Weebly



An Organizational Analysis of the American Red CrossAmy Deller, Emily Schneider, Haley Baker, and Stevona BurksHuman Services ProgramWestern Washington UniversityIntroductionThe American Red Cross is a non-profit category 501 (c)(3) organization that is dedicated to helping people in need across America and in association with other American Red Cross organizations throughout the world. Generous contributions of blood, time, and money keep the organization sustainable (American Red Cross, 2014, History). ? Supporters, volunteers and employees of the American Red Cross provide five key areas of care; people affected by disasters in America, support for members of the military and their families, blood collection, processing and distribution, health and safety education and training, and international relief and development (American Red Cross, 2014, History). A mission statement is the key to success for any non-profit organization. ?An organization could not exist without having a clear mission; it is the starting point for planning (Worth, 2014, p.164). The American Red Cross has a clear mission statement that states not only what they do, but also how they will follow through with the mission. The American Red Cross mission states: “The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors” (American Red Cross, 2014, Mission Statement Section). While Worth (2014) describes a non-profit’s mission in the textbook, he mentions the work of James Phillis (2005) and his description of a mission as, “the psychological and emotional logic that drives an organization. ?It is the reason people get up in the morning and go to work in a nonprofit… Mission describes the social value that the organization creates” (Worth, 2014,?p.164). The American Red Cross mission defines the social value that it strives to create (American Red Cross, 2014, Mission Statement Section). Worth (2014) describes in his text that every non-profit organization fits into one of five life stages. These stages include, “stage one: imagine and inspire, stage two: found and frame, stage three: ground and grow, stage four: produce and sustain, and stage five: review and renew” (Worth, 2014, p.192). According to Transforming the Future (2013), over the past five years the American Red Cross has gone through a major management transformation. They drafted a plan to restructure the chapter network to function more as one Red Cross and less as separate entities. The restructuring created greater efficiencies, increased collaboration and broke down silos between different parts of the organization (Transforming for the Future, 2013). After going through such a significant structural change after having the same model for hundreds of years, this would put the American Red Cross in stage five: review and renew. They reviewed their old model, figured out it does not work, and reviewed a different model. Current Programming and ServicesDisaster ServicesWhen a disaster occurs, the American Red Cross is there to help the community with emergency food, shelter, supplies, and education presentations on disaster reliefs HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" (American Red Cross, 2014, Disaster Services). ?Nurse Assistant TrainingAmerican Red Cross provides Nurse Assistant Training to help individuals effectively work in a nursing setting?(American Red Cross, 2014, Nurse Assistant Training). PreparednessThe National Capital Region provides individuals with presentations to the community on how to prevent and prepare for a disaster?(American Red Cross, 2014, Preparedness). Preparedness for the DeafCommunity OutreachEach year the Community Outreach volunteers attend events throughout the National Capital Region to inform others on how to prepare, prevent, and respond to emergencies HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" (American Red Cross, 2014, Community Outreach).?International ServicesThis program allows families to contact relatives that they have lost contact with because of a natural disaster, war, or internal conflict (American Red Cross, 2014, International Services). International Services OverviewInternational Disaster ReliefBuilding Safer CommunitiesInternational Humanitarian LawHealthy Safety TrainingAmerican Red Cross offers CPR, First Aid, AED training, swimming and lifeguard lessons? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" (American Red Cross, 2014, Health & Safety Training).?Water SafetyAmerican Red Cross helps with lifeguard and water safety training HYPERLINK "." \t "_blank" ?(American Red Cross, 2014, Water Safety).Services to the Armed ForcesThe American Red Cross carries on the SAF program, which helps serve as a line of communication between the U. S. Armed Forces and families HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" (American Red Cross, 2014, Services to the Armed Forces).?Emergency Communication ServicesProvides emergency communications to all active members of armed services such as emergency, critical accident, illness or death?(American Red Cross, 2014, Emergency Communication Services).Financial AssistanceThe American Red Cross provides financial assistance to qualified applications? