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.