Community center of blood of the Carolinas is different, managed by the people and not based on profits. It is the leading supplier of blood to patients and hospitals in the region of Charlotte, North Carolina. CBCC is one of the members of the blood centers of America that provide 50% of the blood in the country. It subscribes to blood banking based on population, (Swayne, & Duncan, & Ginter, 2006).The donors in the community know that they give blood, which stays in, the area first- assisting neighbors, family members and friends. It then shares the other services to other communities surrounding it.
Mission
The mission of the blood center is stewardship of assets of the population that is giving blood to protect patients’ life. It collects blood from people in the body and returns it to patients in the community at an affordable price and with a consistent set of ethical standards. CBCC goal is to set up and strengthen the community bonds.
Background: Red Cross Of America
Clara Barton established the red cross of America in Washington D.C. Barton became the director of the organization. It is a network of nations, whose purpose is to protect people’s lives and help people in prevention, preparing for and responding to emergencies. It mobilizes relief to the affected people and trains them in basic medical skills. It is the largest supplier of blood and its products to most of the hospitals nationally and helps sufferers of international disasters and disputes at worldwide locations. The Red cross of America is a company based on voluntary, which provides assistance in times of emergency, assistance in times of disaster and training in United States.
Comparisons Between Red Cross and CBCC
Unlike the Red Cross, CBCC assists patients only who are in need of blood. CBCC limits itself only on blood and blood products. CBCC not based on voluntary services. The staff is a collection of professionals unlike the ARC where volunteers are the ones governing the operation. They receive donations of the collection and returns from products and health and safety training prove it, (Swayne, & Duncan, 2006). CBCC provides services to the people and not outside the community, unless there are additional supplies. In contrary, ARC provides services to other areas such as, helping the needy, comforting members of service and their members of the family, providing communication services, collecting, processing and distributing blood and its products, giving programs of instruction on watchfulness, safety and health; and international relief and programs on development. Unlike CBCC, which contribute fifty percent and hospitals collect sic percent equity, ARC supplies approximately 44% of blood donated in the United States sold at sector suppliers and hospitals, (Gilbo, 1987).
Both organizations have experienced blood shortage because of the change of weather conditions. The winter and flu weather has led donors to stop donate blood and platelets. This has set the organizations into a strain, therefore, cant supply to areas where needed most. 300 supplies needed every day to take care of patients, and they rely on local donors.
Conclusion
The CBCC and ARC are requesting for people to donate blood as soon as possible. They are fighting to maintain an adequate supply of blood and are requesting all donors to help donate. Additionally, they are encouraging schools and organizations to organize blood drives. This will benefit patients with cancer, stress and transplants. Donation of blood helps in ensuring the needs of current and prospective patients.
References
Gilbo, F. P. (1987). The American Red Cross. London: Chelsea House Publishers.
Swayne, E. L. & Duncan, W. J. ( 2006).Strategic management of health care organizations. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
The American Red Cross was established in 1881 to offer emergency relief services, first aid and disaster management courses. This organization has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. (U.S.A.) even though it has branches and affiliate organizations in many other countries all over the world.
Clara Barton established this society after her experience with the International Red Cross in Europe. She was an emergency service volunteer during the Franco-Prussian war and decided to use her experience and knowledge to establish a similar organization in America (Irwin 2013).
Even though, the initial society was comprised of 15 members it has expanded its operations and employed more than 30,000 permanent workers. In addition, it has more than one million volunteers located in various parts of the world. This paper presents an analysis on the role of management, leadership and employees regarding stakeholder perspective.
Impacts on ARC’s Business Ethics
This essay will refer to the American Red Cross as ARC for purposes of analyzing various issues in the case study. This organization was established to offer relief services to people affected by disasters. Its codes of conduct stipulate that it must maintain high levels of accountability, transparency, impartiality, humanity, service, independence and universality among others (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2011). This mean that it must ensure its sponsors get the value for their donations by offering quality services to victims.
However, the activities exposed by the case study reveal major malpractice that does not reflect the need to sponsor this society in terms of money or volunteer activities. Business ethics must guide an organization to continue getting support from volunteers and well wishers. However, the high rate of leadership turnover is a worrying trend that will discourage other potential donors from funding this organization (Irwin 2013).
Even though, donors do not state what their money should do to help victims of disasters it is necessary to ensure that all donations are used properly.
However, this society has shown that it does not care about how donors feel about their money. This has been shown in the hefty retirement packs and a poor financial auditing system. These activities lead to losses of huge amounts of money; therefore, lowering the confidence of donors in sponsoring other programs.
The Role of ARC’s Stakeholder Orientation
Even though, the state donates some money to fund this organization majority of its resources is obtained from well wishers. This means that donors are the greatest shareholders in this company in terms of supporting its activities (Irwin 2013). Therefore, it is important to state that they play significant roles in determining the future of this company.
They must position themselves in a manner that will ensure they monitor the activities of this organization. They are very important stakeholders that monitor, evaluate and determine the future of this company (Ferrell and Fraedrich 2011). There are various avenues where they are allowed to raise alarm when they detect any malpractice. However, this has always been swept under the carpet since there are no transparent ways of auditing the expenses of this organization.
The stakeholders of this organization must ensure they compel it to account for its financial expenses. In addition, it must demand that this organization evaluates its leadership policies and if possible reduce the powers of the management board in change of appointing presidents and their deputies.
Donors must ensure that this company develops an effective communication strategy that will ensure it works together with other similar organizations to alleviate poverty and manage disasters. This will be possible if they demand to be given positions within its managerial structure (Zietlow 2012).
