(1)
Since the writing of this case, the American Red Cross (ARC) is on record as having conceptually addressed its infrastructure and operational hurdles. However, very few strides have been made to reverse stakeholder perception crisis response time, relief dispatch strategies, and the ethical dilemmas plaguing the organization. Governmental mandates that streamlined the board and that established accounting /reporting parameters have done little to modify the organizations operational culture.
Since 2002, the organization has had seven CEO’s. This high turnover has prompted concern from stakeholders and government officials. Records indicate the organization now has approximately 35,000 employees and its volunteer pools still hoovers around 500,000.
Under the leadership of Gail McGovern, current CEO and President, the organization has eliminated the large deficit it posted in FY 2010.
These recent developments demonstrate the organization is progressive. Even so, ARC continues to experience the same ethical hurdles it did 20 years ago.
Recent major national disaster relief occurrences, for which the Red Cross led efforts, have been the earthquake that struck Haiti and Hurricane Sandy.
A strategic alliance with Dell has allowed ARC to implement a digital operations center for humanitarian relief in 2011 (ARC, n.d.). Social media (Facebook and Twitter) and smartphone applications have also been added to the organization’s communication arsenal as social media (Facebook and Twitter) and smartphone applications communication tools for advance storm tracking, crisis area developments and real time communications between ground crews and decision making management personnel (Zolkos, 2012).
Although these communication...
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...ts stakeholders and stabilized the internal culture. If compensation for the organization’s executives were tied to designated performance indicators for ARC (Lytle, 2013), the organization may actually operate more efficiently and effectively.
(5)
There are a number of issues pertaining to legal, regulatory and financial improprieties and compliance that I would advocate should be more effectively monitored by congress. The vast amounts of donor funds that are embezzled and subsequently never used for the purpose for which they were donated greatly compromises the sustainability of ARC. If the organization is to remain solvent and continue to rely on donor contributions, it requires a new financial management model that will restore stakeholder confidence and reduce occurrence of embezzlement of strategy and some form of external governance of donor funds.
The flood also has helped create today's response to disasters: quick federal aid, often with the president on hand to take credit.
Gabris and Giles (1983) research also supports the importance of performance incentives and its role in relieving conflict, so much more that it trumps human relations methodologies. Furthermore, it indicates that lack of performance incentives shows weak organizational objectives, behaviors, structural arrangement (Gabris & Giles, 1983). The importance of performance incentives have a dramatic influence on an organization yet it so simple that it may be dismissed.
Hurricane Katrina was considered as the worst hurricane in the history of United States. The winds and the rain were shattering people’s homes which collapsed and flooded. Thousands of people were suffering and dying. People were starving, and becoming dehydrated. Many people were left on the street and became homeless. After the hurricane, so many questions were left regarding the widespread damage and loss of loved ones. This devastating disaster destroyed the city of New Orleans and nearby cities and was estimated to cost $80 billion dollars in damage. State and local emergency in the affected area were struggling to perform urgent response missions such as emergency medical services, search and rescue, firefighting, giving food and water,
I am now the Vice President, and along with the other officers, we oversee over 120 members. We visit local elementary schools and tutor the kids twice a week. Furthermore, we conduct service projects every quarter, such as harvest drives and toy drives. Last year alone, we collected over 1,100 toys for a local orphanage and over 125 cans of soup. Although the year is young, I feel very optimistic about the things we will achieve and the impact that we will continue to make.
To deal with the frustrations of the past, the Tyco turnaround team overcame their concerns and discernments regarding the way the previous executive team had behaved, in stealing millions of dollars from the company. One thing the new team did was to reach out to each and every employee by translation their new ethical standards guide into the 26 different languages that were spoken at Tyco. The key element to this decision was to reach all corners of the global company at once to fully influence change and ‘if you want to change the hearts of the 260,000 people here as to the ethical climate they are working in, you need to bring to life this document’ (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009, pg. 345). By reaching out to the staff this way and incorporating illustrative vignettes using short videos, this developed a climate of trust and the feeling that the staff could express their opinions. This allowed a healing process to take place within the staff and change their perspective on the future of Ty...
Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross after becoming involved in the work of the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War. Her heart of giving and helping others convinced her that an American chapter was needed in her country in 1881. The ARC is a humanitarian organization that is dependent on the contributions of time, blood, and money from the American public to support its multiple lifesaving services and programs. The ARC’s mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. The ARC from its humble beginnings and up to recently has provided great support the American public and military during times of need. However, recently the organization has drifted from is stakeholders and gone through difficult challenges. Instead of the focus being on the disaster victims, the American public and government has been on the mismanagement of the organization. The media and general public have been critical of their slow response to disasters, their inability to wisely manage donated funds and blood, its poor planning and communications with disaster victims and other agencies during relief efforts. This paper is based on the case study of the American Red Cross and will discuss the impact of the events from the case study on ARC’s “benefits of business ethics”, discuss the role that ARC’s stakeholder orientation played in this scenario, discuss the ways in which ARC’s corporate governance failed to provide formalized responsibility to their stakeholders, and recommend steps that ARC could follow to improve their stakeholders perspective.
