Outcomes addressed in this activity
Unit Outcomes:
- Demonstrate organizational skills through the creation of a "living document" RACI chart.
- Analyze the dimensions of a decision.
- Explain the Naturalistic decision-making approach.
Course Outcomes:
- IT402-3: Develop skills for negotiation, decision-making, and other people-related processes within IT consulting.
Assignment instructions and requirements
Prepare an APA-formatted paper with the following content. Your Assignment does not require an abstract page, but does require a cover page and separate reference page. Consider using the template provided in Doc Sharing.
Part 1: Managing people - the RACI Chart
This part of the Assignment is connected to the ideas shared in Discussion No. 1 this week. There is a new company that needs quite a bit of technology help as they set up business selling tractor parts. For this week's Assignment, choose the option below that suits your expertise best:
- Web: You have been hired to build their website. So far, the team consists of the following people in addition to you (as consultant): an HTML-CSS design expert, a database and PHP expert, and a content expert.
- Network: You have been hired to develop their office network. So far, the team consists of the following people in addition to you (as consultant): an infrastructure architect, an installation expert, and a software expert.
- Software: You have been hired to create a program that tracks deliveries. So far, the team consists of the following people in addition to you (as consultant): a programming expert, an interface design expert, and a database administrator.
- Database: You have been hired to create the company database. So far, the team consists of the following people in addition to you (as consultant): an SQL expert, an interface design expert, and a migration expert.
Choose just one of the scenario options above.
- Provide an appropriate paper subheading.
- Write an introductory statement to this section before presenting your RACI chart. Do not simply say you "chose scenario no. 3" - write as if the reader is unaware of the Assignment instructions.
- Develop a RACI chart for the project.
- Use Excel.
- Imitate the formatting of the chart shown in the Reading PDF and the video tutorial, not the one in the textbook.
- Include conditional formatting to color-code R, A, C, and I.
- Embed (do not link) the Excel chart into your Word document.
- Level of detail required:
- There must be at least 12 tasks.
Your team must have at least five people - those listed above plus two more. You can get ideas from the discussion board for additional team members.
- Do not use templates or sources for this part of the Assignment; this is to be developed from your understanding of RACI charts from the textbook reading and the Reading resource document.
Part 2: Analyzing a Decision
This part is not related to the previous scenario.
After reading the assigned textbook chapters (in particular, "dimensions of a decision" in Chapter 10), explain a decision you made in the past or one made in your workplace. If possible, focus on a decision made about a technical issue.
- Provide an appropriate paper subheading.
- Explain the dimensions of this decision using the following list, with each presented in its own separate paragraph. Where appropriate, include comments about effectiveness or ramifications of actions taken.
- The decision's significance
- The people involved in the decision
- Justification of the decision
- Method(s) of informing others of the decision
- Minimum wording for this part of the Assignment is 120 words.
Part 3: Research and interpretation
This is also an independent part, not related to other parts of the Assignment.
The textbook recommends the Naturalistic decision-making approach. Perform research on the Internet and find a suitable article that either explains this approach, promotes its value, or compares it to other approaches.
- Provide an appropriate paper subheading
- Identify the article, and then summarize it. Include an in-text citation to identify the summary's source.
- In a separate paragraph, provide your own interpretation of the value of this approach.
- Minimum wording for this part of the Assignment is 90 words.
Last Page
Include a Reference page with an APA-formatted entry for the source you used in Part 3 above.