There is no way they will play active roles while at the periphery of this organization. In case, their voices are not heard they should threaten to quit sponsoring this society since this may be a good way of showing that they are serious about their demands.
ARC’s Failure to Provide Formalized Responsibility to Their Stakeholders
This organization has become a big disappointment to its sponsors since it has failed to provide quality services during emergencies. There is no doubt that it has failed in various sections and this has led to its poor performance in various occasions. It seems that ARC has failed to use its past weaknesses to develop plans to prevent future disappointments.
However, there seems to be a deliberate effort to ensure that this company continues to be on the spotlight regarding malpractice (Irwin 2013). First, it has a lot of boardroom wrangles that lead to frequent firing of its presidents. In fact, there have been more than three presidents managing its activities within the last decade. This shows that this department has placed a lot of emphasis on this position and forgotten that it is supposed to provide services to victims of disasters.
Secondly, it has failed to provide quality services to victims as shown in its response to emergencies. The September 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (New York) became a good avenue to expose the shortcomings associated with this organization. First, there was a slow response to offer help to the victims.
This situation required urgent relief services to ensure very few people suffer injuries. However, there is evidence that this organization was unable to offer flight services three days after the disaster had occurred. In addition, there was mismanagement of the funds donated towards helping the victims of this disaster. This was a major let down that affected the operations of this organization and discouraged well wishers from donating additional funds to this organization.
In addition, the effects of hurricane Katrina and Rita offered another chance to evaluate the commitments of this organization to solving emergency challenges. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was supposed to coordinate with ARC to assist the victims of these tragedies.
However, they were not able to agree on various issues including identifying their points of contact and roles in managing these situations. In addition, ARC failed to follow its recruitment guidelines and this led to an influx of volunteers with questionable characters. The result was an uncontrolled work force since there was no clear guideline about the roles they should play in managing the disaster. Some important information was accessed by unauthorized volunteers and this compromised the financial security of this organization.
Recommendations
Stakeholders are very important in any humanitarian organization since they finance almost all programs aimed at helping the needy in the society. This case study shows that ARC has failed to fulfill the expectations of its sponsors and this is a serious risk that may affect its future.
However, the following approaches can improve the perspectives of its shareholders. First, it should develop policies that define the roles of senior managers to avoid repeated cases of conflicts in terms of duties of employees. Secondly, it should make sure that there are strict laws governing how presidents are hired and fired to avoid wastage of money used in rewarding retired presidents.
Thirdly, there must be strict auditing policies that will ensure this organization has correct figures regarding its finance and employees. This will reduce cases of fraud and corruption and at the same time ensures that all employees are responsible for their actions. Lastly, there must be strict penalties for employees who fail to meet the standards set by the organization.
Conclusion
The American Red Cross has played significant roles in helping people during tragedies. In addition, it has promoted community health awareness programs in many nations. However, it should start focusing on upholding high professional discipline among its employees to ensure they respect their work and donations received from well wishers. It is never too late to win the trust of stakeholders if this company decides to work on its weaknesses.
References
Ferrell, O.C.and Fraedrich, J. (2011). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Connecticut: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Irwin, J. F. (2013). Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation’s Humanitarian Awakening. New York: Oxford University Press.
Zietlow, J. (2012). Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations: Policies and Practices. New York: Wiley.
The field of training and development has changed significantly during the past several years, reflecting both its role and importance in achieving higher employee performance and meeting organizational goals. Training and development has become very important as the crucial link between organizational status and the changes in the market or environment.
Training and development helps the organization towards having informed workers as paradigms shift and technology changes. This essay provides an overview into the training and development activities in American National Red Cross based on personal observations.
The American national Red Cross
The American Red Cross organization is an umbrella organization of many community based organizations in the United States that offer humanitarian help or response in case of a disaster (The American National Red Cross, 2009). The American Red Cross offers numerous training opportunities both to its staff, volunteers and general public.
All training is aimed at making individuals prepared enough to handle disasters or conflicts. American Red Cross relies heavily on volunteers. It is reported that 96% of the total work force in the organization are volunteers (The American National Red Cross, 2009). These volunteers need proper training and orientation before they can be deployed to do humanitarian work.
The second core aspect of its operations is training the general public on issues to do with safety and health. The training programs they offer to the general public aim at preparing the public for emergencies and general hygiene in the homes
Some of the disasters that Red Cross responds to include earthquake related devastation like the Haiti disaster, weather related disasters e.g. tsunamis and floods. The most common local disasters that American Red Cross deals with are fires in homes, road accidents, and any other home or work place accidents. The American National Red Cross does not only deal with emergencies and disasters.
Additionally, the American National Red Cross has blood donation drives and is one of the senior suppliers of blood to hospitals in the US (The American National Red Cross, 2009).
Additionally, the American Red Cross works closely with the military. Wherever there are military operations, the Red Cross plays the role of providing support services and attending to the wounded alongside military health officers. Moreover, they also provide message delivery services for the military from wherever to wherever around the globe (The American National Red Cross, 2009).
The American Red Cross works closely or in connection with the international Red Crescent Movement and Red Cross. It participates actively in the conflict resolution efforts around the globe. However, its major focus is on helping the victims of such conflicts. For example, conflicts and disasters often displace many people. Red Cross works to reunite and reconnect dispersed or separated families.
The American Red Cross is part of the international network that offers tracking services for separated individuals. It also offers messaging services for people around the globe who are dealing with either disasters or conflicts (The American National Red Cross, 2009).
