As the last days of February pass by, the end of the first phase of the semester is reached: the TAA deadline. A strange interlude then exists for two weeks before the ECA's are released and the 3-month rush to hand in the examined papers begins.

I completed two of the TAA's in one sitting and the third in two sittings. That was a good way to do it, as it meant they didn't hang around for too long. It was particularly good getting the first drafts done in a single session, especially since those drafts held up very well. I never can avoid editing as I go. It'll certainly be the way I'll do them in the future. It's going to be interesting to see how this influences the ECA's. In a similar manner, some other students seem to sit down and do each of their ECA's in one sitting, while I develop, stir and marinate over weeks. Since I'll be doing three of them this semester, leaving about a month for each, I certainly don't want the writing process to hang around for weeks on end. We shall see. It'll come down to the content of the ECA's, as the nature of the questions can vary considerably and thus some can involve significantly more effort than others.

At the moment, the electives are a mixed bag. The Strategic Marketing module is interesting, as it is a subject I naturally drift to, but the core text book is awful. It's not that it isn't full of content it just seems to be written in a way that forces you to disengage with the text. Not that great for a marketing text. Strategic Supply Chain Management has been a bit of a surprise, in that some of the module is very interesting, such as supplier relationships and trust. The core text with this module is also pretty hard going, but does contain a lot of interesting information on procurement processes, which aren't overly an interest of mine but I think it's good to know something about in a 'wider context' fashion. I really enjoyed the TAA related to Small Business Management, which involved analysing a franchise opportunity (and Domino's Pizza were very helpful), but parts of the module are a bit too theoretical, being research on small businesses instead of it being focused on the practical aspects of running one. The practical side is in the module, but for me, it should have been everything in the module.

So far, none of the three electives this semester compare to the brilliance of Change Management, which was interesting, it organised the narrative of its content well (which you'd hope it would considering the subject matter) and the session during the residential seminar was brilliant. Still, a good ECA can be a game changer, so we'll see.

I've already started thinking about what to do next semester as I have a variety of options. Do I do my two remaining electives or do I do an elective and the last remaining core with an exam? A part of me thinks I'll do two more electives and one will certainly be Business Transformation, the other is a bit of a mystery as the reduced elective set we now face is lacking a bit of inspiration. I could do Business Transformation and the Managing Information core in the hope that more of the new electives are released? I'll probably query the release schedule of the new electives to see if anything will be released for the first 2011 semester or not. If not, I'll certainly just do two electives. The issue will be what to do along with Business Transformation? I'm really looking forward to Business Transformation though.

The strangest feeling at this point, is I can see the end in sight? This is strange, as there is still three semesters to go after this one. I'm not really that close to the end. I'm just over half way. I think it comes down to the fact the end can be comprehended. Two electives, the remaining core, Methods of Inquiry and then the dissertation. It doesn't seem that bad does it? Hell, the dissertation semester is so close to the end it almost doesn't count as a semester. I certainly feel like the crest of the hill has been reached.

As for March? I'll face the ECA starting pistol, the results for semester three and, at the end of the month, the residential seminar. I always enjoy the residential and I'm hoping to go for more of it this time, possibly sampling a few elective options.

Posted: 28/02/2010 at 12:39:37