Website #4

Organizational-Change-Management.com

(http://www.organizational-change-management.com/)

The Organizational Change Management website seems to be a registry for businesses. There is no identifying information for the organization besides an email contact link for inquiries into adding URLs to the website. On one hand, that suggests that the purpose of the venture is to generate fees from websites and other for-profit ventures with an online presence. Naturally, that raises concerns about the credibility, accuracy, and objectivity of the information presented on the site. That is particularly true because many of the listed websites have nothing to do with managing organizational change or any other business management topic. For example, there is a website called Market Splash that provides logo design and website design services; another participating website markets a product called Defender, an anti-oxidant health food product that touts life extension properties.

On the other hand, the actual substantive information published on the Organizational Change Management website presents a surprisingly comprehensive database of organizational management concepts in the area of managing organizational change. Despite the fact that those resources are un-credited, they seem to provide a very extensive outline of some of the most relevant and contemporary issues and concerns in relation to the nature and challenges of organizational change, different types of organizational change, and methods of negotiating and implementing organizational change effectively. Nevertheless, the site should be regarded as an informal source of information or the starting point for preliminary research on change management in organizations, primarily because the purpose of the information seems to be driven by the intention to increase traffic to the sites of participating businesses and because the material presented cannot be identified by author and contains no references to authoritative sources of information.

Website...

Its organizational mission is to "study destructive cults, controversial groups and movements and to provide a broad range of information and services easily accessible to the public for assistance and educational purposes." The organization was founded by Rick A. Ross, whose credentials are not listed. However, the organization's advisory board is composed of practicing attorneys and professors, all of whom have practiced in areas related to organizational behavior, particularly in connection with dysfunctional organizational cultures that have resulted in large-scale ethics and legal violations.
Professor Margaret Singer (1921-2003) was also a past member of the advisory board. Singer was a world renowned expert in the area of mind control and was involved in debriefing and counseling Cold-War-era military deserters and prisoners, primarily in connection with the U.S. involvement in the Korean War. She also testified extensively at the trial of heiress Patricia Hearst after her kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army and her subsequent participation in criminal acts committed by that group. A review of the Ross Institute Internet Archives resources reveals that all of them are legitimate sources of information published by recognized news organizations or peer-reviewed publications and by organizations and authors with connections to accredited academic institutions of higher learning and research organizations. Therefore, the site appears to be a legitimate source of literature in areas pertaining to corporate culture and, especially, the dangers and concerns arising within organizations as a result of dysfunctional organizational culture and management systems.