(NCU) Present the State of Capacity in your Organization

Present the State of Capacity in your Organization 
OLB 7002, Assignment 1 
DuBose, Justin Z. 
Dr. Michael J. Kranzusch 
13 August 2017 
 
Present the State of Capacity in your Organization 
My name is Justin DuBose and I am currently a Ph.D. student at Northcentral University.  I am pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Organizational Leadership.  Within the scope of this program I am studying the aspect of building organizational capacity within my present organization.  Presently, I am pastoring a church and overseeing every ministry of the church.  Within that oversight is the administration of a private, Christian school which encompasses a pre-kindergarten program through high school.  This single product encompasses more than two-thirds of our annual budget and an even greater percentage of weekly facility use.  However, it is also both a known opportunity for organizational growth as well as the primary suspect of organizational deficiency.  Therefore, this presentation of the current state of capacity within my organization is based on the belief that Columbus Christian Academy merits further study and improvement. 
Explanation of Organization’s Capacity 
Currently, Columbus Christian Academy serves approximately 175 students from grades pre-k through 12th grade with a full-time staff of approximately 15.  The current operating budget of the organization is approximately $500,000 which is managed by an appointed school board of 6 individuals.  The campus encompasses 30 acres of land which includes an education building, a gymnasium, and several athletic ballfields.   From the capacity dimension of human resources and organizational resources (Bourgeois, 2014), our Academy is operating at a very healthy capacity level.  Our staff-to-student ratio is 1:12 and our current campus allows us plenty of room to grow.  However, it is in our areas of learning benefits and evaluation planning (Bourgeois, 2014) that we discover the greatest gaps. 
Explanation of Organization’s Future Capacity 
In our gap analysis below, we discover that Columbus Christian Academy’s future capacity will be much higher as we improve in the areas of faculty certification, continuing education, and staff evaluations.  Additionally, the area of institutional accreditation and course offerings offer us a higher future capacity than present capacity.  To achieve the best practices as an organization (United States Department of Health & Human Services, 2017), several commitments will be required by the organizational leadership over a multi-year period.  These commitments include additional funding, a commitment to obtaining state certification for faculty, hiring additional staff, and creating and implementing a formalized institutional process for annual evaluations for all employees.  While many gap analyses target organizational areas such as significant cost savings (Gyulai, 2014), our gap analysis sees potential capacity in these areas of planning and professionalism as the greatest potential for growth and improvement. 
Providing Concrete Examples 
Consider, for example, the fact that only ten percent of our present faculty hold a current state certification in their field.  To achieve the best practice, every faculty member will be required to obtain a current state certification in their field.  This will require, on the part of the leadership, a commitment to the process as well as allocating of funds for that purpose.  One author looked at organizational capacity in terms of developing capacity at the “individual, organizational, and industry levels” (Gill, 2015).  State certification for each faculty member would improve our capacity at each of these levels.  Furthermore, the obtaining of individual state certifications would also increase our future capacity in achieving accreditation from a national accrediting agency.  Creating and implementing a process for annual staff evaluations would also be a requirement of obtaining and maintaining accreditation, which is a best practice for increasing future organizational capacity. 
As funds are allocated for faculty and staff professional development, money would also be allocated for additional staffing for an expanded academic and elective menu for students.  Our organizational capacity would grow exponentially if we could offer greater academic courses as well as a broader selection of electives.  Each of these areas would require a significant commitment from the organizational leadership over a multi-year period, but such a commitment would result in dramatically increased organizational capacity than is not presently available in the current structure. 
Self-Evaluation 
Below is a gap analysis for Columbus Christian Academy using the aforementioned examples of increasing future organizational capacity from present levels.  Much of the information obtained in constructing this analysis was taken from an article written by Elliott Taylor in the Small Business Chronicle (Taylor, 2017).  The following gap analysis examines best practices, strategies for implementing those practices, current practices and how they differ from the best practice, the barriers to implementing the best practices, and the likelihood of the best practices being implemented throughout the organization. 
 
Gap Analysis for Columbus Christian Academy 
 
13 August 2017 
 
 
Best Practice 
Best Practice Strategies 
How Current Practices Differ 
Barriers to implementation 
Will Best Practice Be Implemented? 

Fully-Certified faculty 
Every faculty member obtains state certification 
Only ten percent of faculty holds a state certification 
Educational and time commitments; school cannot afford to pay for certification  
Yes – will require a multi-year commitment and funding 

Highest Accreditation 
School is independently accredited with ASCI 
School is not currently accredited 
All teachers must be certified; fees must be paid; time must be allotted for evaluations and interviews 
No – not until all faculty obtain state certification 

Broader course offerings 
Greater academic offerings for high school and expanded elective options 
Minimum academic offerings for graduation with limited electives 
Need more staff; need more specialized faculty; need more funding for creating positions and courses 
Yes - will require multi-year commitment to staffing and funding 

Continuing staff education 
Every staff member attends at least one continuing education offering annually 
No continuing education is available to staff 
Time for attendance; money to pay for training for all staff 
No – staff will be pursuing certification before any other education 

Annual faculty  evaluations 
Every faculty member is evaluated annually 
No institutionalized process for evaluations 
Must implement a formalized process, timeline, and necessary forms 
Yes - will require creating and implement a formalized process, timeline, and necessary forms 
 
 
 


References 
Bourgeois, I., Whynot, J., & Theriault, E.  (2015).  "Application of an organizational evaluation capacity self-assessment instrument to different organizations: Similarities and lessons learned".  Evaluation and Program Planning, 50(1), 47-55.  Retrieved August 13, 2017. 
 
Gill, A.  (2015). “Strategic Capacity Planning Process in Construction Business”.  The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 17(4), 95-104. Retrieved August 13, 2017. 
 
Gyulai, D.  (2014).  “Capacity Planning and Resource Allocation in Assembly Systems Consisting of Dedicated and Reconfigurable Lines”.  Procedia CIRP, 25(1), 185-191.  Retrieved August 13, 2017. 
 
Taylor, Elliott.  “How to Write a Gap Analysis Report.”  Small Business Chronicle, 2017, smallbusiness.chron.com/write-gap-analysis-report-55720.html. 
 
United States Department of Health & Human Services.  Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  (2017).  AHRQ Quality Indicators Toolkit: Tool D.5 (Gap Analysis), 25(1), 185-191.  Retrieved August 13, 2017 from URL: https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/professionals/systems/hospital/qitoolkit/d5-gapanalysis.pdf