Evaluation of Websites - Business Ethics - Essay Example

Evaluation of Websites Website on Business Ethics Type here 10/29 Introduction The two websites that I have chosen are on the topic of Business Ethics. Both of them are informative magazines on topic of Business Ethics and provide insight into the topic, industry practices, and other similar information. Business Ethics, the Magazine of Corporate Responsibility (http://business-ethics.com/about/) Business Ethics is an online magazine that was launched in 1987 and went on as a quarterly print magazine for 20 years. Although, the magazine is now only available online, its mission is still the same “to promote ethical business practices, to serve that growing community of professionals and individuals striving to work and invest in responsible ways.” The main objective of the magazine is to provide its readers with information, insightful opinion, and analysis about various businesses operating in different industries and their intermingling with the society. The magazine comes under the ownership of New Mountain Media LLC, which is a New York based media company with Michael Connor as its head. The website has 7 sections which also includes sub-sections. We would further discuss them in detail in the latter sections. Corporate Responsibility Magazine (http://thecro.com/biz_eth) The Corporate Responsibility Magazine is a part of the ‘Shared Xpertise’ company that is involved in forums, media, and summits. The Shared Xpertise team has Elliot H. Clark as its Chief Executive Officer with several members in the team. The mission of the company is to, “To provide senior executives with unparalleled learning, meeting, and networking experiences on corporate responsibility, human resources and financial management. (SharedXpertise, n.d.).” The magazine is part of the company’s efforts towards Corporate Responsibility and it is a part of the SharedXpertise Media that is responsible for professional magazines, newsletters, and research of 3 portfolios: FAO Today Magazine regarding improvement of functions of F&A, CRO covers corporate responsibility function, and HRO Today works towards the improvement of HR. The website consists of 4 sections, which are further divided into subsections. Criteria for Evaluating Websites There is a basic criterion of evaluating websites on 5 parameters: Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency, and Coverage (Kapoun, 1998). Accuracy – the accuracy of a website depends on the content which in turn depends on the credibility of the author, his reputation, his qualification and his availability. It also depends on the purpose of documents present on the website. The first website, Business Ethics includes various articles on different topics related to Business Ethics and Related Stories section that outlines the current happenings all around the world with regard to businesses and their Corporate Social Responsibility along with a separate section named ‘Polls.’ Each of the articles and news stories that we accessed were found to be accurate as they had clearly mentioned the name of their authors, their qualifications, and other details. Moreover, all the topics were fulfilling a particular purpose and were related to the main theme of the website. The second website, CR consists of articles on Business Ethics, Compliance and Governance, etc. Basically, the website tries to take a holistic view of the topic Corporate Social Responsibility. The website is accurate as it satisfies all the criterion mentioned for measuring accuracy. Both the websites have provided space for the audience to comment and communicate with the author. Authority – Authorization of the content focuses on the reputation and credentials of the information, its authors, and the source. Both the websites use credible sources for providing information and the authors of both the websites are qualified writers. The website CR has a staff of hired writers who are qualified and credible to write on the specified topics. Objectivity – the objectivity is a measure if the website or the page is only using its information to gain advertisements. Therefore, in order to quantify objectivity we need to investigate the objectives of the articles, their information, and opinions of the author. Both the websites are fairly objective as the authors discuss the topics in detail, and explain their insights and opinions extremely well. Business Ethics does enlist some ads on its left and right banners, however, they are at the side and the article has no connection with those ads. Similarly, CR also places ads at its right and left banner and the ads are related to the main topic of the website. Currency – Currency of a website is reflective of its frequency of updates, new articles, etc. Although, both the websites seem fairly current, however, Business Ethics is more current as the featured article on its home page is only a few weeks old whereas CR main article does not provide any particular date. Coverage – Website coverage quantifies if a balance exists between text and images and citations of the information provided. All the information presented in both the websites is adequately cited and the sources have been mentioned clearly. Although both the websites do not host a lot of images, however, the text present is arranged to attract the audience visually. The website Business Ethics is more visually attractive, and the text easily readable and the representation is better than the other website CR where the spacing of the text makes it difficult and visually less attractive. Evaluation of Graphic Styles Graphical representation of content plays an important role in attracting the audience towards itself. Moreover, the first impression of a website is through its visual representation, the content takes the secondary role because unless a website appeals the user visually, the user would not take interest in it. Therefore, graphical placement of elements, representation, colors and other graphical elements play an important role in forming a positive perception of the website. Business Ethics is more visually attractive with a great combination of colors as well as the information presented is organized in a manner that the user can view it in a far better manner. Moreover, the main page includes a snap shot of the featured article along with a strip of snapshots of other articles so that the reader can grab a gist of the article and then decide on reading it. CR has a simple and a bit cluttered graphical representation. Although it also provides snapshots to the articles on its main page, but the placement of the articles are too close and they are not visually very attractive. On the first impression, the website seems boring and dull. The target audience of CR are basically industry professionals, businesses, and other related people. The audience of Business Ethics is also similar to that of CR, however, it appeals more to the general audience. Conclusion Based on our evaluation of the 5 critical features as well as its graphical representation, we can say both the websites have performed equally well and provide good insights into their featured topics. Both the websites have a generous pool of reputed and credible authors who have qualifications and expertise in their field. The websites have a clear purpose and a mission statement. However, CR lacks in graphical representation as compared to Business Ethics, however, it covers the topic ‘Business Ethics’ more in detail. References Kapoun, Jim (1998). "Teaching undergrads WEB evaluation: A guide for library instruction." C&RL News. Retrieved on October 29, 2011 from SharedXpertise, (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved on October 29, 2011 from Read More