Assignment: Affinity Diagram and Root Cause Analysis

The purpose of this assignment is to use an affinity diagram to brainstorm and identify root causes of the organizational problem and potential solutions for addressing it. Now that you have identified the basic problem you want to resolve within your organization, you will need to think about root causes for the problem. Read the Topic Materials and the "Brainstorming With an Affinity Diagram" handout to help you narrow and specify the cause(s) for the problem.

Complete the affinity diagram action steps outlined on the "Brainstorming With an Affinity Diagram" handout, including the "Five Whys Root Causes Analysis." This can be done using online mind mapping resources like those found in the Topic Materials, by using post-it notes, or through the use of Excel or Word documents and tables. When constructing the affinity diagram, be sure to complete all six steps described on the handout. You will reference these root causes

Assignment: Problem Statement

The purpose of this assignment is to identify an organizational problem to solve within your current workplace or industry and construct a problem statement that can be used as the basis for an action research project.

For this assignment, the first step is to identify an organizational problem to solve within your current workplace or industry. This is an opportunity for you to apply your learning while addressing a real-world problem.

Part of completing an action research project is clearly identifying and stating the organizational problem that needs to be resolved through the use of a problem statement. The problem statement must clearly articulate the single goal of the action research project. Use what you have learned in the Topic Materials to construct a problem statement for your action research project. Read and complete the "Writing a Problem Statement" handout to construct your problem statement. Submit the completed handout to your instructor.