FRAJO Warehousing & Distribution Company (FWDC) CIO Organizational
Structure Memo Paper
Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the "FRAJO Warehousing & Distribution Company Case Study," as well as all materials in the course to date. You will also need to review any feedback you received on your IT Strategic Plan assignments.
Purpose of this Assignment
This assignment gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to participate in a team project and to apply the course concepts to address the organizational changes needed to evolve the information technology (IT) department into a true CIO organization to support the FWDC Distribution Company (FWDC). This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcome to enable you to:
• explain the roles and responsibilities of an information technology department to support an organization's IT strategy
CIO Organizational Structure Memo
For this assignment, you will assume the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at FWDC (i.e., you are Fran). Since you are FWDC's first CIO, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has asked you for a plan for the organizational changes you need to make. One of the first things you realize is that the organization that exists is just an ‘IT Department' and you know that what FWDC needs, and has hired you to do, is to
create an organization that fulfills the broad responsibilities of a Chief Information Officer. You know that your proposal needs to be convincing to the CFO in order for you to get the resources you need.
Assignment
You will develop a memorandum addressed to the CFO that explains how you want to change your IT Department into a CIO organization and why.
Your memo will address each of the topics listed below, and should be written so that it flows well from one section to the next. In addition to the course materials, at least one external resource (resource other than those provided in the class) must be used.
Two or more cited references will earn top credit.
Use a separate References page to list just the references you have cited. Remember to use the APA formatting rules and correctly cite and reference your sources with APA format. Use the Grading Rubric to be sure you have covered everything.
Submit your memo in a Microsoft Word memo format, or a document that can be read using Word that uses a memorandum format, with your last name included in the filename.
Please include the following in your memorandum, ensuring that each section flows well to the next, and that the overall memo creates a compelling justification for your new organizational structure.
• Introduction and Purpose - Open your memo with a brief (2 or 3 sentences) explanation of why you are writing it.
• Leadership Philosophy - Since you are the CIO and a member of the senior leadership team of FWDC, it is important for the other members of the team to understand your leadership philosophy and the management style you will use to meet the company's needs.
This should be a short paragraph that ties to the priorities and/or issues outlined in the Case Study, and lays the foundation for the organizational structure you will propose below. Refer to course readings and presentations on leadership. This is also a good area in which to do some external research.
FRAJO Warehousing & Distribution Company (FWDC) CIO Organizational
Structure Memo Paper
Before you begin this assignment, be sure you have read the "FRAJO Warehousing & Distribution Company Case Study," as well as all materials in the course to date. You will also need to review any feedback you received on your IT Strategic Plan assignments.
Purpose of this Assignment
This assignment gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to participate in a team project and to apply the course concepts to address the organizational changes needed to evolve the information technology (IT) department into a true CIO organization to support the FWDC Distribution Company (FWDC). This assignment specifically addresses the following course outcome to enable you to:
• explain the roles and responsibilities of an information technology department to support an organization's IT strategy
CIO Organizational Structure Memo
For this assignment, you will assume the role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at FWDC (i.e., you are Fran). Since you are FWDC's first CIO, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has asked you for a plan for the organizational changes you need to make.
One of the first things you realize is that the organization that exists is just an ‘IT Department' and you know that what FWDC needs, and has hired you to do, is to
create an organization that fulfills the broad responsibilities of a Chief Information Officer. You know that your proposal needs to be convincing to the CFO in order for you to get the resources you need.
Assignment
You will develop a memorandum addressed to the CFO that explains how you want to change your IT Department into a CIO organization and why. Your memo will address each of the topics listed below, and should be written so that it flows well from one section to the next.
In addition to the course materials, at least one external resource (resource other than those provided in the class) must be used. Two or more cited references will earn top credit. Use a separate References page to list just the references you have cited. Remember to use the APA formatting rules and correctly cite and reference your sources with APA format.
Use the Grading Rubric to be sure you have covered everything. Submit your memo in a Microsoft Word memo format, or a document that can be read using Word that uses a memorandum format, with your last name included in the filename.
Please include the following in your memorandum, ensuring that each section flows well to the next, and that the overall memo creates a compelling justification for your new organizational structure.
• Introduction and Purpose - Open your memo with a brief (2 or 3 sentences) explanation of why you are writing it.
• Leadership Philosophy - Since you are the CIO and a member of the senior leadership team of FWDC, it is important for the other members of the team to understand your leadership philosophy and the management style you will use to meet the company's needs.
This should be a short paragraph that ties to the priorities and/or issues outlined in the Case Study, and lays the foundation for the organizational structure you will propose below. Refer to course readings and presentations on leadership. This is also a good area in which to do some external research.
Please use the following table, copying/pasting it into your assignment (add lines if needed):
Internal IT Strategy
Description
People, Process, or Technology
Explanation how this IT Strategy will Help Improve the Organization's Effectiveness
• Current IT Department Structure - Use the information provided in the Case Study to draw an organization chart depicting the current roles and responsibilities. You may take some liberties in how you align the staff that is described in the Case Study, but all IT staff positions or groups must be included in the structure. Be sure to introduce or explain your org chart in the memo.
Refer to course materials for an example of an IT organization chart. You may use the Shapes tool or the SmartArt tool to develop your organizational hierarchy chart, or you may paste in your chart from another drawing tool.
• New CIO Organization - Explain in a paragraph or two how a CIO organization is different from an IT Department. Be sure to create a transition from the previous section. This may be an area for you to do some external research.
• Key Services - List and explain at least five key services (more than five will earn top credit) that need to be included in your new CIO organizational structure.
You may eliminate functions or positions from your current organizational structure if you believe it will improve your effectiveness and/or efficiency; these should be explained. You should also add (and explain) any functions that you will need in your new organization. Be sure these services are appropriate to your IT strategies and note how each relates in your discussion.
Please use the following table, copying/pasting it into your assignment (add lines if needed):
Key Service
Relationship to IT Strategy
New CIO Organization Structure - Briefly explain what changes you will make and why. Draw an organization chart depicting your new CIO organizational structure. Be sure that the key services you listed are covered by the new organizational structure. (Follow the guidelines for drawing the organization chart given above for the current organization.)
• Key Milestones - Your memo should include at least five key milestones (tasks or events) (more than five will earn top credit) associated with accomplishing the changes that you see are needed to change the IT Department into a CIO organization.
Each milestone should be briefly described (in a sentence or two) and a target completion date should be shown. In addition, for each milestone you should identify at least one issue or concern you have with accomplishing it.
An example using a milestone not related to the organization might be: The milestone is to consolidate all servers into a new data center by Oct 2017.
Some issues might be: (1) a secure data center must be located, (2) it will require significant downtime for the corporate servers, and (3) the initial cost will be high. Please use the following table, copying/pasting it into your assignment (add lines if needed):
Milestone Target Completion Date Issue(s)/Concerns
Accomplishing the
Milestone
• Conclusion - Provide an appropriate closing to your memo.
Group Management
Group work is to be conducted in the Groups area of the online classroom - the group discussion area and the group locker - and the use of online Messages and email is discouraged and should be restricted. If those must be used, please copy your faculty member. The work should be balanced among the team.
At the conclusion of the assignment, each team member will rate the participation of each of the team members, including themselves. These rating will be sent to the professor via the Assignment Folder, using the Group Project Peer Review (GPPR) criteria below, and will be considered in the assignment of individual scores.