Milestone Focus Paper:

Select an organization to study and analyze. This may be where you work, where a friend or family member works, where you volunteer, or perhaps an organization that is highly public with a great deal of information readily available. When selecting an organization, review Chapter 1 of the text and the "Five Milestones" of organization design.

For Unit 1, write a 3-5-page paper (excluding title and reference pages) assessing your organization and demonstrating that "You are clear on the problem to solve" (Milestone #1). Include the following:

Introduction of your selected organization.

Research on the strategic priorities of your selected organization. Through the use of a SWOT analysis, define the strategic priorities and any current gaps to be addressed.

Based on the SWOT and gap identification, prepare a clearly written problem statement. This problem statement will be a driving factor for all subsequent assignments.

Analysis of the current state of the Six Design Drivers (you may use a table to present strengths and weaknesses).

Analysis of the organization's capabilities.

Recommendations for design criteria specific to the organization (you may use a table to summarize).

Conclusion should briefly summarize the primary points of the paper and recommend a call to action.

The Assignment will be evaluated using the rubric located below.

Therefore, please ensure it is written with proper grammar, in APA format (including clear section headings), and includes at least three cited and referenced resources - one of which must be a peer reviewed (scholarly) journal article.