Growing up is optional

I’ve had my last exam ever. …unless I decide to do some other qualification. Only 1 research paper to go.

In other news: I finally ordered some slalom gear. It should be here next week. Now I just need to find some more people…

I’m working on my Masters of Management through Massey University. I’m currently trying to put together a literature review of my chosen topic. However, I am having trouble locating any academic or even practicioner research in this area. My topic is (verbatim from my draft research proposal):

Determinants of effective website management in New Zealand government websites.

How are websites managed and how does this affect their effectiveness in achieving the outcomes for which they are maintained?

In this research I will examine different types of government websites (e.g. informational, educational, transactional) looking at how they are managed (including governing structures, authorship models, development models, history), and determine if there is a relationship between these variables and their effectiveness.

I have narrowed the topic to NZ govt sites just to stop the research getting too huge, but any research on website management with a sound methodology in a different domain (e.g. ecommerce, activism) would be a good start for me. I’ve hunted around all of the academic abstract databases etc I can think of but with no luck. Everything I have found is focused on the technology and functionality, rather than the people side of website management.

Do you know of any research, theses, papers or anything else remotely related to this topic?

I’m not so happy with this mark, mostly with myself because I know I could have done better, although most people tell me it’s not that bad considering I work full time, have two small kids and study 50% FTE.

Enough excuses. Next year it will be 2 more papers:

• Advanced Strategic Management
• Advanced Research Methods in Business

Got a B for my final exam. Not as good as I hoped, but it’s better than I thought it would be. Should end up with a B+/A- for the paper overall. Anyone need Strategic Governance analysis done? Directorships on offer?

Lazy post about what I’ve been doing:

• Been studying heaps. 1st assignment is in, working on 2nd.
• Playing with Pandora – very cool. Let me know if you want an invite and I’ll see what I can do.
• Can’t find a builder to do up my bathroom. Can find every other service though.
• Work’s really busy.
• Thinking about the general election. Still undecided centre vote.

Well it’s started. I’ve received all of my course material. It looks like a fairly hefty amount of reading, which is OK for the time being. The hard part comes when I have to do critical analysis of what I am reading and reproduce it in the form of assignments. Recommended study time for this course is 25 hours per week. I’m way behind so far. I guess I should track it to get some idea of how well I’m doing.

Because of this work load my blog posting will be relatively sparce over the next four months. I’m sure that my vast audience will forgive this, or just unsubscribe.

The problem with having a science based education, and being lazy, is that I always try to write as succinctly as possible. That’s great for a scientific report, but in a management paper where you have to demostrate understanding as well as convey facts my writing style can work against me. I guess I’ll see.

When I felt the urge I had to do something before sanity set in again and momentum was lost. I’ve enrolled in a Master of Management at Massey University. My student ID card arrived with a photo that looks like it was taken a lifetime ago. It’s the same photo from when I first enrolled there 6 years ago.

The work begins soon. I’ll be tied to the books for another 2-4 years. I’m starting with Strategic Governance, which I think will probably be the hardest paper other than the research report.