In Week 1 you selected an organizational program to analyze this semester. For that program, prepare an expository report of 5-to-7 pages (excluding cover page and references) that discusses the following:

1. Provide a brief overview (1 to 1.5 pages) of the program you have selected. Discuss the reason that it was established/created, how long it has been in existence, where it is located, the size of its workforce, and the types of activities in which it engages.

2. Discuss the major 3-to-5 challenges facing the organization (now and over the next several years). For each challenge, describe the nature of the challenge, its implications for the organization, and whether you believe that the organization has strategies to deal with it. For your 3-to-5 challenges, focus only on external challenges. Do not list internal issues related to process, leadership, people, communications, finances, or other internal, administrative issues among your challenges. You can discuss how the external challenges might impact internal factors, but focus on the key externalities (demographics, cultural shifts, economy, technology, etc.).

3. Include a conclusion section discussing whether you think the issues you identified represent a major challenge for the organization’s ability to accomplish its mission over the next several years.

Writing Guidance

All assignments are to be done using appropriate APA style and are to comply with Writing Guidelines stipulated here, unless stated otherwise below. Here is an accompanying Writing Lecture if you are interested in listening to it.

1. Include a cover page with the name of your organization and program, your name, and the date submitted.

2. Follow APA requirements for spacing throughout (double-spaced, no blank lines or extra spacing, every paragraph indented).

3. Use appropriate sub-titles for the various sections.

4. Use an expository writing style — documents formatted as outlines should not be submitted.

5. Cite all sources using appropriate APA style.

6. Grammar counts. Work ahead and have someone edit your work before submitting.

7. For this and all other assignments do not copy and paste content from other sources. Writing Assignments require that you think carefully about the assignment and satisfy the requirements by writing content in your own words. Certainly in some cases you are going to be using and citing content from other sources. But at no point should you copy and paste content and submit it in lieu of writing your own thoughts.