Training and Development in the American Red Cross
Traditionally, only commercial organizations were preoccupied with achieving effectiveness or a competitive advantage. Due to scarce resources, even humanitarian organizations have moved towards adopting best management practices for efficiency and effectiveness. Most organizations appreciate the importance of human resource training and development. Organizations are as effectives as the work force i.e. people make organizations become more competitive or better placed in the market (Armstrong, 2006, 85).
Research indicates that only organizations that have right employees manage to achieve a competitive advantage (Craig, 1996, p. 21). Most importantly, such organizations invest heavily in ensuring employee skills and competencies are well aligned towards achievement of organizational goals (Aswathappa 2006, 34). This is ensured through training and development.
In organizations, training and development is done for two major purposes. Training helps motivate employees while at the same time aligning their skills and competencies with organizational needs. This is to mean that training and development is important both for the individual employee and the organization (Cole, 2005, p. 75). It helps improve employee effectiveness and efficiency as the employee is introduced to more information or skills. In turn the organization is able to cope with changing technologies or social spheres.
In the American Red Cross, training and development or capacity building is at the core of their services. Training is done to introduce new entrants to Red Cross procedures, to orient volunteers and staff to a given operations peculiarities or as a form of reward for hard work. After being too involved in the field as a way of refreshing the employees, training is one option available to them.
Apart from training for staff and volunteers, the Red Cross provides training programs to the general public that aim at preparing them for disaster. Individuals are trained in how to live in a healthy way free from hazards i.e. body healthy and environmental safety. The training targets families, individuals and workers in different industries. The regular training revolves around such basic skills like first aid, how to perform CPR, swimming. These trainings are done by the volunteers across the country.
All volunteers coming into American Red Cross are taken through an orientation. The orientation serves to introduce the entrants to the general work done by the organization. Orientation also helps towards aligning volunteers or new staff’s experience, knowledge, skills and interests with disaster program or service opportunities.
The training offered by American Red Cross to its staff and volunteers aims at helping them to become better equipped in humanitarian help execution, training of community in health and safety and emergency response. The staff is equipped by cutting edge knowledge and skills so as to respond properly to disasters train others effectively and offer appropriate help in the appropriate way.
Training Needs Assessment
Training Needs Assessment is done both at individual, organizational and community levels. At the individual level, American Red Cross looks into the training needs of its volunteers and employees. Depending on their level of training and anticipated deployment, the volunteers and staff are given holistic training that enables them respond or work properly.
Individuals volunteering with the Red Cross are evaluated on general knowledge in safety, health and disaster issues. Depending on whether the individual has had any related training or not, they are admitted into orientation programs or formal training programs. Most volunteers are specialists in the different fields and thus Red Cross training and development only works to align their skills and experience with the humanitarian causes that it serves.
At the organizational level, just as Green (2002, p. 56) advises, training needs assessment is done with respect to particular assignments or causes and their peculiar characteristics. The organization continuously scans the present and future for risks, safety hazards, and possible disasters thus continues to prepare its people for appropriate response.
When a particular disaster or challenge occurs its peculiarities are analyzed and arising needs inform training in the organization. For example, given the disaster in Haiti, special trainings are carried out for those going to Haiti. These special trainings aim at helping the volunteers understand what to expect and what would be the appropriate responses.
At the community level, needs assessment is done with the aim of equipping community members with appropriate skills especially in the emergency situations the group is prone to. Community trainings are basic, however, needs assessment are done to establish the training needs of each group. Often community members who are interested in training in basic life saving skills come to Red Cross centers.
The training for community members is kind of standard but efforts are made to contextualize it. If an area is prone to tsunamis, efforts are made to encourage given attitudes or understands that would facilitate proper response in case of such a disaster occurring.
Components of American Red Cross Training Programs
Training and development in organizations has two components i.e. new entrant training and continuing education (Laird and Sharon, 2003, p.14). Training and development in the American Red Cross introduces new entrants to the American Red Cross operations and build capacity of already staff and volunteers already in operation. The new employee or volunteer program aims at equipping them with necessary skills and information necessary for successful participation in humanitarian operations.
Continuing education in the American Red Cross takes the form of sponsored further studies for employees. Once an employee has worked with the organization for sometime, they receive sponsorship to pursue further studies in line with personal intentions and the overall organizational manpower forecasts. Continuous education is taken very seriously as they help staff to be informed of dynamics that affect or continue to affect their personal growth and work effectiveness.
The personal career development goals and the organizational relevancy are key drivers in continued education for employees (Gary, 2004, p. 38). Education affords them progress in their careers while at the same time enabling achievement of long term organizational goals. The new skills and knowledge acquired, instrumentally helps staff towards better and efficient service in the organization.
Due to the long history of American Red Cross, numerous materials have been developed over time that aid in training. The training materials include training manuals and syllabus that is followed when tackling the different sessions. New volunteers often are introduced to Red Cross’s guiding policies, procedures and philosophy. Then there is introduction to basic skills and competencies necessary in a disaster operation or when responding to an emergency.
After the introductory or orientation sessions, new entrants or volunteers are attached to team leaders. From their team they are exposed in an on job kind of training. On job training is a mandatory aspect of training and development (Rae, 2000, p. 83). In the American Red Cross, new entrants are given assignments alongside other more experienced members of the team. This is necessary so that they may receive support and help as necessary during work or operations.
Once one has acclimatized to work and is now an independent worker in his or her team, continuing education is considered for him or her. Continuing education as already discussed is important because is helps employees expand on their knowledge and skills.