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" (American Red Cross, 2014, Financial Assistance). Information and Referral ServicesAmerican Red Cross provides confidential services to military personnel and their family’s, community resources through their network of chapters in communities across the United States, and offices on military installations worldwide?(American Red Cross, 2014, Information and Referral Services). Deployment ServicesAmerican Red Cross provides workshops and information to support families with emotional challenges that they face with deployment?(American Red Cross, 2014, Deployment Services).Coping with Deployment CoursePre-Deployment Preparedness Tool for Family MembersPost-Deployment Support ResourceReconnection WorkshopsAmerican Red Cross offers many skill-building to help service members, veterans, and families cope with the challenges they face after being deployed HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" (American Red Cross, 2014,?Reconnection Workshops).Boots to BusinessAmerican Red Cross has created this program for veterans that are in need of employment?(American Red Cross, 2014, Boots to Business).Geography and DemographicsThe American Red Cross has chapters in all 50 states of the United States of America, and they have chapters located in Guam and Puerto Rico (American Red Cross, 2014, American Red Cross Chapter Locations by State). Out of these 52 states served, the American Red Cross has 502 active chapters (American Red Cross, 2014, American Red Cross Chapter Locations by State).?The American Red Cross supplies about 40 percent of the country’s blood. This allows them to provide life saving services to trauma victims, cancer patients, those with chronic conditions and many others (American Red Cross, 2014, 2013 Fiscal Year Annual Report). Additionally, “The Red Cross Blue Tag program seeks to recruit blood donors specifically to help patients with sickle cell disease” (American Red Cross, 2014, 2013 Fiscal Year Annual Report). Each year, the Red Cross responds to approximately 70,000 disasters in the United States. These disasters range from home fires that affect single families, to hurricanes that affect tens of thousands, to earthquakes that impact millions (American Red Cross, 2014, Disaster relief Section). The Red Cross effectively serves any person, or group of people, who have been affected by any disaster of any size. To go along with this, the Red Cross volunteers provide first aid treatment to those with injuries, and emotional support to those trying to cope after a disaster (American Red Cross, 2014, Health and Mental Health Contacts Section). Another group the American Red Cross strives to serve is military members, veterans, and their families (American Red Cross, 2014, Supporting America’s Military Families Section). Also, The American Red Cross (2014) provides training programs for first responders, educators, babysitters, and people who want to be prepared to help others in an emergency (Health and Safety Services Section). Another population of clients that the American Red Cross aims to serve is any person, or group of people across the globe (American Red Cross, 2014, International Services Section). The American Red Cross has about 13 million volunteers that reach 187 countries (American Red Cross, 2014, International Services Section). Organizational StructureThe American Red Cross has an organizational structure that controls their organization to ensure they are working together to provide communities with services and programs. This chart below will better explain how the structure is conducted.?-3314700505015500-3400425514540500-790576243077900(American Red Cross, 2014, Strategic Plan of Humanitarian Services)Fiscal SnapshotThe most recent fiscal snapshot for the American Red Cross is documented in the Annual Report from 2013. In this report we found that the revenue was just slightly higher than the expenses for the year. During 2013, the American Red Cross spent $3,380.5 million dollars on expenses including 64 percent on Biomedical Services, 13 percent on Domestic Disaster Services, 6 percent on Health and Safety Services, 4 percent on Management, 3 percent on International Relief and Development Services, 3 percent on Community Services, and finally 2 percent on Armed Forces. The breakdown of expenses shows the importance of what American Red Cross clients need and what is significant to the organization (American Red Cross, 2013, Annual Report).Last year, the American Red Cross brought in $3,435.9 million dollars in revenue. Of this amount, 63 percent came from Products and Services, 31 percent from Contributions, and 6 percent from Investment Income. These three areas of revenue create $55.4 million dollars of true income. The funding diversification comes from three parts: 86 percent Contributions (Domestic & International Relief, General Operation, and Endowment), 9 percent from United Way, and 5 percent from Donations of Material and Services (American Red Cross, 2013, Annual Report).SWOT AnalysisStrengthsAbundance of jobsVariety of services availableOver 100 years of experienceFinancially stable organizationLarge donor baseWeaknessesSlow to respond to disastersWeak Chapters which causes