Final Project Milestone One:
Organizational Profile Guidelines
Remember: Your final project is the creation of an information technology strategic plan (ITSP). This plan is broken up into three milestone assignments that you will be working on throughout the course: an organizational profile (the focus of this assignment), an IT department SWOT analysis, and a document of strategic IT initiatives based on a case study that you will select below. These assignments should be tackled from the perspective that you are your department's IT director.
To begin this assignment, you must first choose and purchase one of the following case studies
Strategic IT Transformation at Accenture
Peak Experiences and Strategic IT Alignment at Vermont Teddy Bear
Richter: Information Technology at Hungary's Largest Pharma
The case study you select here will be the focus of your final project throughout the course.
For this milestone, you will submit an organizational profile on your chosen organization. This organizational profile should give a brief overview of the company you choose from an enterprise level and then start to focus on the IT department of that company. Below, you will see an outline of critical elements that must be addressed.
The critical elements highlighted in yellow represent the critical elements that you should answer from the perspective of the company as a whole, from the enterprise level. The critical elements highlighted in blue, and all of the subsequent milestone assignments, will focus on the IT department at your company of choice.
Make sure that you craft a vision and mission statement for your IT department that is different from your company's enterprise-level vision and mission statements but that aligns with the greater company as a whole.
Feedback should be incorporated into the final project as warranted before final submission.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Organization
A. Structure and Organization: Describe the current organizational structure and background information. How does the organization organize its internal and external communication? What is the age of the organization? What is the organizational structure? Include the following:
1. What is the number of employees?
2. What is the organizational decision-making structure?
3.What kinds of technology are used in the organization?
B. Customer Profile: Analyze the customer profile of the company to determine possible competitive issues that could be IT-related. What is the size and type of community? Who is the primary customer? What is the size of the customer/end-user base? What is the demographic profile of the customer or end user?
C. IT Values: What are the IT values of the organization? Analyze the organizational values as indicated by policies, public releases, or noted actions of the company. Some things to consider include:
1. How does the organization deal with intellectual property rights?
2. What is the privacy policy of the organization?
3. What is the technology usage policy?
4. How does the organization ensure the accuracy of the data it stores?
5. How does the organization ensure data accessibility, while ensuring data security?
6. What, if any, governance policies are implemented within the organization?
D. Internal Standards: What are the existing internal rules and standards for information technology governance? Describe the existing policies and standards within the organization to establish a baseline for appropriate practice.
II. IT Vision and Mission
A. IT Vision: What is the ideal vision of how your IT department fits into the overall organization? What is the role that IT plays in the organization?
Articulate your clear and reasonable ideal vision for the roles and responsibilities of the IT department (or IT subgroup) within the organization.
B. IT Mission: What is the IT mission of the organization? Craft an IT mission statement that represents your vision, represents the values of the organization, and speaks to the impact of IT on business opportunity and competitive advantage.
You are encouraged to use this prompt section as a guide for how you should structure your response.
Guidelines for Submission: Your paper should follow these formatting guidelines: 2-3 pages in length, with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Submit your organizational profile to your instructor for approval and to move forward. Please see the feedback provided by your instructor and resubmit as needed.