Additionally, it also serves as a way of refreshing after many tiring months or years in the field. Continuing education has two components; internal and external. Internal is when the training is done within the Red Cross training centers. External is when the training is done in formal institutions of learning e.g. universities.
Training Programs Design
As discussed under the Training Needs Assessment, training programs are designed depending on given work or site related peculiarities. There are general programs that aim at helping volunteers and general public to be more prepared towards emergency response or handling of disasters. These programs are basic and standard; the cover the same kind of topics or courses. The basic skills or courses include CPR, swimming, dealing with home hazards, responding to fires, and fist aid.
Volunteers being deployed in the different roles e.g. blood collection, disaster response etc are taken through specialized programs. Such specialized programs or briefings are critical to ensuring coordinated and appropriate response at the site. Site peculiarities are discerned ad communicated to volunteers and staff. For example, if an area requires certain cultural or religious stipulations, the volunteers are helped as to respond appropriately.
Formal further education for staff is encouraged depending on discerned future needs in the organization. It is fortunate that most of the volunteers and staff come with specialized skills. However, through training need forecasts, the future needs in the organization are taken care of. Forecasting the future needs of the organization is a critical aspect or function of the human resource managers (Saleemi, 2005, p. 82).
The training and development function in American Red Cross works closely with the staff and volunteers to identify talent for development. Once an individuals training needs have been established, they are either given an opportunity to train further in a formal institution, they are given senior staff to mentor them or just given appraisal that encourages them to think of further development in a given area.
The community training programs are designed with the needs of given social units in mind. Some red cross chapters have gone ahead and designed programs that target organization in its area of operation. Such programs often aim and massive sensitization on health and safety measures and appropriate responses to accidents or disasters.
The courses offered are often full day or half day courses. Some of the topics covered in such like programs include general hygiene, communication skills (proper communication is important in disaster response operations, health and safety procedures, medication administration, stopping infection spread, dealing with contamination, rescue or disaster operation planning, handling operation related stress etc.
Training programs Delivery
In the American Red Cross, training programs are delivered in a number of ways. Often individuals are invited to the Red Cross training centers for formal learning in given issues. Formal classes are given and assessments done. The classes often have theory and practical sessions in which students demonstrate the learnt skills.
The trainings are also delivered on a one to one basis. The one to one training sessions are often for otherwise busy individuals who can not fit into the general courses offered at the training centers. Of recent, one on one training programs are also offered online by some Red Cross chapters. Other trainings are delivered in the field, in other institutions such as schools or business organizations.
The training and development instructors are well trained individuals equipped with learning materials and other technologies. Guided by the philosophy of continuous improvement, the training programs are always improved on based on changing societal structure and increasing disaster ranges. The instructors provide written reading material and other helpful tools for further exploration and practice by participants in training.
Training Program Effectiveness: Monitoring and Evaluation
The training and development programs are of no use unless they are effective and efficient (Sims, 1998, p. 113). Programs delivery has to be properly time, and professionally delivered. Additionally, what is delivered has to be of consequence or substance. The effectiveness of a training program largely depends on mode of delivery and content.
The American Red Cross instructors continuously seek to improve their training programs by monitoring and evaluating the existing programs. Monitoring and evaluation of programs is largely dependent on receiving feedback from beneficiaries or participants in the programs. Feed back helps trainers understand what has met expectations and what needs improvement.
The other way of ensuring effectiveness or thoroughness in understanding is by every worker becoming a trainer of sorts (Reid & Barrington, 2003, p. 98). In the American Red Cross, every experienced volunteer or staff is a trainer. Their work necessarily consists in sensitizing community, teaching community basic health and safety measures or orienting new entrants.
Follow up communication is another sure way of ensuring training effectiveness (Sims, 1998, p. 114). This follow up process involves participants being sent newsletters and other pertinent informational materials for their own consumption. This helps especially in communicating new ideas, changes or expounding on already well known concepts.
Through magazines and other publications availed to staff, volunteers and other stakeholders, continued learning on American Red Cross operations is facilitated. There is also a lot of information regularly posted on American Red Cross’ website or the websites of its constituent chapters.
Conclusion: Overall evaluation
Having looked into the training and development programs at American Red Cross, it is clear that the training programs are elaborate and well developed. However, the aspect of employee development is not well catered for. The organization heavily on volunteers and does not offer much room for development. An individual entering American Red Cross with the aim of growing through ranks may not find enough space for such. The organization only offers opportunities for those whose goal is to contribute to humanitarian causes.
The lack of clear development guidelines or even opportunities is understandable. The motivation for working in such an organization is necessarily different from why one would work with Microsoft Inc. further; the volunteers are expected to be people who are interested in contributing their time in kind of charity to a humanitarian cause then moving on to their desired careers.
A large percentage (96%) of workforces in the organization is volunteers and that may explain why the organization does not have an explicit development plan targeting all employees.
However, like in every industry, some of the young volunteers go into the organization in the hope of starting as volunteers but growing steadily to become full time employees. Although the percentage of permanent staff is limited due to nature of work, the organization needs an employee development plan.
The training and development department needs develop mechanism that allow for a sort of career progression for young volunteers. If the aspect of development can be elaborately looked into, the training and development programs run by American Red Cross are effective enough.
Reference List
Armstrong, M. (2006). A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 10th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Aswathappa, K. (2006). Human Resource and Personnel Management (Text and Cases). 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Cole, G. A. (2005). Personnel and Human Resource Management. 5th Ed. Birmingham: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Craig, L. R. (1996). The ASTD Training and Development Handbook: a Guide to Human Resource Development. 4th Ed. New York: McGraw – hill.
