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Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Book Review
James L. Morrison
To cite this article: James L. Morrison (2007) Book Review, Journal of Education for Business, 82:4, 244-248, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.82.4.244-248
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.82.4.244-248
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
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244 Journal of Education for Business
BOOK REVIEW
Owen, John M.
Program Evaluation: Forms and Approaches(3rd ed.)
New York: Guilford Publications, 2006 298 pp.
ISBN: 1-59385-406-4 $38
he topic of evaluation is a very complex one in that there are many theories currently published in the litera-ture that address a variety of issues sur-rounding its implementation. The premise of John Owen’s theory is that no one-size-fits-all evaluation strategy exists. In other words, good evaluators adapt their approaches to the goals, aims, and context of the evaluation situ-ation. According to Owen, the overrid-ing issue in program assessment is the timing of an evaluation and the corre-sponding tool used to achieve a specific objective. Although the content of the text concerns program evaluation, it also provides an intriguing perspective for assessing individual performance.
Although the target audience appears to be the business executive out in the field, aspects of the evaluation model presented may be applied by business faculty for assessing student achieve-ment. In this regard, an instructor could use the text in an introductory course in evaluation, in a graduate business gram, or perhaps as a resource in a pro-fessional development program for senior executives seeking to upgrade their knowledge about program assess-ment. Finally, the text could also be considered a source book for program managers, performance auditors, and others in middle-management positions who have evaluation responsibilities.
Ironically, Owen uses a very simplis-tic conversational writing style in cap-turing the complexities associated with the topic of evaluation. To Owen, each evaluation begins with a specific goal, whether it is to diagnose, monitor, determine a treatment effect, or measure growth in learning. In this instance,
Owen argues that individuals seeking management positions directly out of college may not be prepared to deal with the realities that practitioners actu-ally confront on the actual job. His fear is that graduates of business programs will likely adopt just one of the assess-ment models that they were taught dur-ing their coursework and apply it regardless of the situation and circum-stances of the workplace. Therefore, the text could easily be adapted by faculty as a tool for teaching the business major to recognize the need to modify the evaluation models learned in their preparatory business programs as cir-cumstances demand.
Owen uses the termformto represent a cluster of activities that may be adopt-ed by evaluators as they design a strate-gy to assess a workplace situation. For a basis of this book, Owen has developed a model that consists of 5 clusters (or forms):proactive, clarification, interac-tive, monitoring, and impact. These forms do not represent stages of an eval-uation process or a sequence of activities that one should follow when attempting to achieve an evaluation goal. However, Owen views them as more situational in nature, in that each form stands alone and may be adopted according to a spe-cific situation, regardless of whether in the workplace or in an academic pro-gram at a university. For example, in an academic situation, a faculty member could adapt Owen’s model by using the framework for evaluation as depicted through the monitoring form. This is the cluster of activities that hold individuals, in this case students, accountable for their learning of course content. The book is designed to be exceptionally reader friendly. Each chapter contains featured examples (boxed for emphasis) to illustrate key points of Owen’s assess-ment model. Owen also includes an impressive list of references at the con-clusion of each chapter that enable busi-ness students or practitioners to access the work of other theorists on such
top-ics as negotiation theory, evidence-based practices, performance auditing, and authentic evaluation.
The text comprises 13 chapters. Owen groups chapters into three themes. For example, Chapters 1–6 cover the topics of negotiation, evalua-tion design, and disseminaevalua-tion of find-ings. Chapters 7 and 8 deal with the eth-ical aspects of evaluation practices. Chapters 9–13 are devoted to evaluation theory and practice. One can read cer-tain chapters independently of others to use the book as a source or reference for business students, those in senior man-agement, and midlevel managers seek-ing to update their knowledge about the evaluation process.
Specifically, in the first segment of the text in Chapters 1–6, Owen invites the reader to think about such evaluation issues as selecting criteria, establishing benchmarks, measuring performance, and synthesizing evidence for decision making. Moreover, in Chapter 3, Owen introduces the concept of forms as
proactive, clarification, interactive, monitoring,and impact. These forms are aligned with major approaches to evalu-ation. Chapter 4 covers negotiating in evaluation; Chapter 5 covers aligning evaluation questions to desired out-comes; and Chapter 6 covers matching findings to utilization, dissemination, and reporting issues. The theme of the second segment of the text relates to comparing internal role with external role of evaluators in terms of expecta-tions and costs. In Chapter 7, Owen emphasizes the need for selecting quali-fied consultants and contracting with them for results-oriented practices. In this regard, he presents guidelines for accomplishing both of these objectives.
