5  Organizational Structure, Core Idea Dashboard, and Project Plan

This project assignment aims to help you understand how to analyze a company, propose solutions in the scope of your assigned challenge, and plan your work as a team.

5.1 Learning Objectives

  • Analyze and depict an organizational structure.
  • Identify a core problem within a complex problem context.
  • Propose a what-if analysis to simulate the effects of different decisions.
  • Create a preliminary project plan.

5.2 Assignments

1) Organizational Structure

Read the company description and consider what the organizational structure might look like. You can rely on your intuition or research similar companies to gain insights into this structure. Then, describe and analyze the structure using an organizational chart or organigram.

TipTools to Create Organizational Charts

To understand what an organigram looks like, refer to Wikipedia’s Organizational Chart page. You can create the chart using any tool (e.g., MS Visio, MS PowerPoint, Lucidchart, draw.io), or draw it by hand and take a picture.

Deliverables

  • Company organigram [max. 0.5 page]
  • Analysis of the organizational structure [max. 0.5 page]

Assessment Criteria

  • Readability and clarity of both the written and visual components.

2) Dashboard Development

Later in the project, you will develop a computer simulation to assist the company. This simulation will help evaluate the potential outcomes of different decisions, considering your team’s specific tasks. Eventually, you will design a user-friendly “dashboard” interface for this simulation to allow the company to explore various scenarios and decisions. This will enable the company to assess challenges and experiment with potential improvements, facilitating “what-if analysis.”

Before developing the dashboard, first construct a problem analysis. Identify the core problem by mapping out and clustering relevant issues, then explain the problem you want to address. Based on this, design and articulate the core idea behind your future dashboard, outlining the main functionality and its relevance to solving the identified problem. Also, describe the intended stakeholders (actors) and analyze how the dashboard will impact them.

Deliverables

  1. Documentation of the steps taken to identify the core problem, including a problem cluster [max. one page].
  2. Description of the dashboard functionality you plan to implement [max. 0.5 page].
  3. Explanation of how the dashboard relates to the core problem, and identification of the relevant stakeholders [max. 0.5 page].
  4. A list of data required to ensure the dashboard’s functionality [max. 0.5 page].

Assessment Criteria

  • Clarity and relevance of the identified core problem.
  • Usefulness and feasibility of the proposed dashboard.
  • Clear explanation of the dashboard’s purpose and its “what-if analysis” capabilities.
  • Relevance of the required data to the dashboard.

Table 5.1 shows the rubric for assessing this assignment.

Table 5.1: Assessment criteria for assignment P1. Note: Score 0 applies when nothing is done/submitted for that criterion.
Criterion 1 (Basic) 2 (Sufficient) 3 (Excellent) Weight
Organigram: Readability, clarity and completeness The organigram is hard to understand or missing important parts. The organigram includes the main departments but may lack clarity or detail. The organigram is comprehensive, clear, neat, and professional with a short explanation. 10%
Functionality idea: Usefulness of what-if analysis tool The core idea of the dashboard is unclear, confusing, or not useful for the problem. The core idea of the dashboard relates to the team’s task, but the explanation of how it solves the problem is incomplete. The core idea of the dashboard is clearly described, follows from the team’s task, and shows how it contributes to solving the problem. 20%
Actors: Clarity and conciseness The actors are mentioned, but not clearly explained or connected to the dashboard. It is described which actors the dashboard is meant for, but not fully clear or justified. It is clearly described which actors the dashboard is for and why, with a strong link to the organigram and functionality idea. 10%
Data Requirements: Relevance and justification The data is mentioned but unclear how it supports the dashboard. The data is listed and mostly relevant, but not fully justified. The data is clearly listed, relevant, and well justified for the dashboard’s functionality. 10%
Project plan: Completeness, feasibility and clarity The project plan includes some tasks and deadlines, but is unclear or incomplete. The project plan contains tasks, deadlines, and a division of work, but could be more detailed in the first weeks. The project plan is complete, detailed, and well thought through, with clear tasks, deadlines, and workload division. 25%
Reflection The reflection includes some thoughts, but is unclear or not detailed. The reflection describes what the team did well and what could be improved. The reflection clearly and concisely discusses strengths, weaknesses, and a plan for improvement. 10%
Quality of written report (structure, style and grammar) The report includes a title page but is missing or unclear on key elements; grammar and spelling have several issues. The report has the required elements; structure, grammar, and spelling are sufficient but could be improved. The report is complete, well structured, with page numbers, table of contents, and hardly any errors; looks neat. 5%
TipWhat is a Computer Simulation?

A computer simulation models a real-world system or process to predict its behavior or performance. It allows users to test different scenarios and make informed decisions. In this project, the simulation will help the company understand the effects of various decisions on its operations.

TipWhat is a Dashboard?

A dashboard is a visual interface that provides users with a quick overview of key information and metrics. It helps monitor performance, track progress, and make data-driven decisions. For this project, the dashboard will act as a user-friendly tool to interact with the simulation and analyze results, which will be implemented using Excel/VBA.

TipWhat is a ‘What-If Analysis’?

A “what-if analysis” allows users to explore the outcomes of different scenarios by changing key values in a model. It helps in evaluating various decisions and their impacts on performance. In this project, the dashboard will enable the company to conduct what-if analyses using the simulation to assess different strategies.

3) Project Plan

Now that you have identified the problem and the solution, you can create a rough project plan for the next 9 weeks. Research project plan elements if necessary (e.g., ProjectSmart’s Project Planning Guide). Then, create a preliminary project plan for the entire module.

The project plan should include:

  • Deliverables for each week, including tasks from other courses.
  • Division of tasks and deadlines among team members.
  • Time estimates for each task.

Deliverables

  • A description of the project scope and tasks [max. one page].
  • A detailed weekly plan, considering the requirements from other courses [max. one page].
NoteProject Plan Accuracy

It’s acceptable if your plan for the later weeks is less detailed, but make it as specific as possible. If task assignments are unclear for the final weeks, at least outline which team members will be responsible for each task.

4) Team Contract

Draft and sign a team contract outlining your expectations regarding meetings, roles, responsibilities, quality control, and decision-making. You may find templates online. This contract should reflect agreements within the group on:

  • Work division.
  • Cross-verification1 deadlines.
  • Methods of communication (e.g., WhatsApp, email).
  • Availability for meetings.
  • Meeting times and locations.
  • Submission deadlines.
ImportantWorkload Distribution

All students listed on the title page are expected to contribute equally to the report. Any failure to do so may be considered academic misconduct. If you face issues within the group, address them professionally or consult your tutor for advice.

Deliverables

  • Team contract [max. 1.5 page].

5) Reflection

Include a brief team reflection on what you found easy or challenging and what improvements you aim to make next time. This reflection should critically analyze both individual and team performance.

Deliverables

  • Team reflection [max. 0.5 page].

Assessment Criteria

  • Depth and quality of the reflection.

5.3 Delivery Instructions

Submit your completed report as a single PDF file via Canvas entitled groupXX_p1_plan.pdf, where XX is your group number (e.g., group01_p1_plan.pdf).

Report Requirements

  • Include a title page with your group number, student names, and student numbers.
  • Ensure each section corresponds to one of the assignments. Do not repeat the assignment text.
  • A summary is not required.
  • The report must include page numbers, a table of contents, and be free of typos and grammatical errors.

  1. Cross-verification refers to the process of team members reviewing each other’s work to ensure quality and consistency.↩︎