Gary, D. (2004). Human Resource Management. 9th Ed. New York: Prentice Hall.
Green, G. (2002). Training and Development. Chicago: John Wiley & Sons.
Laird, D. & Sharon, S. N. (2003). Approaches to Training and Development. 3rd Ed. Massachusetts: Perseus Books Group.
Rae, L. (2000). Effective Planning in Training and Development. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Reid, M. A. and Barrington, H. (2003). Training Interventions: Managing Employee Development. 2nd Ed. Mumbai: Jaico Publishing House.
In every organization, the way in which people behave is determined by organizational culture, communication, authority and motivation and other work techniques. A favorable culture is that which makes people feel important. This type of culture should embrace good communication, motivation for workers and good work techniques.
The Culture Embraced At the America Red Cross Organization
The culture of an organization can fall under pluralism, dualism or salad bowl. Everyone should be able to adopt their organization’s culture although sometimes it might be hard to assess and understand that culture. As employees interrelate with each other at their place of work every day, their various cultural demonstrations practically begin to disappear and they begin to adopt the organizational culture.
However, how employees behave in terms of workmate relations, enjoyment of work and performance in their duties is shaped by the organizational culture, as stated by Norgren & Nanda (2006). The America Red Cross organization embraces the pluralistic culture whereby, people from all races, religion, ethnic group or societies are tolerated. Our organization deals with people from all walks of life and does not discriminate against anyone.
As a result, workers in our organization have unity in the performance of duties. Everyone feels free to talk or work with others without feeling undermined. Following our pluralistic culture, our organization has managed to outsource and offshore its services in various countries and our workers always find their work environment very conducive. In addition, our organization highly promotes the employment of the minority such as women who are usually treated equally with their male counterparts.
The America Red Cross organization has a good coordination between the subordinates and the executives. Since disagreements are inevitable in any thriving organization, when they occur they get quickly solved due to better coordination. Instead of creating enormity we take the challenge to boost our relationship as workers. There is also a high degree of respect for the authority and this has seen our organization climb the ladder in its productivity. Thus, I do find pluralism being a very tolerable and fruitful culture in our organization.
Modes of Communication
Communication, both oral and written, is very essential to the foundation, success and efficiency of any organization. In America Red Cross, we have embraced the written modes of communication. The reason behind the written modes of communication is that, we are able to save time since there is no running up and down to meet people. Therefore, the various modes of communication used in the organization include the use of newsletters and magazines.
These address the incapacity of the management to talk to each employee given the large number of workers found in our organization. Through newsletters and magazines, the organization is capable of enlightening workers on its management rules, respond to queries, and keep employees on toes on what is required from them and market new products. However, this has drawbacks in that it is sluggish and cumbersome and in some cases the editorial content of the magazines might not be in line with organizational objectives thus providing irrelevant information.
Bulletin boards are among the oldest modes of organizational communication as they were mostly the only effective way the management could communicate with the employees. Bulletin boards today are used differently in different companies, for instance, in our organization they are used to post legal requirements. We also have a policy which requires employees to recognize the bulletin boards for information.
The challenge with the use of the bulletin board is that, it can be easily ignored if the information is not presented in an attractive manner. E-mail is the fastest growing mode of organizational communication today and there is no doubt that our organization majorly uses it.
This is because e-mail is immediate and easily accessible to anyone with a computer and internet which are common in most organizations today. E-mail saves employees from malicious reactions from superiors who block communication between their subordinates and the executives. The negative impact of email use is that it can be used for individual or trivial matters thus fixing up network resources.
Memos and reports are the frequently used in many organizations. In our organization, memos are the only way some information can be passed, for instance a quick meeting with the managers can be organized faster through memos. The organization head can either agree or disagree with something based on what memos or reports recommend and these can easily reach the workers. Sometime, live presentations are held to enforce the conclusions of the reports.
However, if the memos are not made clear and relevant to the whole company they can be ignored. Video tape based programs, satellites and closed circuits which are currently being used by many corporations. Since employees are used to watching television this mode of communication becomes very important. With the use of networked organizational televisions the CEO is usually capable of making an announcement to the staff in the shortest time possible. The challenge is that developing such a technology is very expensive.
Blogs and websites are also being used as modes of communications, according to Hooke & Rogers (2005). Using the website in communication is essential as the information is available to different people and it can be accessed at any time. Blogs are also important as they are cost effective and highly responsive. However, the two cannot be used for confidential information about the organization.
Nature of Authority (Recognized Social Ranks) of America Red Cross
Its nature of authority consists of various levels of authority. The topmost level is that of the Board of Governors (BOG) with a President who is also the chief executive officer (CEO). The President then reports to the Board of governors which is made up of fifty members who are all volunteers.
The president is elected by the members of the BOG, However, the president of America is considered the voluntary chairperson of the BOG and he also appoints eight of the board members. The BOG meets four times in a year to set governance and policy for the whole organization.
The next social rank is the National Headquarters Authority where strategic priorities and procedures are provided. At this level of authority, guidance and resources are also provided to ensure reliability of service delivery countrywide. The next level of authority is the Biomedical Service Divisions and Service Areas. Their duty is to sustain the work of the field entities. There is a total of eight service areas and eleven biomedical service divisions which are controlled by definite geographic setting in a way to provide supervision and support.
