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Individual Paper: Organizational Analysis

Definitions: 

Step 1: Select an organization you are familiar with and that will allow you to interview at least 2 other people who are also familiar with it. This organization may be where you work, a business or community group (e.g., your auto repair shop, your doctor’s office, your child’s school, your homeowners association), or local government. NOTE: If you have taken this course before, you must select a different organization as your subject.

Step 2: Interview at least 2 people to brainstorm with you. If you cannot get them together at the same time, that is okay. It’s fine if you need to keep the names of the interview subjects or specific organization anonymous at their request or for the sake of confidentiality, but please use pseudonyms for easy reference.

First, identify at least 5 assets of the organization that are at risk; that is, harm to one or more of the assets would impact the organization’s ability to function normally. Be sure to consider both tangible and intangible assets.

Second, identify at least 20 threats/threat agents, along with the associated vulnerabilities and potential consequences faced over the next 2 – 5 years. For threats, think about what would cause significant harm. But be realistic; for 3 example, if the organization is located in Miami, a blizzard is not likely.

1. Recognize potential disasters and business disruptions.
2. Take actions to mitigate disasters and crises.

You must have a TOTAL of 20 threats across the 2 tables; for example, 12 threats in the Disasters table and 8 threats in the Business Crises table. Be sure that the information is clear and easily understandable.

Note: Make sure to proper cite and reference the sources you use to develop Tables 1 and 2. No personal communication/interview is included in your reference list; instead, parenthetically cite the communicator’s name, the phrase “personal communication,” and the date of the communication in your main text only.. For example: “Blizzards are not a realistic threat in Miami (I. Renda-Tanali, personal communications, May 17, 2017)”. Do not cite personal communications in the tables.

Step 3: Then discuss with your brainstorming team the obstacles to getting people to:

Step 4: Write your report. The report must include the following sections, using the template provided: 4

1. Describe the organization you selected and briefly explain why you chose it.
2. Describe the people you interviewed and why you selected them. (If they would prefer to be anonymous, you may identify them by title and function; for example, assistant vice president at a branch bank office.)
3. List assets at risk.
4. List the threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences that came out of the brainstorming and any other research you did. Use the table format shown above. One table should be for disasters / catastrophes and the other table for disruptive business crises.
5. Analyze the vulnerabilities and consequences in light of an all-hazards management approach.
6. Discuss issues with and obstacles to getting people to recognize potential disasters and crises and mitigate them.
7. Explain what insights you gained from doing this assignment and how you might apply them.

Note: You are the subject-matter expert for the brainstorming, and you are responsible for editing the information in your final paper. If the people you interviewed mix up threats and consequences (for example), put the information in the correct places. Do not simply accept verbatim what your brainstorming team said.