CyPRG: Effectiveness: Webmaster Interviews

Cyberspace Policy Research Group

Effectiveness: Webmaster Interviews

CyPRG also has gathered data about whether organizational effectiveness is affected by the use of web technologies. Effectiveness in a large scale system depends on the extent to which there are time or resources with which managers experiment with web technologies and adapt the system to their needs. Effectiveness is diminished to the extent that these experiments are not possible or not permitted.

This portion of the overall CyPRG project is considered the long term field research portion of the work. It has begun with in-depth field interviews with agency webmasters, who are the staff members most responsible for constructing and maintaining external web sites.

The method relies on structured interviews using the instrument described below. Interviews are open-ended, but generally take between 45 minutes to two hours.

One goal is to use this instrument to look more closely at intranet web systems as more and more organizations install their own web net for solely internal use. Through periodic visits to selected public agencies this project will produce these organizational "lessons learned."

Click here to view CyPRG's interview guide.

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Interview subject areas
Criterion Rationale

Dates and initiating pressures -- Establishes time and event baselines. Identifies key dates for implementation and significant alterations in design of web system, and significant external guidelines for the content or existence of the system.

Initial purposes and roles -- Establishes the social construction of what was expected from implementing, significantly redesigning or upgrading the technological system.
-- Pursues what roles were played by senior people and change agents in this set of events.

Design of control processes,
staff and content-access procedures -- Documents the control processes implemented by managers in terms of content, staff, access, budgets and changes at the point of establishing, elaborating or altering uses of web technologies.
-- Bulk of the interview is conducted on these sub-issues and what control mechanisms were incorporated in the use of the web technologies.

Surprises and organizational responses -- Tracks the perceptions of organizational members key to web-related operations concerning web-induced uncertainties and their responses as their experiences with the technologies has grown over time.

Long term process, content-access and staff monitoring -- Tracks surrogate measures of change such as web traffic demands, changes, archiving procedures.
-- Notes costs of operations, and future plans in response to these changes.

Alternative or substitute uses
of technology -- Seeks evidence of alternative uses of web technologies, including an intranet if the web is an external site.
-- Goal is to understand what other uses of web technologies may be implemented or recognized by organizational members and how much control is involved in experimentation.

Knowledge discovery and dissemination processes -- Assesses how the results of experiments, either inside or externally, may be transmitted to key organizational members including managers and technical core personnel.
-- Queries address social organizations of web-affected employees, other avenues for information on uses of the web, training investments, allowance of time to experiment, and employeesí attitudes towards and background experiences with web technologies.

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Interview subject areas Criterion	Rationale
Dates and initiating pressures	-- Establishes time and event baselines. Identifies key dates for implementation and significant alterations in design of web system, and significant external guidelines for the content or existence of the system.
Initial purposes and roles	-- Establishes the social construction of what was expected from implementing, significantly redesigning or upgrading the technological system. -- Pursues what roles were played by senior people and change agents in this set of events.
Design of control processes, staff and content-access procedures	-- Documents the control processes implemented by managers in terms of content, staff, access, budgets and changes at the point of establishing, elaborating or altering uses of web technologies. -- Bulk of the interview is conducted on these sub-issues and what control mechanisms were incorporated in the use of the web technologies.
Surprises and organizational responses	-- Tracks the perceptions of organizational members key to web-related operations concerning web-induced uncertainties and their responses as their experiences with the technologies has grown over time.
Long term process, content-access and staff monitoring	-- Tracks surrogate measures of change such as web traffic demands, changes, archiving procedures. -- Notes costs of operations, and future plans in response to these changes.
Alternative or substitute uses of technology	-- Seeks evidence of alternative uses of web technologies, including an intranet if the web is an external site. -- Goal is to understand what other uses of web technologies may be implemented or recognized by organizational members and how much control is involved in experimentation.
Knowledge discovery and dissemination processes	-- Assesses how the results of experiments, either inside or externally, may be transmitted to key organizational members including managers and technical core personnel. -- Queries address social organizations of web-affected employees, other avenues for information on uses of the web, training investments, allowance of time to experiment, and employeesí attitudes towards and background experiences with web technologies.