What the tool measures
ORA-DB evaluates how prepared your organization is to initiate and manage design-build projects. You complete the Assessment (demographics, then capabilities, then competencies), then open Results for scores, category detail, and prioritized tasks and training ideas.
The three-point response scale
Scores are always stored as whole numbers 1 through 3. The wording differs between capabilities and competencies, but the numeric meaning is the same: higher is better.
In Module 2 the same three levels apply to every competency: how common it is among the individual(s) who would be assigned to the project.
Module 1: Capabilities
Each capability is made up of two or three statements. You rate each statement separately. For each capability, the tool averages the ratings you actually gave, then rounds that average to the nearest whole number on the 1–3 scale (halves round up).
If you skip a statement, it is left out of the average. If you skip all statements for a capability, that capability counts as not answered.
Module 2: Competencies
Each competency is a single item. You rate it once as Rare, Uncommon, or Common (stored as 1–3). Competencies are organized into groups (such as Procurement & Team Selection or Risk Management), and each one is worded by its category: “Knowledge of …”, “Skill of …”, “Ability to …”, or an other factor (a personal attribute, shown as written).
Readiness percentages
Capabilities and competencies
Let S be the sum of the scored items in a module and N the number of items in that module that were answered (each can score up to 3):
Total readiness (the headline number)
The headline adds capability points and competency points, then compares the sum to the maximum if everything were scored 3:
This same formula is used everywhere: the Results page, the CSV export, the Compare tab, and the anonymous data shared with the research team if you opt in.
Readiness labels
Labels and colors depend only on the percentage, using the same cutoffs everywhere they appear (the Results scores and category bars, the “You are here” scale, the Task gap analysis chart, and Compare):
- Below 45% — Very Low Level of Readiness (red)
- 45% to below 58% — Low Level of Readiness (orange)
- 58% to below 72% — Moderate Level of Readiness (yellow)
- 72% to below 85% — High-Moderate Level of Readiness (light green)
- 85% and above — High Level of Readiness (green)
Narrative recommendation
The short paragraph under the total readiness score uses the five overall bands above. It picks the first message whose upper limit your score has not yet reached.
Category breakdown
Capabilities are grouped by category and competencies by group. For each one, the tool adds the scores of every item in it and compares that sum to the maximum if each item were a 3. That gives a percentage per capability category and per competency group.
Readiness and the “gap”
What “gap” means
For a scored item with score s on a scale whose maximum is M = 3, the normalized gap is:
A low score (1) means a large gap; a high score (3) means a small gap.
High / Medium / Low
Internally, every item and task is sorted into one of three bands by that gap:
- HIGH — gap of at least 0.5 (a score of 1, or a weak average)
- MEDIUM — gap of at least 0.25 but below 0.5
- LOW — gap below 0.25 (stronger readiness)
Items that were not answered are not placed in any of these bands. They are listed separately as “Not answered”.
Everywhere these bands show up in the app — the Organizational Capability and Individual Competencies tabs, and the Task gap analysis chart — they're labeled as readiness, not priority, so the words point the same direction as the color: a HIGH-priority/red item is shown as “Low readiness”, and a LOW-priority/green item as “High readiness”. Colors never change; only the word (and, on the Task gap analysis chart, the displayed percentage — 100 minus the priority score) flips to match, so a bigger, greener number always means more ready.
Tasks
Each task links to several capabilities and competencies. The tool averages the gap across every linked item that has a score. That average sets the task's band and score, which the Task gap analysis chart plots and colors as readiness (higher and greener is more ready).
Unanswered items
An item you leave blank is treated the same way everywhere: it is left out. It adds nothing to the points and nothing to the maximum, so every percentage describes only the items you rated.
- Scores: the Results page says how many items were not answered. A category with nothing answered shows “Not answered” instead of a percentage.
- Capability and competency lists: unanswered items appear in their own gray “Not answered” group.
- Tasks: a task is scored from its answered linked items only. A task with none answered shows “Not enough answers” and is not placed on the chart.
Training resources
Every capability and competency is matched to training references (document, section, page, cost, and content level). Open the Organizational Capability or Individual Competencies tab and click any item to expand its matched references. From the Task gap analysis tab, clicking a linked capability or competency jumps straight to that item.
Assessment progress bar
The bar at the top of the Assessment page shows completion, not a score. It counts filled fields: ten profile fields (assessment name, role, years of experience, and the seven organization questions; a multiple-choice question counts once you pick at least one option), plus every capability statement and every competency. The percentage is filled ÷ total.
Your data
Your answers live in your browser session and are not sent anywhere. Only if you tick the sharing box does the tool send an anonymous record to the research team: your role and experience, the organization profile, the scope descriptions you typed at the start of Modules 1 and 2, every rating you gave, and the three percentages. The assessment name is never sent. Export to CSV creates a file you can re-open later or compare with others; it contains your full answers, so store it accordingly.