an article, including all the clues such as authors and their location, can be considered as evidence. As critical readers we will be evaluating the quality and legitimacy of all aspects of the evidence provided. The points relating to the use of anecdote, for example, suggests the need for care in using anecdotes in academic writing.

A critical consideration of secondary evidence in management learning raises a number of important points. In our eclectic, multi-disciplinary subject of management learning, secondary evidence can range from positivistic /scientific measurement data such as sophisticated statistical analysis to more postmodernist individual narratives and case studies. The critical reader should consider some of the following points in relation to the evidence provided by the author.

Consideration of evidence provided

Is the context within which the data were collected or created outlined and discussed effectively?

Extract:

Informed by an interpretivist approach, we examined how structural WLB opportunities affect managerial decision-making through in-depth case studies at two large organisations in Ireland using dimensions of work life culture as a lens. The first (Organisation A) was a private manufacturing firm employing over 5000 people and the second

(Organisation B), a public utility employing over 10,000 people. They were purposely selected for their contrasting WLB policies. Organisation A operated in a historically male-dominated field with a reputation for being less family-friendly, while Organisation

B, also male-dominated, was self-described as a progressive employer in respect of WLB policies. These differences presented valuable opportunities to examine how organisational work life culture and structural arrangements for WLB interact in two contrasting organisations.

Both organisations were based in Dublin with operations across Ireland an EU member state and subject to EU Directives on statutory support, including maternity and parental leave minimums. Yet unlike some other EU countries, Ireland has no mandate for supplementary WLB opportunities and no statutory rights for paternity leave or flexible working arrangements. Over the past two decades, Ireland has also had a unique labour market landscape, first marked by a period of rapid growth where total unemployment dropped from 18% in the late 1980s to a low of 4.5% in 2007 just prior to this study. The most striking growth in employment levels was women s labour market participation with total employment increasing from 37% in 1993 to 60.5% in 2008 (CSO, 2004, 2008).

Culturally, these labour market changes have been linked to major social changes which transformed traditional household arrangements (Redmond, Valiulis, & Drew, 2006).

Organisational case studies were conducted against this cultural backdrop immediately prior to the global recession with interviews conducted between January and February 2008. Unemployment was less than 5% and the need to retain employees brought WLB to the fore.

The data presented here arises from 30 semi-structured interviews with middle and senior managers. It was informed by a broader organisational case study methodology that included examination of policies, informal conversations with members of HR and a survey of staff. The interviews were 90 120 min long and were held on-site in private offices and meeting rooms.

Managers were selected in hierarchical triad groupings, including an Executive Director at each organisation, five senior managers who report to the Executive Directors and the remainder comprising multiple middle managers

1714 G. Daverth et al. who reported to one of the senior managers interviewed. This design provided a multitier organisational perspective which allowed for a rich understanding of WLB uptake in context. (p. 1714-1715)

I have included a lengthy extract from the article. I have also highlighted a number of key contextual details provided by the authors. I could easily highlight more. This is a very good example of a detailed contextual setting. It ranges from an explicit statement of the methodological/philosophical perspective adopted (interpretivist), to the institutional and economic and political context. The context and approach is clearly outlined here. As such the critical reader would view this as a sound basis for data creation and data collection appropriate to the aims of the study.

R. The context within which the data were collected or created is outlined and discussed effectively.

Q.Is the choice of data collection and selection made convincingly and explicitly?

R. The authors have taken care to present a detailed, specific and convincing account of each of the methods used to collect, analyse and present data. Please read pages 1714-1716 carefully for the full account. I will highlight the main points in the following commentary:

The rationale for the dual and contrasting case study approach is explained convincingly (p. 1714)

The context is carefully and appropriately shared with the reader, as discussed above (p.1715)

Method is outlined in detail:

Extract:

The data presented here arises from 30 semi-structured interviews with middle and senior managers. It was informed by a broader organisational case study methodology that included examination of policies, informal conversations with members of HR and a survey of staff. The interviews were 90 120 min long and were held on-site in private offices and meeting rooms. Managers were selected in hierarchical triad groupings, including an Executive Director at each organisation, five senior managers who report to the Executive Directors and the remainder comprising multiple middle managers who reported to one of the senior managers interviewed. This design provided a multitier organisational perspective which allowed for a rich understanding of WLB uptake in context.

Overall, 30 managers were interviewed 15 at each firm. This constituted a stratified quota sample and managers were selected using a non-random purposive technique

21 male, 9 female (see Table 1).

Managers were chosen under the guidance of the Executive HR Directors with the aim of representing individual differences and variations across organisational branches as well as pinpointing senior middle manager dyads that might exhibit extremes high or low levels of WLB and capture a few special teams to the extent that they had unusual programmes or working conditions. In terms of gender distribution, given the small pool of female managers, there was an oversampling of female managers at both organisations. In terms of gender equality, less than 10% of the management chain at Organisation A were women and just prior to the study, they had appointed their first female manager to a senior level. Organisation B had significantly broader female management permeation with most at middle management levels (although managers oversaw much smaller groups than their cohorts.

Table 1. Sample breakdown. (p. 1715) In this extract the method is detailed, the sample and sampling procedures outlined carefully and convincingly, including the use of a table to capture detailed information about the sample. The authors then proceed to discuss and justify their data analysis and presentation techniques.

Extract:

The decision-making process about how and when to make use of structural WLB opportunities was examined through a semi-structured interview protocol that examined the five dimensions of WLB culture managerial and organisational support, organisational time expectations, career consequences, gendered perception of policy use and co-worker support. A template analysis based on how the structural opportunities played out according to the five cultural themes was employed to analyse the data (King, 2004).

Once the interviews had been transcribed, extracts were coded into these broad themes with the help of the software package N-Vivo. Additionally, further themes were added to the template as they emerged. This revision of coding allowed for templates to be structured flexibly in response to emergent themes (Nadin & Cassell, 2004). Each of the five anticipated themes had a number of subthemes. For example, within managerial and organisational support , there were subthemes organisational supports and managerial supports which were again subdivided into lower order themes, such as views about managing and views about being managed.

Once the coding was complete, transcri pts were read again in detail and each extract was examined in the context of the transcri pt to guard against fragmentation. The findings reported here arise from careful consideration of the patterns within each of the template themes. Interview quotes are identified in the text by organisation (A or B), the manager s position (SM senior manager or MM middle manager) and gender (M male or F female). We now turn to those findings which are presented for each case site and follow. (p.1716)

R. The choice of data collection and selection is made convincingly and effectively.