Purpose of Assignment 

The purpose of this assignment is to give students the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and skills acquired in human resource evaluation.  The project will incorporate multiple parts in order to develop a final presentation. First is the situational analysis, which should be approximately two pages in length following APA format (double-spacing).  The two-pages are content (excludes the cover page, abstract, appendix, references). Note that visuals, as tables or charts, can be referenced from the Appendix and not counted as the content. Be clear and concise using visuals as appropriate.

Program Competencies

• Human Resource Expertise
• Business Acumen/Strategic Thinking

Program Learning Outcomes

Human Resource Expertise – Incorporate human resource theory, skill development, and best practices to assess the role of human resource management in supporting an organization’s human capital and business strategy by influencing and the attitudes and behaviors of employees and other workforce stakeholders.

Business Acumen/Strategic Thinking – Demonstrate the ability to align workforce development programs to support organizational performance by thinking strategically, understanding organizational strategies, and apply leadership skills.

Assignment Description 

Situational Analysis

Consulting Project Scope (100-200 words, one paragraph)

Briefly describe the focus of the project based on the sponsor’s description.

Organizational Context (1-2 paragraphs)

First, briefly explain the organization’s industry and regional context (for example, for-profit international corporation online general product sales).  Describe the organization’s structure, leadership (this might be one person or a leadership team), and size, including the number of employees or volunteers. How would you describe the organization’s culture, mission, values?

What have you learned about internal organization? Does the organization have a well-developed human resource planning process? Is there an overall human resource strategy? Learn as much as you can about the communication context — for some organizations, there may simply not be much information available and, if this is the case, be sure to explain that.  Find this information through your interviews with the sponsor, as well as the organization’s website and other information you can glean from online sources, including the Northeastern library.

Stakeholder Analysis (1-2 paragraphs)

Describe the primary stakeholders/target audiences you will be focusing on in your analysis. Include here both a narrative description of how you selected the primary internal and external stakeholders and the filled-in table below (if necessary, add rows).  The table could be referenced in an Appendix of the report.

Stakeholders

(Internal and/or External)

Attributes

What we know about them

What we need to find out

Concerns/Expectations 

Based on the information available, consider stepping through a SWOT analysis directly associated to the project focus. (SWOT is Strengths and Weakness related to the organization and Opportunities and Threats based on the industry of the organization)

Keep in mind, the aspects of the Situational Analysis will be incorporated in the Final Presentation.  Think about how visuals might synthesize key elements or offer comparisons. Depending on the size of a table, image, or other visual, it might be best in an appendix and references in the body of the report. Follow APA requirements for proper labeling of visuals and citations.