The Armed Forces and Emergency Service stations form the next level of authority. The stations are set throughout the United States and overseas. The American Red Cross offers support such as emergency communication, recommendations and information to people in the military and their families. At the same level of authority there is the Blood Service Regions.
There are thirty five of these regions and one of their tasks is to recruit donors, collect blood samples and ship the samples to any of the five national testing laboratories. In these laboratories the blood is done testing processed and then sent to the hospitals. The chapters of the America Red Cross are also found at this level of authority.
There are more than eight hundred Red Cross chapters across America and its territories. These chapters provide a diversity of services to the people they serve including blood samples, first aid courses, assistance during disasters, CPR safety, and connection with families, water safety, disaster relief and global tracing.
The last level of authority is the community level. The community members also help the Red Cross chapters and their neighbors by volunteering their time, financial assistance and blood donations. The America Red Cross is a non-profit organization and to provide services we usually seek donations from the US public. We also take charge for services such as training and blood products in order to recuperate the price of acquiring and distributing the items.
Motivational Techniques That Influence Performance
Job rotation is also referred to as cross-training. It is provided to employees who perform repetitive duties in their work such as the rescue team. Employees experience change from one task to another which is aimed at giving them an opportunity to acquire different skills that include job enlargement which is usually provided to workers who perform less and simple tasks.
This leads to an increased number of tasks and a variety of tasks performed by the relevant employees. It results to the affected employees feeling important that their services are appreciated. Enlargement of job is important in America Red Cross where there is usually a lot of work for the community.
Job enrichment raises the ability of employees to have control over the work they perform. The employees are given the authority to run the planning, implementation, and assessment of their own work. As a result, the employees feel responsible, free and independent hence, appreciated.
Motivation through flextime: this gives the employee a chance to decide on their timetable of work to a certain degree. For example, if the offices are open from 7am to 8pm, the employee can get in at any time provided they complete their eight hour period of work.
In such a way, the employees feel flexible and they can utilize their extra time for their personal or family matters. Job sharing however uncommon, sometimes it happens especially in a case where employees are working in remote and unevenly populated areas. It is effective for avoiding boredom and eases work as employees can consider to alternate days of work.
Employee involvement when an individual is involved in a certain organization or institution, he would want to be part of that organization or institution.
Therefore, including employees in decision making in as far as their work is concerned makes them feel cherished and essential to the organization thus increases their motivation. Variable pay program is merit-based and pay and bonuses are great motivators for employees in this organization. They are usually offered as an encouragement or remuneration for excellent performance.
Theory of Emotional Intelligence (Emotional Quotient-EQ) As Applied In America Red Cross
The theory of Emotional intelligence is progressively becoming significant to organizational development and developing the workers. These EQ principles are very useful in our organization as they provide a new method of understanding and assessing individuals’ behaviors, attitude, potential, management skills and interpersonal skills.
These principles are considered crucial to various managerial duties such as scheduling, hiring, job profiling, discussions and selection, customer services and management development. With the fact that the America Red Cross is a non-profit making organization, using this theory in its relationship with workers is very important.
The theory links heavily with the idea of love and spirituality thus brimming compassion and humanity. This links well with work ethics in America Red Cross where employees are required to show their compassion to those they are helping and show some sense of humanity because they deal with people who are helpless of themselves.
The theory also links with the notion of multiple intelligence which demonstrates and determines the range of abilities people have and the fact that every person has a value. This concept is highly upheld in our organization as employees are required to value each other and mostly the people they assist because all people regardless of their life status have value and possess a certain degree of abilities.
How the Organization Embraces New Paradigms Such As Telework and Virtual Offices
Many organizations including the America Red Cross have highly embraced the new paradigms such as telework and virtual organization. Virtual organization refers to a case where employees operate remotely from each other and from the management. This is reality when it comes to the America Red Cross organization where, given the huge community to deal with, it is a fact that workers have to work remotely from each other and far from the management.
In such a way our organization has been able to reach and help people from far remote areas and remain relevant to the community. In order to make virtual offices effective there has been a revolution in places of work, time of work and means of communication as stated by Khosrow-Pour (2006).
This has been made possible by the availability of an impeccable web of electronic communication networks such as email, laptops and modems, video conferencing, cellular telephones and interactive pagers among others. All these aspects of virtual office make team work and mobility a reality and this is very important to our organization.
Telework is a form of virtual office arrangements. It involves duties being carried out in the various locations remote from the office where employees do not have personal contacts with coworkers and can only communicate using electronic media.
This virtue is highly embraced in the America Red Cross where workers most of the time work in remote areas far from coworkers. Teleworkers are usually provided with orientation programs by the traveler insurance. With the use of phones, emails, laptops, voicemails and computer servers, teleworkers are able to communicate with the office.
Conclusion
Organizational behavior is a very important virtue in every organization. In order to uphold this virtue, organizations need to embrace a culture which dictates the various behavioral mechanisms for employees. Similarly, the means of communication have also been improved in order to make workers aware of their responsibilities.
Effective authority is also important in ensuring workers undertake their responsibilities. In order to have good organizational behavior employers have adopted various motivational techniques for their employees which embrace the theory of emotional intelligence. Nevertheless, organizations have currently embraced new paradigms of virtual organization and teamwork which help them achieve their goals.
References
Hooke, W. & Rogers, P. (2005). Public Health Risks of Disasters: Communication, Infrastructure, and Preparedness: Workshop Summary. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.
Khosrow-Pour, M. (2006). Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology Management: 2006 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, Washington, DC, USA, May 21-24, 2006, Volume 1. Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group Inc (IGI).
