KXI723 Organisational Problem Solving for Business Analysts, Semester 2, 2012

Assignment 1 – Executive Report on SODA/Cognitive Mapping

Title: Executive Report
Type: In-Semester - individual assignment

Task Length: 12 A4 pages in 12 point font, double spaced , plus bibliography, use normal margins

Weighting: 10%
Due: 3.00pm Tuesday 21st August

Description: Executive Report on SODA/Cognitive Mapping Methodology for Strategy Formulation and Organisational Problem Solving

Imagine that you are an early career junior executive in a multinational corporation. You are well thought of by the CEO who regards you as an “ideas person”. The CEO has asked you to prepare a short briefing paper or executive report on the SODA/Cognitive Mapping methodology. The CEO hopes that you can clearly describe and explain the methodology in about 6 pages – the CEO does not have time to do the reading of books and journals himself and, further, does not have the time to read a report of more than 6 pages.

For academic purposes please reference the Executive Report carefully, listing the references in alphabetical order of family names in a section called “References” [The References section does not count as part of the 6 pages].

In the Executive Report you are expected to cover, among other things, the following: • The assumptions and theory behind SODA/Cognitive Mapping • The nature of cognitive mapping, oval mapping and causal mapping and any differences between them • Advantages, disadvantages, problems and issues with cognitive mapping, causal mapping and oval mapping. • Advantages, disadvantages, problems and issues with the SODA methodology • The application of SODA/Cognitive Mapping to both strategy formulation and organisational problem solving • The range of applicability of SODA/Cognitive mapping. For example is it useful in