Two of the biggest ones were Hurricane Katrina, and Superstorm Sandy. In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi, and Louisiana. This Hurricane left thousands of people without homes for months, and there were many casualties. Electricity was down, and people didn’t know where they were going to get their next meal. Luckily, FEMA was there along with the Red Cross to take care of the needs of the people. FEMA helped the citizens find homes, and helped them rebuild their lives, while the Red Cross was taking care of the injured. Another disaster happened in 2012 to the Atlantic coast. Superstorm Sandy hit with wind speeds of over 115 mph. Over 280 people died. Major cities were without power for weeks. The streets were flooded, and once again the people were in desperate need of help. Just like before, FEMA was there to protect the citizens. The agency takes approaches to aide people before, and after a disaster. They will prevent it as best as possible, and lend a hand when it a disaster has impacted
Their personnel is derived of law enforcement, fire and rescue service, emergency medical services, emergency management staff and a variety of public works disciplines, when put together, are among America’s most critical assets. Their mission is to be prepared to respond to a wide array of emergencies that arise. Much of Emergency Services Sector’s vulnerabilities are the same as other areas of critical infrastructure that should damage occur to the Emergency Services Sector would impair the protection of the public and other critical infrastructure sectors. They are on the front line when disaster occurs and often represent safety and security to the public during times of crisis; should the Emergency Services Sector fail, the morale of the public is diminished which could further impede a community’s resilience during and after a
... behavior. Instead of sharing information, the engineers choose to keep it to themselves to maximize their performance. When rewards are tied to firm performance, it allows for more knowledge sharing and benefits the company in the long run.
Even with all the damage that has been done, there are relief efforts for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico’s government made a presentation of all the supplies they are going to need to help. The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Catholic Charities are all accepting donations for places that have been affected by the recent hurricanes. There are several more organizations working to help with relief in Puerto Rico: The Hurricane Maria Community Recovery Fund, UNICEF, One America Appeal, Habitat for Humanity, and Caritas de Puerto
Nonprofit organizations are usually assumed to carry out their interactions with donors, employees, clients and other partners in an ethical manner, primarily because not-for-profit organizations are seen as serving altruistic purposes (Ingram, n.d.). True altruism focuses on an ethical behavior that results in doing good to people without expecting anything in return. Thus, leaders in non-profits are expected to make decisions that result in the benefit of their clients, rather than themselves. Unfortunately, nonprofits have recently come under a lot of scrutiny because of historical lapses in carrying out the decision-making process in an ethical manner. Non-profit leaders are usually tempted to carry out decisions in the same way as their
American Red Cross has very effective method of how it plans and operates being known around the world in assistance when a natural disaster strikes. With a very specific mission to provided, “all people affected by disaster across the country and around the world receive care, shelter and hope.” (vision statement, 2017) American Red Cross vision statement is very specific to what they want to accomplish in being a non-profit organization in helping those in need when disaster strikes such as hurricanes, fires, earth quakes, or tornadoes. What makes American Red Cross the organization it is, is that it is funded through donations and volunteers.
Social media sites including Twitter and Facebook are in their infancy yet play an increasingly important role in the response to a disaster. After all, “one of the basic tenants of emergency management is mass communication and being able to deliver pertinent information to those who need it” (Gould, 2012). Social media offers an avenue to obtain up to the minute information on a given situation right in an individual's hands thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices. “Each disaster sparks its own complex web of fast-paced information exchange. It can both improve disaster response and allow affected populations to take control of their situation as well as feel empowered” (Maron, 2013). While traditional forms of media, print, radio and television in particular, have been the standard since the inception of the emerg...
Formalized compensation goals serve as guidelines for managers to ensure that wage and benefit policies achieve their intended pur¬pose. The more common goals of compensation policy include to reward employees’ past performance, to remain competitive in the labor market, to maintain salary equity among employees, to motivate employees’ future performance, to maintain the budget, to attract new employees, and to reduce unnecessary turnover. It is important for the organ...
In the article “Working to Transform Your Organization”, the issue of tackling an organization’s needed changes amongst a bureaucratic national system is a difficult one. Fortunately, they become very attainable if certain steps are taken. These outlined concepts when combined with an opportune situation yield a positive result, it seems, when associations are no longer relevant or efficient. The Department of Defense, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Veteran Health Administration were all examined. It was determined within their case studies that eight common lessons emerged among them. These lessons are proven that when implemented, they have the opportunity to make the pertinent modifications to bring the largest organizations in line with their purpose. These ideas could be used on an organization such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, otherwise known as the NAACP.