Organizational Assessment

Due Week 5 (Friday, September 25)

Author

Prof. Jack Reilly

Published

Fall 2026

Instructions

Download and complete the Organizational Assessment.

Important

Review this assignment before your second client meeting. Many questions in the Organizational Assessment require answers from your client.

You will also need to reference the Bare Essentials slides when completing the Organizational Assessment.

Files

What the assessment covers

The assignment is worth 10 points, allocated across six sections. Points are also deducted for lateness, writing, presentation, and project scoping – see the grade sheet for the full breakdown.

Section Points
Organizational culture 2
Website analysis 1
Bare essentials for your agency 2
Agency’s goal 2
Describe your project 1
Research questions 2

1. Organizational culture

Maximum 250 words – 2 points

Organizational culture encompasses values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of a business. Schedule a follow-up meeting with your client. Take a screenshot of your Zoom meeting or a picture of your in-person meeting with your client’s permission – you will be asked to include the photo in your assignment.

In addition to continuing work on your project, make sure to ask your client about their organization’s culture. You could ask your client questions like:

  • How many hours do you work in a typical week?
  • What is the best part of working for XYZ Organization?
  • How often, if ever, do you hold organization-wide meetings?

Then briefly summarize how your client described their organization’s culture, and answer: would you want to work in a similar environment?

2. Website analysis

Maximum 250 words – 1 point

Examine the website of your client’s agency. Review the Coplin-Dwyer Bare Essentials slides and comment whether the site meets or does not meet the seven bare essentials listed for a government office (even if your agency is not a government office). Type out the bare essential and then start your comment after a dash.

Example: The first bare essential is that the organization has a website – XYZ Organization has a website, located at www.xyzorganization.com.

3. Bare essentials for your organization

Maximum 250 words – 2 points

Review the bare essentials of chapters 1-9 of Coplin-Dwyer (in the Bare Essentials slides) and select the five most important bare essentials that your agency or program should meet. Ask your client what their agency does about those five essentials and explain their actions and strategies in 1-2 sentences. Type out the bare essential and then start your comment after a dash.

Example: The most important bare essential is that the organization conduct customer surveys at least once a year – My client Suzie Smith, in her position as Executive Director of XYZ Organization, oversees the administration of volunteer and client satisfaction surveys every six months.

4. Agency goal

Maximum 250 words – 2 points

Take a screenshot of a document, web page, or other resource created by your agency that describes its mission and place it on the next page. Then:

  • Quote the mission statement of your agency and indicate the source with an APA citation (no references page needed). If unavailable, describe the goals of the agency.
  • Identify an output of your agency.
  • Identify an outcome related to the output identified above.
  • Discuss potential threats to accuracy in your project.
  • Discuss potential threats to representativeness in your project.

5. Describe your project

1 point

By each item below, describe as briefly as possible the characteristics of your project as defined by you and your client.

  • Name of organization
  • A brief title that describes the project
  • Source of data – survey, records, other
  • Unit of analysis (hint: what are you measuring?)
  • Target population of your study (include a number if possible)

6. Research questions

2 points

List 7-10 questions your agency hopes to answer with the data in your report.

Examples: How do clients of XYZ Organization feel about the frequency of email newsletters? How many pounds of paper does ABC Agency order in a year? What should PST Inc. do to better include those with disabilities?