PSC/495 PSC495 PSC 495 WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT 2
- Grand Canyon University / PSC 495
- 25 May 2018
- Price: $15
- Other / Other
PSC 495 WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT 2
Assignment 2
The purpose of this assignment is to identify an organizational
problem to solve within your current workplace or industry and construct a
problem statement that can be used as the basis for an action research project.
For this assignment, the first step is to identify an
organizational problem to solve within your current workplace or industry. This
is an opportunity for you to apply your learning while addressing a real-world
problem.
Part of completing an action research project is clearly
identifying and stating the organizational problem that needs to be resolved
through the use of a problem statement. The problem statement must clearly
articulate the single goal of the action research project. Use what you have
learned in the Topic Materials to construct a problem statement for your action
research project. Read and complete the "Writing a Problem Statement"
handout to construct your problem statement. Submit the completed handout to
your instructor.
Your problem statement will eventually become part of your final
business proposal that will be submitted in Topic 8.
APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is
expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
When writing a problem statement, it is important to clearly identify and state the organizational problem that needs to be resolved. To articulate this information clearly, the following pieces can be used as building blocks for the statement.
|
Original problem or focus question |
Restate the initial problem that launched the inquiry process, or rewrite the focus question or one of the clarifying questions as a statement. |
|
Stakeholders who are most affected by the problem |
Identify who is most directly impacted by this problem. Alternately, who would benefit the most if this problem were resolved? |
|
Type of problem |
For example,is the problem
based upon skills, attitudes, knowledge, resources, competition, defects, or
something else? |
|
Suspected cause(s) of the problem |
Based on the data analysis or the root cause analysis, what does the team think is the most significant cause or causes contributing to this problem? What, if addressed, would make the greatest impact on resolving the problem? Include specific evidence. |
|
Goal for improvement and long-term impact |
Describe the target for
impact. The goal should be measurable. |
|
Impact to stakeholders |
Describe possible impacts to stakeholders if the problem is not addressed. |
|
Proposal for addressing the problem |
The proposal is a high-level strategy that represents promising practices drawn from research, local knowledge, and local expertise. Note sources, if possible, when presenting this information.This proposal will become the basis for subsequent action planning. |
|
Final problem statement |
Tie the above statements into three to five coherent sentences that could be easily understood by a wide range of stakeholders. |
Sample Writing a
Problem Statement Worksheet
|
Original
problem or focus question |
·
Call center representatives are not meeting quality standards. |
|
Stakeholders
who are most affected by the problem |
·
External
customers and call center representatives |
|
Impact to stakeholders |
·
Loss
of customers and revenue ·
Lower performance evaluations for
representatives ·
Higher call center attrition ·
Potential
missed service level agreements (fines) |
|
Type of
problem |
·
Skills
and Resources: Without the appropriate skills training and tools to perform
the job, the call center representatives are not prepared to succeed in their
positions. |
|
Suspected
cause(s) of the problem |
·
Call center representatives do not receive adequate training. ·
There are insufficient online resources for representatives to
refer to in production. ·
There are insufficient management
resources for coaching and mentoring representatives. |
|
Goal for
improvement and long-term impact |
·
The
call center will achieve a 99.8% quality rating with no more than 2% of the
staff on quality action plans. |
|
Proposal for addressing the problem |
·
Increase
training time to meet industry standards. ·
Provide
relevant, updated online tools for call center representatives. |
|
Final problem
statement |
·
Many call center representatives are not achieving quality
standards, thereby contributing to the overall low quality rating (92%) for
the call center. Through data and process evaluation, it was determinedthat
the training time for call center representatives is 30% less than other similar
call centers, which may contribute to lack of skills training.In addition,
the online tools available to the call center representatives are not updated
frequently with procedural changes and do not contain all required
information necessary for representatives to perform their job. The low
quality over the past 6 months has resulted in a 2% decrease in customers and
a $550,000 loss inannual revenue. Decreased employee satisfaction in the call
center due to the issue has contributed to a 5% increase in voluntary
attrition, which costs the business $80,000 annually.There is an opportunity
to improve quality and reduce both customer and employee attrition by
addressing the skills training and resource issue in the call center. |
Writing a Problem Statement
Worksheet
Complete each section of the chart below. Refer back to the
section guidelines and completed sample worksheet above as needed.
|
Original
problem or focusing question |
·
|
|
Stakeholders
who are most affected by the problem |
·
·
|
|
Impact to stakeholders |
·
·
|
|
Type of problem |
·
|
|
Suspected
cause(s) of the problem |
·
·
·
·
|
|
Goal for
improvement and long-term impact |
·
|
|
Proposal for
addressing the problem |
·
·
|
|
Final problem
statement |
·
|
USA 
India