American Red Cross

American Red Cross
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Critical or Key Success Factors:
They are the factors that enable the American Red Cross society to be where it is today especially taking into consideration that it is not an income generating organization and it relies almost entirely on donor funds from its well wishers and partners. It does take a lot of discipline and commitment for an organization of such nature to be successful though it should be noted that there is no such success as absolute success when it come to the running such an organization since it also has its bunch of challenges. Some of these characteristics are usually unique to the firm and its circumstances, derived from selecting the most well matched information from the strengths and weaknesses of the organization as discussed above, which the firm must address in order to be successful. The following are examples of the precursors to the long term objectives and will shape the organizations strategic choices:
Internal Resources and Capabilities such as:
Location, Hours open and physical facilities
Special Human Resource Competencies
Inventory levels
Capital Requirements
Technology and Knowledge Requirements
Management skills
Stakeholder Group Considerations
Stakeholder Priorities
Customer Satisfaction Considerations
Consensus Building
Internal Resources and Capabilities:
Location, Hours open and physical facilities
American Red cross society location allover the United States of America has been one of its key to success over many years since it began as an organization based on humanitarian assistance. It is in each an every single state of America hence its presence is felt from the residential level to the town and city level.
According to Dine (2009), it is important to note that the American Red Cross society operates on a twenty four hour bases since one of their mandates is emergency response in their area of operation and since emergencies can happen anytime their twenty four hour operation policy really serves emergencies around the clock. This round the clock working policy has really contributed to success of the American Red Cross since it has created a confidence in people who are aware that there is a non profit making organization that can attend to their emergencies at any time be it day or night.
The physical facilities of the American Red Cross are in a good state to handle majority of its humanitarian facilities though it still remains a challenge that the government levies taxes on some of its prime assets yet it is a non profit making organizations that relies almost entirely on donor funds. Despite such challenges, the society still has well enough physical facilities to handle its rescue missions at normal disaster levels though may sometimes be overwhelmed by high magnitude disasters and has to involve other stake holders. This has really played a big part in the success of this organization over the time it has existed (McElveen-Hunter, 2005).
Special Human Resource Competencies
Though majority of the American Red Cross society workers are volunteers and it has in the last few years been faced with a barrage of allegations on the way that it treats its workers. The examples of such situations that indicate the poor relations that the company suffers from are the laying off of several staff members as a consequence of a $200 million budgetary deficit (Schwinn, 2008).
Despite all these challenges, we cannot ignore the fact that it is run by a very well trained and competent group of workers. They are well trained by the society and majority of them are very experienced professionals in their various disciplines of work hence contributing to the success of this organization. Even the volunteer staffs are engaged in vigorous training sessions so as to qualify for a volunteer worker position. It might sound ridiculous but this workers training has really contributed to the success of the American Red Cross organization.
Inventory levels
The American Red Cross might not have a very rich inventory record compared to other partners in the business, but for an organization that relies majorly on donations it has a strong inventory at its disposal. Its facilities and equipment are key to its day to day humanitarian operations and have been able to sustain it over the years and contributing to its success. The American Red Cross continues to invest in its facilities and equipment so as to sustain and grow its ever growing demand services hence making its inventory richer. This has ensured its continued success and service to people who need them.
Capital Requirements
Capital requirements refer to the activities in an organization that require funding or money to be operating. Such activities or operations in the American Red Cross society are humanitarian activities such as emergency responses and rescue missions incase of disasters.
Such operations are expensive to carry out depending on their magnitudes and the amount of money that go into them is diminishing the organization’s money hence the organization should not bite more than it can chew in that it should operate within its allocation to avoid a financial crisis. The American Red Cross though always under funded has always had capital requirements within its reach and has greatly contributed to its success over the years.
Technology and Knowledge Requirements
The American Red Cross society is involved in humanitarian based activities that have ever changing technology and knowledge requirements hence the organization has to keep on investing in new technology and knowledge. This involves both equipment and human skills hence the organization is mandated to upgrade its equipment and or buy new ones altogether. Workers also need constant training to improve and sharpen their skills either for handling the new equipment or adding knowledge on some aspects that have changed with time.
The American Red Cross society has managed to take care of technology and knowledge in its operations and activities hence this has made it to remain relevant through its dynamism and eventually successful (McDonald, 2005).
Management skills
The way an organization is managed is key to its success and if well run the results are overwhelming but if poorly managed the results are disastrous and could see the organization close shop unless something is done. The American Red Cross society has a very well trained and experienced management team which is very experienced and is a major success story behind this organization’s success over the many years of its existence.
Stakeholder Group Considerations:
Stakeholder Priorities
Stakeholders in the American Red Cross society are majorly the donors and individuals who are well wishers and contribute money towards the activities of the Red Cross society. Most stake holders are corporate firms, companies and other organizations such religious organizations and self help groups who give contributions towards the activities of the Red Cross.
According to McElveen-Hunter (2006), most stakeholders tend to have a say or rather want to have a say on how money they have contributed towards the society so as to check how money is used and make sure that it is well spend. It is important to implement the priorities of the stakeholders if at all the organization is to continue to benefit from their donations though some stakeholders on the other hand are not keen to have any priorities of their donations and let the organization use it in a decent manner.
The priorities of the stakeholders are a check to the organizations use of funds and should not be used by the stakeholders to control or manage the operations in any way. Taking into consideration the priorities of the stakeholders has enabled the American Red Cross to be successful over the years.
Customer Satisfaction Considerations
For any ...