Norgren, J. & Nanda, S. (2006). American Cultural Pluralism and Law. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Hopkins (2009, p. 6) defines nonprofit organization as “an entity that is not permitted to engage in forms of private benefit (increment).” Nonprofit organizations are organizations that often offer service or charities. They are non-compulsory and involve some degree of voluntary participation.
A mission statement is a clear and concise statement that summarizes who the agency is what it does, to whom it does it and region of operation (Roberts, 1996). This paper reviews the mission statements of two nonprofit organizations. These are the American Red cross society, a humanitarian organization and the Japanese cultural and community centre of Northern California (JCCCNC).
Discussion
American Red Cross Society
The current mission of the American Red Cross society states: “The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, will provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies” (American Red Cross, 2011).
This mission statement includes the purpose, which is the provision of assistance to disaster victims, support people in initiating preventive measures and responding to their needs when emergencies arise. Inherent in the purpose are the services provided by the organization. In addition, the beneficiaries are indicated as the victims of disaster.
This statement however fails to capture the values of the organization that include helping other people in need, unity, an organization with a charitable character and learning that is continuous.
The revised American Red Cross Mission statement could be read as “… our mission is to work through voluntary spirit, in a united manner to provide relief to victims of disaster, help Americans prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies, while learning from these experiences.”
Japanese Cultural and Community Centre of Northern California
The company’s current mission statement states, “The JCCCNC strives to meet the evolving needs of the Japanese American community through offering programs, affordable services and facility usage” (JCCCNC, 2011).
The mission statement only highlights the purpose and the beneficiaries, yet even the services offered are not specific since the firm offers programs, affordable services and facility usage. It ignores other components of a mission statement that include a specific purpose, values and services.
Japanese cultural and community centre of Northern California mission statement could be revised to become: “Through dedication and dream for the future, JCCCNC tries to meet the educational, cultural and social needs of the Japanese American community by preserving their cultural and historical heritage.”
The American Red Cross is an organization that offers humanitarian aid to individuals struck by disasters and emergencies such as earthquakes, floods, blasts, and hurricanes. In the assessment, it is noteworthy that the author of the marketing plan is a competent individual with essential qualifications, and a passion to work as an operations manager in the organization. Since American Red Cross offers quality services, it enjoys a high reputation; therefore, it should employ effective marketing mix and perform SWOT analysis to maintain its position in the competitive realm of non-profit organizations.
Summary
The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization in the United States that prevents disasters and alleviates the misery that people experience in the occurrence of disasters.
Organizational Background
The American Red Cross is an organization based in the United States and has its offices in Washington. The humanitarian organization offers donated blood, alleviates disasters, provides international relief, it improves human safety, and supports the military officers and their families (American Red Cross, 2014). Moreover, the organization offers services like education, training, and development of humanitarian structures to boost emergency responses in the United States.
The chief executive officer heads national operations, while the board of directors heads local offices in various states. The purpose of the American Red Cross is “to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors” (Give, 2014, p. 2). In its purpose, the American Red Cross has gained significant reputation in providing humanitarian aid.
The emergence of the organization dates back to 1881, when Clara Barton started the organization, and made it receive the first and the second congressional charter in 1900 and 1905. The annual revenues of the American Red Cross are about $3,470,535,000 (Give, 2014). In addition, American Red Cross has 32,000 paid employees and uses 92% of its donations in programs (Give, 2014).
The goals of the programs are to improve disaster preparedness, promote health and safety conditions, prevent diseases, offer emergency services, support armed forces and their families, and provide humanitarian aid. The management of the organization comprises of Gail McGovern, the chief executive officer, who took over leadership in 2008, James Hrouda, the executive vice president, and Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, who is the chair of the board of directors.
These top officials work together with the board of directors and executives such as Sarah Corrigan, Brad Campbell, and Richard Lee, who are directors of various local offices in the United States. In our community, the organization helps during emergencies by providing services like shelter, education, and blood donation.
Author’s Background
Educationally, the author is a finalist pursuing a Bachelors degree in business administration with an associate degree of business in business administration from Baker College. The educational qualification shows that the author has key competencies in business strategies, creative leadership, marketing strategies, team development, and acquisition management. Professionally, the author has experiences in marketing, management of operations, and human recourses management.
Specifically, the author has more than one year experience working as an operations director and assistant operations director in Tax Service of America. Moreover, the author has worked as senior area manager, regional director, general manager, and district manage in various organizations since 1999. Since the American Red Cross has numerous operations that require effective management and extensive marketing, the author is interested in becoming part of the organization.
Therefore, based on the educational qualification and professional experience, the career plan of the author is to attain managerial knowledge and skills to qualify for the position of the operations manager in the American Red Cross.
Mission of the Organization
The American Red Cross has a mission that focuses on prevention of disasters and alleviation of misery, which individuals experience during humanitarian crises. The prevention of disasters and the reduction of misery that humans experience during times of emergencies and disasters are possible because the humanitarian organization receives enormous grants from people and organizations. Moreover, the countless volunteers help in mobilizing resources for the sake of humanitarian aid.
Customers of the Organization
The main customers that the organization serves include victims of emergencies and disasters like hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes. In addition, the organization serves people from poor families by providing basic amenities such as housing, education, food, and clothing.
The Marketing Mix of the Organization
Product
Some of the products offered by the organization include emergency services such as donated blood and first aid (“Labor Group”, 2010). In addition, the organization provides services such as food, shelter, and psychological aid to the victims in the sites of disasters.