imbalance to the organizationBOD is too big causing difficulty for agreement OpportunitiesPartnerships can lead to more visibility, increase trust, and increase donationsDiversify volunteers in order to best serve clients Research trends and who gives to the Red Cross to find out how to increase donations, such as motivations for giving, consumerism, fundraisingThreatsShortage of fundingImplementation of a new plan and process for fundingBlood shortage which could potentially not be able to serve clientsReduction in employment Budget cutsReflective AnalysisStrengthsThe American Red Cross has many different kinds of strengths that have helped them become as successful as they are today. This organization is extremely trusted, has an abundance of jobs opportunities and has made many positive changes over the past five years. The American Red Cross has been a government charter for the last 100 years, and is included in the government's National Response Plan for catastrophes (Re-examining the Red Cross, 2005). Donors also give the most money to the American Red Cross when natural disasters occur. For example, 1.52 billion out of 2.7 billion dollars for the hurricane relief was from The American Red Cross. During hurricane Katrina the Red Cross proudly tells us: That 219,500 disaster relief workers - from all 50 states and overwhelmingly volunteers - were hard at work helping storm victims. In coordination with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Red Cross served victims more than 27.4 million hot meals. And perhaps most important of all, the organization gave victims debit cards with up to $1,565 in emergency funds, essential for families uprooted from homes and jobs living in unfamiliar circumstance. (Re-examining the Red Cross, 2005)The American Red Cross is highly trusted and many individuals donate to them when a disaster occurs. Not only do they have a large donor base, but they also have over 100 years of experience. Worth (2014) describes that social media networking is starting to be used by many non-profits, such as the Red Cross. In the text, it states that the Red Cross has even used mobile communication (via text) to donate, and a significant component of giving was through text donations during the Haiti earth quake in 2010 (Worth, 2014, p.277). The American Red Cross is a very large company which has more than 27,000 employees and 6,000 jobs are filled each year (Rudulph, 2014). Carol Robinette, Vice President of Talent Acquisition stated that, "Young people are important to the organization. We're more than 125 years old, but we're always looking for new perspectives. Everybody here has a voice in how we can more effectively deliver our mission" (Rudulph, 2014). The American Red Cross provides an abundance of jobs, trainings and internships to individuals across the country. Over the last five years, The American Red Cross has made many changes to benefit themselves. They started out by drafting a plan to restructure the chapter network to function as one Red Cross, rather than separate entities. This helped create greater efficiencies, increased collaboration and broke down silos between different organizations (Transforming for the Future, 2014). They decided to consolidate support services (marketing, human resources, finance and IT). “We now have just one Red Cross website instead of 700, and one bank account instead of 4,000” (Transforming for the Future, 2014, p.6). Worth (2014) describes strategic planning as, “more than a strategy; it is a process that produces a product- a strategic plan-that puts meat on the strategy and points the way to implanting it” (Worth, 2014, p.160). To make all these changes, the American Red cross had to come up with a strategic plan by preparing, assessing the situation, clarifying the mission, values and vision, identifying strategic questions developing goals and strategies, writing the plan, developing operational plans, executing the plans, and evaluating the results (Worth, 2014, p.163). WeaknessesThe American Red Cross possesses some weaknesses that could potentially hold back the organization from being as successful as possible. One weakness of the American Red Cross has to do with their response time after a disaster has occurred. They have a tendency to be slow to respond to disasters, and they can be disorganized when responding to these disasters (The New York Times, 2005, Paragraph 3). According to The New York Times (2005), “In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, some victims and volunteers complained that the organization's response to the disaster was slow and tangled in red tape” (Paragraph 3). According to Worth (2014), communication is complex, including how messages are encoded, transmitted, screened, decoded, stored, retrieved, and acted on” (p. 242). According to this, it seems as though the American Red Cross lacks certain components of communication when it comes to responding to disasters. This may be why they are slow to respond to the disasters, and often disorganized. Another weakness of the American Red Cross comes from the governing board. The governing board tends to have too many members. “The problem with the board is, number one, that it’s