Chapter 2, commonly called the Literature Review, serves as the backbone of your dissertation. It critically examines existing research related to your study, highlighting strengths, identifying gaps, and establishing a foundation for your investigation. This chapter validates your research purpose, questions, and objectives.
1. Purpose of the Research Review
Clearly define why reviewing existing literature is essential. Your objective here is to demonstrate your understanding of the academic conversation in global leadership and to establish the context of your research. Explain how your review will provide clarity and direction for your study.
2. Organization of the Review
Discuss how you will organize your literature review. Typically, this can be thematic, chronological, methodological, or theoretical. For global leadership dissertations, a thematic approach that groups literature by significant concepts or trends often works best.
3. Selection Criteria for Literature
Clearly outline your criteria for choosing relevant literature. Include the types of sources you considered (e.g., peer-reviewed journals, books, reports, and credible digital resources), the publication date range, and the relevance to global leadership theories and practices.
4. Identifying Key Concepts in Global Leadership
Present and define critical concepts central to your research, such as transformational leadership, cross-cultural management, ethical leadership, global mindset, servant leadership, or leadership development frameworks. Clearly demonstrate why these concepts are relevant to your study.
5. Review of Major Theories and Models
Critically review and summarize key leadership theories and models pertinent to your research area, including transformational, transactional, servant leadership, authentic leadership, and intercultural competence models. Discuss their strengths, weaknesses, and applicability in a global context.
6. Synthesizing and Critiquing the Literature
Integrate the existing studies and evaluate them critically. Identify strengths, weaknesses, contradictions, and gaps within the literature. Highlight unresolved questions or conflicting findings and explain how your research aims to address these gaps.
7. Research Methodologies in Existing Studies
Analyze methodologies utilized in previous global leadership research. Compare quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, noting their effectiveness and limitations. Clearly state why your chosen research method is suitable based on previous literature.
8. Cultural Context and Global Considerations
Highlight how culture, international contexts, and globalization shape the understanding and practice of leadership. Critically review research focusing on diverse regions, cultures, or international settings, emphasizing why global leadership requires unique perspectives.
9. Establishing Your Research Gap
Clearly define the gap your research intends to fill. Justify your study’s necessity by explaining what has been overlooked or insufficiently explored in existing literature. Your clarity here reinforces the originality and value of your dissertation.
Completing your literature review thoroughly not only grounds your dissertation in existing scholarship but also clarifies your research contribution. A robust review equips you to argue convincingly why your study matters, particularly in the diverse and complex domain of global leadership. [THE END]
