| Course | ORR-7100 Qualitative Methods for Organizational Research |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Module 2 written assignment: research problem and literature review |
| Length | About 658 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for ORR 7100 Module 2
Studied From Below, Unseen From the Middle: A Literature Review on Leading Hybrid Teams
Student Name
Master of Business Administration, Thomas Edison State University
ORR-7100: Qualitative Methods for Organizational Research
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Studied From Below, Unseen From the Middle: A Literature Review on Leading Hybrid Teams
The Problem
After a contract research organization moved from fully remote work to three office days a week, the annual survey recorded a drop in engagement among its 140 middle managers from 74 to 61, while their staff's engagement held steady. Voluntary turnover among middle managers rose from 8 to 14 percent. Middle managers coordinate clinical trial teams spread across homes, offices and client sites, and losing them delays trials and frustrates clients. The company does not understand what has changed in their work, and existing research offers little guidance about managers in hybrid settings.
Purpose and Questions
This study aims to understand what leading a team on a hybrid schedule is like for middle managers at a contract research organization.
| Type | Question |
|---|---|
| Central | How do middle managers describe their experience of leading hybrid teams? |
| Subquestion | What tasks or relationships do they find harder or easier under hybrid work? |
| Subquestion | How do they describe the support and expectations they receive from senior leaders? |
| Subquestion | How do they make sense of the gap between their engagement and their teams'? |
Literature Review
Telecommuting and Its Consequences
Gajendran and Harrison (2007) pooled 46 studies and found that telecommuting brought modest gains in perceived autonomy, job satisfaction and performance and modestly less work-family conflict, while heavy telecommuting harmed relationships with coworkers. Their analysis concerns employees who telecommute, not managers coordinating others who do.
Professional Isolation
Golden et al. (2008) found that feeling professionally isolated lowered teleworkers' performance, and that how much it did so depended on how much time they spent teleworking and how much face-to-face interaction they had. Isolation may affect managers in a different way: they may feel isolated not from colleagues but from a view of the whole team.
Hybrid Schedules
Bloom et al. (2024) ran a randomized trial in a large Chinese travel company in which employees worked from home two days a week, and found that quit rates fell by roughly a third under hybrid work, with no loss in performance or promotion. The study found that managers initially expected hybrid work to hurt productivity and became more positive after the trial. It did not examine managers' own experience of leading hybrid teams.
The Pandemic Shift
Kniffin et al. (2021) reviewed research on how COVID-19 changed the workplace and called for research on how new work arrangements affect managers and teams over time. Their review identifies the question but does not answer it.
Middle Managers in Change
Huy (2002) studied middle managers during radical change at a large company and found that they balanced continuity and change by attending to their teams' emotions, work that senior leaders rarely saw. Hybrid work may add to this hidden emotional and coordinating work, which is one reason managers' engagement could fall while their teams' does not.
The Gap
Research on telecommuting, isolation and hybrid schedules describes employees' outcomes and, at most, managers' attitudes toward hybrid work. It has rarely asked how middle managers experience leading teams split across locations, or why their engagement might fall when their teams' does not. A qualitative study can describe that experience in managers' own words and identify factors that surveys have not measured.
Limits of the Review
I searched Business Source Complete and PsycINFO for peer-reviewed studies, pairing terms such as hybrid work, telework, remote work, middle manager and team leadership. Much hybrid work research is recent and some comes from single companies, so its findings may not transfer to clinical research settings, where regulatory deadlines and client oversight shape how teams coordinate.
What the Review Means for the Study
The review suggests areas to explore, such as coordination, visibility of the team and isolation, without dictating what managers will say. The interview guide will begin with open questions about managers' days and leave these topics to emerge, so that the managers' own priorities set the direction of each conversation.
References
Bloom, N., Han, R., & Liang, J. (2024). Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance. Nature, 630(8018), 920-925. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07500-2
Gajendran, R. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2007). The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: Meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1524-1541. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524
Golden, T. D., Veiga, J. F., & Dino, R. N. (2008). The impact of professional isolation on teleworker job performance and turnover intentions: Does time spent teleworking, interacting face-to-face, or having access to communication-enhancing technology matter? Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1412-1421. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012722
Huy, Q. N. (2002). Emotional balancing of organizational continuity and radical change: The contribution of middle managers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(1), 31-69. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094890
Kniffin, K. M., Narayanan, J., Anseel, F., Antonakis, J., Ashford, S. P., Bakker, A. B., Bamberger, P., Bapuji, H., Bhave, D. P., Choi, V. K., Creary, S. J., Demerouti, E., Flynn, F. J., Gelfand, M. J., Greer, L. L., Johns, G., Kesebir, S., Klein, P. G., Lee, S. Y., . . . van Vugt, M. (2021). COVID-19 and the workplace: Implications, issues, and insights for future research and action. American Psychologist, 76(1), 63-77. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000716
What the ORR 7100 Module 2 instructions ask for
ORR-7100 has three written assignments, together worth 30 percent of the grade, on topics tied to the modules. The second builds the problem statement and literature review for your proposal. Expect to state the problem with evidence, write a purpose statement and open research questions, and synthesize literature by theme, ending with a clearly stated gap. Rely on peer-reviewed studies, and close each theme by naming what remains unknown. Explain how the literature will inform the study without fixing its answers in advance. Report the databases and search terms you used, and note the limits of the research you found, such as single-company samples. Include research on your participants' role, not only on the setting.
How the ORR 7100 Module 2 example is put together
The paper states the problem with engagement and turnover figures. A purpose statement and a table of questions follow. The review covers telecommuting, professional isolation, hybrid schedules and the pandemic shift, each ending with what it leaves unexamined. A gap section draws the themes together, and a closing section explains how the review will shape the interview guide without constraining it. A theme on middle managers in change adds research on the hidden work managers do, and a section on the review's limits reports the search and notes that much hybrid research comes from single companies. A table of questions keeps the central question and subquestions together. The search is described so the gap can be checked.
ORR 7100 Module 2 rubric: what earns full marks
Mentors grade this assignment on a clear problem and purpose, open questions suited to qualitative work, a thematic review with accurate summaries, a clearly stated gap and clear APA writing. Reviews that end each theme with its limits, and then name the gap, show synthesis. Including a recent randomized trial alongside meta-analyses shows command of current research. Questions that leave room for unexpected answers fit the qualitative approach. A review that includes research on the participants' role, as well as on the setting, shows depth. Reporting the search strategy and the review's limits lets the reader judge how solid the gap is. Clear headings by theme help.
ORR 7100 Module 2 help: mistakes that cost marks
Students lose points by summarizing sources one after another, by writing questions that assume the answer or by stating a gap the literature has already filled. Others rely on popular articles rather than research. Organize by theme. Say what each theme leaves open. Check that recent studies have not already answered your question. Write how and what questions. Include research on the people you will study, not only on the situation they face, and state the limits of your search. A good purpose statement names what you will explore, with whom and at which site. A free first sample on your own ORR-7100 literature review assignment is available on request.
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ORR 7100 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free ORR 7100 Module 2 sample paper?
A literature review on middle managers leading hybrid teams, with research questions, is above.
What did Gajendran and Harrison find about telecommuting?
Modest gains in autonomy, satisfaction and performance and less work-family conflict, offset by strained coworker relationships for heavy telecommuters.
What is professional isolation?
A teleworker's sense of being cut off from colleagues and opportunities, which research links to lower performance.
What did the hybrid work trial by Bloom and colleagues find?
Two home days a week lowered quit rates by about a third while performance and promotions held steady.
How should a literature review end?
With a clearly stated gap that the proposed study will fill.