very large. And most nonprofit experts would argue that a much smaller board would be much more effective in overseeing the agency” (Paul Light, 2005, Paragraph 16). Paul Light explains: The second problem is that the board has a very large number of members who are elected by the local chapters that the president of the organization oversees. To some extent, when you’re having conflict with that board, you’re having conflict with the people that you supervise. (Paul Light, 2005, Paragraph 16)Worth (2014) says that the governing boards hold the ultimate responsibility for guaranteeing that the organization serves its mission and for the overall welfare of the organization itself. Additionally, “the board plays a critical boundary-spanning role in the open system of a nonprofit organization, connecting the nonprofit to its community and constituencies, often including important sources of financial support” (Worth, 2014, p. 73). Since the American Red Cross has a large, and seemingly disorganized governing board, then it’s going to struggle to uphold the organizations mission, and the overall welfare of the organization might be in jeopardy. Also, the community might not be connected to the organization as well as it could be with a smaller governing board. A third weakness of the American Red Cross is its issue with weak chapters. This can cause an imbalance in the strength of the American Red Cross. “Since the Red Cross is stronger in some states than others, it is often underrepresented in the places that need the most help. That translates into a shortage of relief workers with the detailed, on-the-ground expertise so sorely needed in a time of crisis” (The New York Times, 2005, Paragraph 5). The New York Times (2005) goes on to explain that despite some states being larger, they have less volunteers and less revenue. To go along with this, Worth (2014) explains that volunteers are a major part of nonprofits. Also, the service of volunteers is a major economic part to nonprofit organizations and to society (Worth, 2014). Additionally, many nonprofits rely heavily on volunteers (Worth, 2014). This just shows the importance of the use of volunteers, and it sounds like the American Red Cross tends to struggle with their volunteer management. If the American Red Cross could strengthen their volunteer management, then they could strengthen their chapters. OpportunitiesBased on Worth's (2014) text, the American Red Cross has numerous opportunities awaiting to grow the organization. The opportunities provided in this SWOT Analysis are focused on volunteers and the public (in terms of funds or exposure). It is important for organizations to research the largest populations of people who volunteer, who are being served, and who are donating to the American Red Cross in order to be intentional in their service. Though there are few organizations similar to the Red Cross that are on the same magnitude, researching other disaster relief and humanitarian organizations that offer similar services is one of the first ways to produce opportunities. Worth (2014) mentions that this process is important in order to understand the American Red Cross audience. One opportunity is to analyze how the largest donor populations respond to the American Red Cross partnering with corporations. Partnering with large companies can increase visibility and trust for the non-profit and can provide benefits to the company as well. Partnerships can provide “opportunities to engage your employees, engage your customers and gain positive recognition” (American Red Cross, 2014, Corporate Partnerships). Another opportunity that the American Red Cross has in store is to analyze current volunteers to find out their motivations, why they volunteer, and who is more likely to volunteer in order to market in better ways. The non-profit can find out what assets the largest volunteer population have in order to best serve clients. ?The American Red Cross can attract more diverse and qualified volunteers to decrease the turn-around rate. Lastly, an opportunity the American Red Cross has is to find out how people respond to the branding and consumerism. Since this a non-profit organization, this subject of fundraising is debatable. Finding out why people donate and what leads to an increase in donations is an opportunity to grow the organization.ThreatsAmerican Red Cross faces threats that may have a negative impact on the organizations internal and external production. According to Worth (2014) he suggests that agencies should collect information from internal and external factors to conduct a SWOT analysis (p.167). This allows for American Red Cross to find the issues that they are faced with.One threat is the elimination of the organizations sizeable fiscal year 2010, which allowed for American Red Cross to do a transformation change. The change was hard for the company because they were used to doing the same budgeting the same way for a long period of time. There were concerns pertaining to the shortage of funding, which may bring a shortage of services for this organization (American Red Cross, 2014, Three Year Report).A second threat is the American Red Cross Red is faced with a blood shortage, which may become critical for patients who are in need of blood transfusions, especially for cancer patients, burn victims, and bone marrow patients (American Red Cross, 2014, Press Releases). This comes from a lack of blood donors and the FDA is speculating that American Red Cross failed to properly screen the blood donated for public use. This goes against American Red Cross values, which states that “its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being” (American Red Cross, 2014, Fundamental Principles).The third threat is American Red Cross has seen a reduction of employment due to the decline of donor’s money. 