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Module 6 Assignment 1: Course Project Task V/First Draft of Literature Review

For Assignment 1, you will submit your first draft of the literature review. The purpose of conducting and writing a literature review is to provide an evaluative discussion of the existing research related to your proposed study, highlight the gaps that remain in the literature, and establish a context and theoretical basis for your study.

As you begin writing this draft of the literature review, consider the following guidelines:

• You are writing to inform/educate your audience. Who is your audience? How much do they know about your research topic?
• You are trying to convince your audience you are competent as a researcher, dealing with your topic and proposed research question. You do this by evaluating and integrating/synthesizing the literature, by examining and naming the patterns existing among the articles, and by discussing the studies you consider strongest within the body of literature you have reviewed.
• You also do this by stating clearly in the beginning your research topic and your proposed research question, a succinct statement of the significance of this topic and question–and, as always your purpose for writing this literature review and your map of the themes/major concepts you intend to evaluate and synthesize. 
• You identify the weaknesses and/or gaps you found in the literature, as well as the researchers’ suggestions for additional research. A weakness or a gap may be small; for example, a certain population may not have yet been researched for your topic.
• You give clear credit for direct quotes and ideas not original to you. Be overly cautious to avoid plagiarism, using Turnitin as a form of feedback that you have done this well.
• A perfect literature review does not exist in a first draft. Submitting a first draft provides you with feedback from your instructor, and it supports your efforts to perfect your literature review .
• Many writers of literature reviews concentrate on the body of their literature review first and then write the introduction and the summary near the end of their writing. This can be useful, if you are absolutely clear about your purpose for writing this literature review and have your research question clearly written and in front of you, as you state and develop your themes. 
• Allow time (12–24 hours) to put your first draft aside, prior to submitting it to Turnitin and then your instructor. Reread your first draft with a fresh mind, and then make any minor adjustments. Use the spell check function on your computer to review your first draft. Proofread your paper in addition to using spell check. And…if at all possible, ask someone to read your paper out loud while you listen, to be as sure as possible that you are very clear in what you are saying.

Your first draft should be your best effort at this point in time.

Read the manuscript preparation reminders to prepare your literature review.

Write your first draft of the literature review in a minimum of 10 double-spaced pages as a Word document. In your literature review, you should have done the following:

• Begun with an introduction that showed the significance of the topic as well as its historical context and/or how it fits in the broader scholarly literature in this field, while also clearly stating the research topic and the research question [in question form], your purpose for this literature review and the map of the major themes that will form the body of the paper.
• Integrated and evaluated the literature, dividing the body into the patterns you have found within the articles you reviewed. Note: You should have a minimum of 10 articles for your review, shown on the Reference page; at least 1/2 should be empirical studies, indicated by using **.   
• Discussed which studies you considered stronger and your rationale 
• Identified the gaps in the literature and the suggestions for future research, mentioned by researchers.
• Evaluated and synthesized the literature you chose.
• Given credit for direct quotes and ideas not original to you, using careful quotation and citation format, as needed.
• Avoided plagiarism, cautiously and judiciously.
• Ended with a summary that restated the purpose and map, while giving an overall evaluation of what you considered the most important elements of this review.
• Used spell check to review the first draft and proofread after using spell check.
• Had another reader review your paper, possibly out loud, with you carefully listening for the clarity and sensemaking. 

This draft will be a Turnitin submission. 
 by Thursday, August 7, 2014. You will receive feedback from your facilitator on your literature review by the beginning of Module 7. Based on the feedback received from the instructor and the Turnitin report, you will make corrections and revisions during Module 7. Review the originality report and make sure all borrowed material has been accurately cited and appropriately paraphrased or quoted to prepare your final submission of your literature review by the end of Module 7.

All written assignments and responses should follow APA style in formatting and attributing sources.

“Critical Thinking and Sociological Theories”  Please respond to one (1) of the following:

• Review the six (6) rules of critical thinking discussed on pages 8 and 9 in the textbook. Determine the rule that you believe to be the most challenging and provide a rationale for your response.
• Examine the three (3) key sociological theories discussed in the chapter—structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Discuss the key ways that these different theories define deviance and punishment in society.

General Electric

Sustained profits come from building a competitive advantage. This advantage can be accomplished not only through good financial return on a specific process but also through the correct capacity decisions that must be integrated into the organization’s mission and strategy.

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric (GE), understood this better than anyone else. Although GE was a profitable and respected company when Welch took over, its financial results during the1970s were troubling to both its investors and senior management. Welch immediately made changes to the company’s structure and management practices. From the beginning, he stressed the importance of being one of the top players in the industry. He told his colleagues that GE should always be number one or number two in all its businesses; if it was not, then their only options would be to fix, sell, or shut down.

Because of this strategic direction, GE today usually dominates the markets in which it participates; and if it does not, then it divests. A major part of GE’s strategy is to be the first or second in every market. As you review the module readings for this week, consider the complexity of GE’s products and its emphasis on vertical integration and capacity planning.

GE’s Profile

The General Electric Company, or GE, is a diversified company that offers
infostructure, media and finance products and services. The company was
originally founded by electrical innovator Thomas Edison. It is also listed as one
of the most admired companies, ranking as number one in electronics and 16th
overall according to Fortune Magazine. For the company’s innovation focus, it was ranked as one of the world’s most innovative companies by Business Week.

GE’s Reach

The General Electric Company is organized into 5 divisions including
“’NBC Universal”, “Technology Infrastructure”, “Consumer & Industrial”, “Energy
Infrastructure” and “Capital Finance”. The company functions in over 100
countries and has over 300,000 employees. For 2009, the company achieved
$11.2 billion in earnings and an industrial cash flow of $16.6 billion. Effective
January 1, 2011, it reorganized the Technology Infrastructure segment into three
segments: Aviation, Healthcare and Transportation.

Services

Chemicals, Petrochemicals, and Fertilizers
Food & Beverage
Government & Public Administration
Metals and Metals Fabrication
Mining (Coal, Minerals, Metals)
Oil & Gas Upstream
Power Generation

GE. (2013). The History of General Electric. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/aboutus/history/1878-1904.

GE. (2013). GE fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/pdf/news/GE-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Using the information above, the module readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, respond to the following:

• How does GE’s framework give it the opportunity to be at the forefront of the markets in which it participates?
• Examine your own firm or a firm you would like to work for in the light of GE’s framework and respond to the following:
• Does this firm have the means to execute like GE?
• Which type of resources would the firm require?
• How could GE’s lessons be applied to this firm?

Write your initial response in 300 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.