For this project, you will be creating a situation audit of your own organization. You will prepare to conduct your audit over the next 12 steps of this project, during which you will review various aspects of your organization, including its mission, goals, and values. You will be given the opportunity to submit different parts of your audit for instructor feedback prior to submitting your final situation audit. Read the full description of the final deliverable and the steps to completion.

Begin your situation audit by going to Step 1: Organize Your Work.

When you submit your project, your work will be evaluated using the competencies listed below. You can use the list below to self-check your work before submission.

• 1.3: Provide sufficient, correctly cited support that substantiates the writer’s ideas.
• 1.6: Follow conventions of Standard Written English.  
• 6.3: Analyze an organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses for strategic value.
• 6.4: Develop and recommend strategies for an organization’s sustainable competitive advantage.
• 8.1: Evaluate major business/organizational systems and processes and make recommendations for improvement.
• 8.3: Identify and distinguish among organizational structural types and their respective implications for performance.
• 9.1: Design organizational structures, systems, and processes that support the strategic goals of the organization.
• 9.2: Evaluate how human capital serves as a source of competitive advantage.
• 10.2: Analyze financial statements to evaluate and optimize organizational performance.
• 10.3: Determine optimal financial decisions in pursuit of an organization’s goals.

Project 2: Situation Audit

Step 1: Organize Your Work

Student Expectations

Students are expected to find the information required to address the specific questions they are required to answer at each step of the project. The primary purpose of Project 2 is for students to demonstrate they understand and can apply the key MBA concepts and course materials found throughout Project 2 to their particular organization. Project 2 is not complete until the key MBA concepts and course materials provided within each step have been applied, as applicable, to the student’s organization.

It is the student’s obligation to demonstrate (1) an understanding of the organization selected for analysis and (2) explain, apply, and integrate the key MBA concepts found in provided course materials to  their organization.  Examples of how the MBA concepts and course materials apply to an  organization are expected. All sources used should be properly (APA) cited in-text and listed in a reference section.

Final Deliverable Instructions: A Situation Audit and Preliminary Analysis of Key Factors

Your boss has tasked you with preparing a situation audit that presents an overview of your organization (or an approved alternative). In this report, you’ll focus on analyzing several key internal factors that, taken together, provide a portrait of your organization. The information you will rely on for this report must be publicly available or available for review by faculty, as necessary.

Format Requirements

Use the Situation Audit Template provided below. Your Situation Audit report will be 18 to 22 double-spaced pages, excluding a required cover page, a brief executive summary, and a list of references. See Executive Summaries for guidance on writing this section. You may also use appendices for helpful supplementary information, but these will not be included in the page limit for this report. Use APA formatting for in-text citations and references.

Academic Integrity

As you proceed through the steps to completion, be sure to read the materials provided in the embedded links—all are related to your project work. Cite any ideas you use from these materials in all course work you submit. By giving credit to the ideas of others in your work, you will build credibility in the minds of your readers and make your original thoughts stand out.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

                                                                   —Sir Isaac Newton

Now that you have a better understanding of the project requirements, follow these guidelines:

• Read over these brief guidelines about conducting research on your organization. Discuss with your instructor any limiting factors you may encounter as you write this report. After you’ve discussed these issues with your instructor, if you believe it’s best for you to research an organization other than your own, please read this information about using an outside organization.
• If necessary, schedule any meetings in advance with your organization’s personnel to obtain the necessary information.
• Use the step-by-step Situation Audit Template as your outline and guide for the entire report, start to finish.

Next, proceed to Step 2, where you will write an overview description of your organization.

Project 2: Situation Audit
Step 3: Identify Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals

Now that you’ve identified the key facts about your organization, turn your attention to your organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals. Taken together, these elements can help drive organizational decisions, positively impact employee performance, and influence many of the other organizational components you’ll be examining for this report.

The mission, vision, values, and goals should be reviewed periodically to determine whether adjustments are needed in light of key environmental factors or changes in the organization’s performance or capacity.

Follow the steps below to analyze your organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals:

• Find your organization’s mission and look at whether and how it has changed over time. If it has changed, what process changed it?
• Analyze the extent to which your organization’s mission (1) is well understood, (2) continues to inform key decisions, and (3) is well aligned with what the organization is actually doing.
• If your organization does not have a formal mission statement, read deducing a mission.
• Analyze your organization’s vision and core values. Consider whether the vision and core values are in alignment with and supportive of the organization’s mission. Are the vision and core values widely understood and accepted within the organization?
• If you cannot find formal statements about your organization’s vision or core values, read Deducing Vision and Core Values.
• Next, determine whether your organization practices strategic goal setting. Analyze whether these goals are explained clearly and whether they make sense given the organization’s mission, vision, and values. In other words, look for alignment of mission, mission, values, and goals.