1,000 employees were laid off, and they hired their seventh CEO. Also, there are issues between the American Red Cross management and Board of Directors. Having to cut budgets, which may force American Red Cross to decline in the services and programs to communities and the country. Worth (2014) explains how understanding the boundaries within an organization and its environment will determine how well the organization is really doing (p. 167).ConclusionBased on the elements composing the American Red Cross organization, we have decided that it is considered a successful organization. The American Red Cross mission, values, and vision creates a “strong culture” that acts as the foundation for service to people in need (Worth, 2014, p 64). The wide variety of services offered to Red Cross clients is a major component to the success this organization produces. A management component that needs development is the new reconstruction to the organizational model. Transitioning to a new management style of changing how?local chapters, and funding are led will take time to run smoothly.??Sources: American Red Cross (2014).?Fundamental Principles of the Global Red Cross Network.?Retrieved from Red Cross (2014).?Our History.?Retrieved from? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014).?What We Do.?Retrieved from:? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014).?Disaster Relief. Retrieved from:? Red Cross (2104).?2013 Fiscal Year Annual Report. Retrieved from:? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014).?Find Your Local Red Cross.?Retrieved from:? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). Disaster Services. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). Nurse Assistant Training. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). Preparedness. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). Community Outreach. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). International Services. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2013). Fact Sheet. Retrieved from (2).pdf?American Red Cross (2014). Responding to Disaster Overseas. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Where We Help. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). International Humanitarian Law. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Water Safety. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Safety Training. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Emergency Communication Services. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). Service to the Armed Forces. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Financial Assistance. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Information Referral Services. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). Deployment Services. Retrieved from HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Red Cross (2014). Coping Deployment Course. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Predeployment Preparedness Family Members. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Postdeployment Preparadness Homecoming. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Reconnection Workshops. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014) Boots to Business. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Three Year Report. Retrieved from Catalog/m6340469_PreseidentialThree-YearReport.pdf?American Red Cross (2014). Press Release. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Strategic Plan Humanitarian Services. Retrieved from Red Cross (2014). Corporate Partnerships. Retrieved from Magazine (2007). Trends. Retrieved from ? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" , M. J. (3rd?Eds.) (2014).?Nonprofit management. Principles and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.American Red Cross (2014). Fundamental Principles of the Global Red Cross Network. Retrieved from . American Red Cross (2014). Our History. Retrieved from for the Future. (2013). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from , M. J. (3rd Eds.) (2014). Nonprofit management. Principles and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.American Red Cross (2014).?What We Do.?Retrieved from:? Red Cross (2014).?Disaster Relief. Retrieved from:? Red Cross (2104).?2013 Fiscal Year Annual Report. Retrieved from:? Red Cross (2014).?Find Your Local Red Cross.?Retrieved from:? the Red Cross. (2005, December 5). Retrieved November 8, 2014, from Red Cross Troubles. (2005, December 14). Retrieved November 11, 2014, from ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download