Peer Review

Change and Organizations: Methods, Models & Theories

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Reviewed:: Dec 22, 2015 by Business

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Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

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Overview:: This website promotes itself as a reference website and knowledge network. The Change & Organization page is one of 12 categories of information available on the site, and there are over 300 entries for definitions and explanations of Change & Organization terms, plus a discussion forum for conversations about Change & Organization topics. Definitions and explanations are written by a mix of volunteers and the editor, all of whom have unknown qualifications. In order to be able to read anything on the site, users must register. The website can be used as a reference to learn more about various topics, but must be read with a critical eye and cross-checked with more reliable information. This is a good resource to supplement class material or as a study guide for students.
Type of Material:: Reference Material
Recommended Uses:: • An interesting activity would be to ask students to learn about a particular concept and then look it up on 12manage to evaluate the 12manage entry for accuracy • The website could also be used as a jumping-off point for research about different concepts – students could quickly reference the website to help them figure out what more they need to learn about a particular concept
Technical Requirements:: Reviewed using Google Chrome Version 42.0.2311.152 m on Windows 7. Renders well for Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10, and 11 on netrenderer. In order to click on any of the links on the page, including to get help, the reader must sign up for the website; clicking on the definition entries without registering means that a significant amount of text is covered up by a box requesting registration or log in. The terms of service when signing up include that you may not opt out of receiving any communications from the website 12manage. Advertisements are also unavoidable and prominent – top of the page and right side – and every so often the page redirects to a page asking you to sign up for a premium membership for about $300/year. Signing up includes an obligation to provide personal information that is true and kept up to date, and it will be shared with 3rd parties. In addition, the website does not provide any specifics about how it protects personal information – the privacy method is described generically. Means of communication within 12manage are not encrypted, and in fact I saw emails publicly posted, including personal addresses, from people who seemed to think that they were sending private messages. All this set off warning bells, so I Googled for reviews of 12manage, to see if people had bad experiences, but there were no prominent reviews calling the site a scam. The site seems to be widely used, with up to 100,000 visitors each month, 25% of whom are directed to the site by a search engine (according to Alexa.com).
Identify Major Learning Goals:: • View a long list of business terms related to Change and Organization. • Read definitions and explanations of business terms related to Change and Organization.
Target Student Population:: Undergraduate and Graduate Students.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Ability to navigate a website, including the ability to disregard ads and attempts to up-sell to a premium membership.

Content Quality

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Strengths:: • The pages have been translated into 17 languages (including British and American English) • High volume of terms and theories are explained informally – there were about 300 links to definitions/explanations from this page • The discussion forums on various topics seem quite active • It has a broad categorical base which can present a further window into the necessary research at hand.
Concerns:: • Dubious quality – Most pages do not include references, and there’s no information about the authors of the pages. Some pages don’t have authors listed at all. Unclear how edits are made or suggested, or how material can be flagged if incorrect. Unclear how pages are translated. The website says that the editor, Jaap de Jonge, http://www.12manage.com/profile.asp?m=jaapdejonge edits the site as he sees fit to make it simple to read; the only information provided about his background is that he’s been a management consultant for 15 years. The wall of fame of the top 12 contributors included students and consultants. In comparison with a similar site, Wikipedia, there’s little accountability – Wikipedia requires references, has many volunteers reviewing the information and making corrections, and indicates when material doesn’t have enough references or fact-checking to be considered trustworthy – 12manage doesn’t have these. • Sometimes when I clicked on links, I was randomly redirected to a page asking me to upgrade to a premium membership for 169 euros/year. • Some entries with definitions/explanations are thorough, and some are poor quality. Quality of entries seems to be random luck.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

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Strengths:: • This website could be provided to students as a reference, but only in a limited capacity – students would need to be coached to view the site with a critical eye, but perhaps use it as a jumping off point to do more academic and reliable research • It demonstrates relationships between concepts in that there are many links to other pages
Concerns:: • This is a reference, like Wikipedia or an online dictionary, rather than a teaching tool, so there are no learning objectives, prerequisites, progressively reinforced concepts, relationships between concepts, assessments of learning outcomes, etc. • Because the level of quality is mixed – some entries have good information and others are less useful – it would be hard to suggest this as a reliable reference for students. The instructor would need to help students learn to view the material critically, which may be a distraction from the topics the instructor is actually trying to teach.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

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Strengths:: • The terms are listed alphabetically, so they’re easy to find, and then it’s easy to click on the link to the definition/explanation • There’s a search box that works smoothly • Easy to click on a flag to indicate a language, and then see the same page translated to a different language • The design is very plain – just lists of words that are linked to pages with the definitions/explanations – but it’s simple to use
Concerns:: • It’s easy to use the site only after registering – if someone chooses not to register, then the site cannot be used • Being randomly redirected many times to the site selling a premium membership was not helpful • Searching the site leads to a lot of ads • I found the color scheme and overall visual design very off-putting. For example, at the top of an entry page, there’s a prominent bar with links to premium material, because the site is constantly trying to get the users to upgrade to being paid members. Every graphic on the page, no matter how low quality, is branded with the website address. • Without paying for a premium membership, it’s impossible to copy and paste any of the words on the pages, and it’s impossible to right-click on a link to open it in a new tab. Simply right-clicking anywhere on any page leads to being directed to the page to sign up for premium membership. • I’m not sure about the accessibility of this site, but I suspect that it would hard for a screen reader to read because of all the ads, links to premium content, and links to post to social media

Other Issues and Comments:: • Having to register for the site is a big concern. In order to click on any of the links on the page, including to get help, the reader must sign up for the website; clicking on the definition entries without registering means that a significant amount of text is covered up by a box requesting registration or log in. The terms of service when signing up include that you may not opt out of receiving any communications from the website 12manage. Advertisements are also unavoidable and prominent – top of the page and right side – and every so often the page redirects to a page asking you to sign up for a premium membership for about $300/year. According to the terms of agreement, signing up includes an obligation to provide personal information that is true and kept up to date, and it will be shared with 3rd parties. In addition, the website does not provide any specifics about how it protects personal information – the privacy method is described generically. Means of communication within 12manage are not encrypted, and in fact I saw emails publicly posted, including personal addresses, from people who seemed to think that they were sending private messages.
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