He follows in Chapter 8 by stipulat-ing codes of behavior related to func-tions served by both internal and exter-nal evaluators, such as integrity or honesty, competence, respect, and responsibility. In this regard, Owen divides the roles of evaluators into three
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categories: (a) negotiating an evaluation plan, (b) designing and developing the actual plan, and (c) disseminating find-ings to identifiable target audiences. Much of the content here relates to the significance of what Owen refers to as exhibiting a responsibility to stakehold-ers, which involves aggregating reliable information for analysis, being sensitive to possible conflict-of-interest issues, and ensuring fiscal responsibility. Owen presents parameters to the actual evalu-ation model that he proposes in the third segment of the text. Each chapter focus-es on the primary characteristics of just one form or cluster.
In Chapter 9, Owen illustrates proac-tive evaluation, which he describes as seeking out information to initiate a strategy to resolve an issue. Here he argues that it is essential for evaluators to conduct a thorough needs assessment through intensive research to establish benchmarks on which judgments must be made.
In Chapter 10, Owen introduces the clarification aspect of program assess-ment. The clarification formserves the purpose of assisting stakeholders to conceptualize interventions and enhance their understanding of what outcomes to target. Owen argues that stakeholders must understand the logic behind the assessment process to be capable of interpreting findings in a meaningful way.
In Chapter 11, Owen illustrates the
interactive (participatory) form. This aspect of program assessment is associ-ated with building camaraderie among participants by seeking and using input from a variety of groups. This form of evaluation is participatory, systematic, and inclusive. This is Owen’s version of empowerment in that decision making must reflect the perspective that input is
accepted from all levels of management and that any prejudice and bias is omit-ted from the process—or at least kept to a minimum.
Chapter 12 revolves around the moni-toring form, which is targeted to meet the needs of managers (and faculty) when they design evaluative schemes to assess the performance of programs or individuals for accountability purposes. Here, Owen discusses important topics of program assessment such as compo-nent analysis, performance assessment, and systems analysis.
Chapter 13 concludes with a discus-sion of the impact form,which guides evaluators who determine the worthi-ness of a program. In other words, Owen emphasizes making judgments as to whether a program is making a differ-ence in terms of productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. Identifying whether a program has been implemented as planned and how implementation has affected outcomes is the essence of the aspect of evaluation. The issue of whether resources allocated to a specific purpose are being spent wisely is critical to this dimension of assessment.
What is particularly unique about Owen’s perspective on evaluation is that his model has sufficient flexibility to enable either the practitioner, faculty, or business student to apply his guidelines for a variety of purposes. For the practi-tioner, the timing issue is critical to carry out an effective assessment strategy. In addition, business faculty can use the model in the text as a basis for introduc-ing the complexities of evaluation to graduate students. In this regard, the text is filled with numerous practical exam-ples to explain how evaluative concepts may be applied in real-life circum-stances. The excellent variety of tables that Owen provides is extremely
descrip-tive in summarizing major aspects of each cluster or form. Complementing the tables are numerous figures, which Owen uses for breaking down difficult concepts into easy-to-understand visual explanations, thus illustrating how parts of the model relate to one another. Final-ly, business students may study the eval-uation process by analyzing a broad spectrum of tools designed to achieve a specific purpose according to the needs of an organization.
In conclusion, this is a very different kind of text in terms of how the author addresses the need of existing and future managers to implement different forms or clusters of evaluation strategies depending on the stage of development and implementation of a program. As indicated earlier, timing is the issue, and managers need to assess along a continu-um from program identification and design to implementation and outcomes. Such an approach, whereby one views the evaluation process as continual across a spectrum rather than as an assessment of one moment, highlights the new reali-ty of this important task of those in man-agement. Similarly, aspects of Owen’s model provide business faculty with an intriguing way to address student accountability issues by adopting an assessment style somewhat different from that relied on in the past. The text, if not adopted as an introductory text on the evaluation process, should be a part of those read by anyone studying the topic in preparation for a career in manage-ment or by practitioners seeking to upgrade their knowledge of a complex subject.
James L. Morrison University of Delaware Newark, DE Copyright © 2007 Heldref Publications
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