Diving In

Well after much deliberation about the best way to go about framing my project in the Big Picture framework I have decided to just dive in and make adjustments as I go. Here goes...

BIG PICTURE FRAMEWORK

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE
Fundamental Entity: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety - The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a 501(c)(3) public charity located in Washington, DC that is dedicated to saving lives and reducing injuries. Established in 1947 the foundation serves as a research affiliate for AAA and CAA auto clubs. The mission of the foundation is to identify traffic safety problems, foster research that seeks solutions to those problems, and disseminate traffic safety information and educational resources. The foundation is supported by donations from

Core Competence: The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has three core competencies
1. Skill at research: Drawing on both in-house and leading traffic safety experts in N. America the foundation conducts research that addresses specific questions and generates concrete recommendations for preventing crashes, injuries, and deaths on the roads. The foundation's research focuses on 4 major areas: Teen Driver Safety, Senior Safety, Road Safety, and Safety Culture. In their 63 year history the foundation has funded and supported over 170 projects designed to discover the causes of traffic crashes, prevent them, and minimize injuries when they occur. Foundation research is peer reviewed to test the validity of study conclusions and corresponding recommendations

2. Skill at curriculum design: The foundation uses their research to inform the design of their educational materials. AAA's "Responsible Driving textbook" first published in the 1930s as "Sportsmanlike Driving" has become the most widely used book in its field. AAA has also been actively involved for nearly 40 years in reducing the drinking-driver problem through alcohol education programs for school aged children as well as adults. They have introduced traffic safety education into elementary and junior high schools. Most recently they have designed a computer-based DVD program called "Driver-ZED (Zero Error Driving) designed to take young drivers through 100 real-world dangerous driving situations with the hope that the simulations will improve the experience level and performance of young drivers on the road.

3. Skill at information distribution: The foundation reaches more than 200 million people annually through television, radio, newspapers and magazines. Representatives from the foundation have appeared on popular programs such as the Today show to discuss traffic safety. The foundation also has access to the more than 51 million members in the US and Canadian auto clubs, AAA and CAA. The foundation registers nearly 20 million visits each year on the AAA foundation website. Government agencies and legislators turn to foundation sponsored research to guide them in creating policies that can save lives on our roads and highways and the foundation has been successful in having a number of their education programs adopted in schools and diver's education programs.

Goal/Time frame: A Zero Fatality Future - Basically the organization wants to conduct research and disseminate educational materials that will continue to reduce the number of traffic accidents and fatalities until there are none remaining. While this is a noble endeavor and a nice sentiment, I think the goal needs to be more focused. I also think that the goal should be broken into smaller more manageable sub-goals so that the organization can track its progress and impact on the specific traffic issues they are seeking to address.

A better goal might be to reach 3 million teenage drivers in 2010 to educate them on the risks associated with distracted driving with the hopes of reducing accidents among teenage drivers by 10%