Mcgeehan (2013) reports that the organization promotes diversity and provides translation services to the victims because it employees are from diverse races. Other additional services offered by the organization include education, shelter, and food, which help victims of emergencies and disasters.
Place
The main places that the American Red Cross visits include areas affected by disasters and areas prone to humanitarian crises. The decision to visit locations or regions affected by a disaster or an emergency transpires because the organization aims at alleviating misery that people experience.
According to American Red Cross (2014), the organization also visits churches, schools, and other social places where people run to find shelter and safety after the occurrence of a disaster. Placement of the products takes place when the organization supplies them to the victims in churches, school, and regions affected by the disaster.
Price
The organization does not charge for the services that it offers to the victims affected by disasters. Instead, it offers T-shirts, caps, and other products to the general population with an objective of raising funds and creating awareness. Heightman (2014) argues that the driving force behind the free nature of the products offered by the organization is that the American Red Cross is a non-profit making organization.
Through the effective pricing strategy, potential clients obtain information about the organizational products, and they are convinced to purchase them. Thereby, the organization receives funds that enable it to provide humanitarian services to the victims. Marketing of the organizational products should be strategic.
Promotion
Promotion aims at increasing awareness and knowledge about the products offered by the organization. Mcgeehan (2014) explain that the organization needs to employ a good promotional strategy that will reach out to citizens living in the United States and inform them about the significance of purchasing the organization’s products and affiliate products.
Increased purchases improve the services offered by the organization. It is imperative for individuals to understand that the organization relies on the sales in raising funds to helping victims of disasters and emergencies. The implication of a good promotional strategy is increased purchases because of the amplified understanding of the services that the organization offers to diverse customers.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
One of the strengths that the American Red Cross has is the trust and confidence it has within the United States and other parts of the world. The United States government and internal community usually enlist the services of the American Red Cross in cases of emergencies. The second strength is that the American Red Cross enjoys a higher reputation than its competitors because it offers quality services to victims of disasters and emergencies.
According to Heightman (2014), the American Red Cross is among the organizations that assist people during disasters and has a unique brand. As a result, several individuals in the United States associate themselves with the unique brand of the organization. The ability to provide extensive services and mitigate disaster is a third strength of the American Red Cross. Owing to its exemplary performance, the American Red Cross has received the charter and has met 20 standards for charity accountability.
Weaknesses
One weakness of the American Red Cross is that it has organizational conflicts between its board of directors and management team. As leaders fight for resources and power, it affects their performance and consequently the overall performance of the organization. The second weakness relates to the management of resources because they are prone to misuse. In some instances, the organization has experienced biased distribution of funds and misconduct among employees.
The misconduct among employees increases their turnover rates, and consequently, reduces organizational performance (Mcgeehan, 2013). The third weakness is the slow response of the organization to some emergencies and disasters like hurricanes serves. American Red Cross (2014) states that ineffective control and poor management of organizations reduces their performance.
Opportunities
To increase its efficiency in the nature of products it offers in the market, the organization needs to utilize its opportunities in a manner that facilitates growth and development. One of the opportunities that the organization can employ is the increment of donations. The organizations can increase its donations through increased awareness and enhanced education about the mission of the organization among individuals, as the executive director of York-Poquson Chapter excels in doing sales and marketing (“York Red Cross “, 2013).
Transparency in the management of the organization serves as the second opportunity that will help it improve its reputation and image among customers and donors in the United States and globally. The third opportunity is that the organization needs to be innovative and creative in raising funds and providing its services. The organization should transform its ways of raising funds and provision of services.
Threats
Some of the threats that the organization has encountered in the course of executing its services include competition, negative publicity, and misinformed perceptions about the organization. In the aspect of competition, the organization competes for donations and grants with other nonprofit making organizations, which threatens its capacity to fund numerous operations.
Negative publicity distorts the image of the organization and affects its capacity to influence customers and donors. The misinformed perception is a third threat that affects the performance of the organization because it creates mistrust and lowers confidence among customers and donors.
Competition
Currently, the organization is experiencing stiff competition from other nonprofit making organizations, which include America’s Blood Centers, Save the Children, and USAID.
These organizations compete with the American Red Cross as they fight for space, time, and resources in the United States (Jones, 2012). As a result, it is important to develop a good marketing strategy that facilitates the conveyance of information and persuasion of the potential customers and stakeholders with the objective of winning public trust and increasing donor levels.
Differentiation
What make the organization unique are its brand and the charter that it has received from the government of the United States. The unique brand of the organization makes it stand out and lead in the provision of blood in the United States and globally. Despite the controversies and challenges that the organization has experienced, it has worked hard to provide products that are up to the required standards according to the requirements of its customers.
Positioning
From the grid, it is evident that the organization enjoys a high reputation, which accrues from the high quality of services that it offers to customers. As a result, the organization faces minimal competition because it outweighs its competitors. Hence, donors are more willing to give grants and donations to the American Red Cross than to other competing organizations such as USAID, FAO, and America’s Blood Center.
Conclusion
The American Red Cross is an organization that offers help to victims affected by disasters, and it helps the poor people in the society. The current position of the organization in terms of quality of services and reputation requires an effective marketing mix and SWOT analysis so that it can achieve its goals and outperform its competitors. The educational qualification and key professional competencies displayed in developing this market plan makes the author suitable for the position of operations manager in the organization.
References
American Red Cross: Who we are. (2014). Web.
York Red Cross exec excels in new role. (2013). Daily Pres. Web.