The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton in 1881. Barton, a civil war nurse, was credited with establishing the early works of what is currently known as the American Red Cross. The mission of the American Red Cross is to give relief to victims of disasters and to help citizens to prepare, prevent and respond to emergencies. This organization was built on the premise that most of its support would come in the form of volunteers simply giving back to their fellow Americans in times of need.
Over the years, the American Red Cross transformed into a business designed to handle monetary donations as well as manpower for those requiring aid in times of disasters or emergencies. Naturally the American Red Cross would have developed business ethics to govern itself accordingly. Business ethics is comprised of principles, values, and standards that guide behavior in the world of business (Ferrell, 2011).
The principal is what the business sets as its boundaries for good business behaviors and will often stay within the realms of what is acceptable for the organization.
Stakeholders monitor and pay attention to the ethical behaviors of its organization. The outcome will determine how the business is seen by the outside world. Values are what is normally accepted by society. Business ethics have several benefits which include employee commitment, investor loyalty, customer satisfaction, and the bottom line. Employee commitment is based upon those employees that have made a person promise of sacrifice for that particular business or organization. They have linked their employment future to the company and will stay for several years.
The Essay on How Information Systems Support Business Processes In An Organization
Information systems are necessary for supporting the business functions in a company. How well a company chooses the proper information systems can make the difference between a successful business and a failure. This paper will discuss information systems and how they impact organizations. Information Systems Support Business Processes in OrganizationsAny modern business requires information ...
Investor loyalty depends on how the business functions in terms of keeping its code of ethics at a high level. The reputation of a company plays a major part of whether an investor continues to associate with the company. The company’s ethical culture can have a direct effect on its profits as well. Therefore, gaining investors’ trust and confidence is vital to sustaining the financial stability of the firm (Ferrell, 2011).
Customer satisfaction is the most important benefactor of business ethics. The company must work hard to maintain the approval sought through the satisfaction of the loyal customer base.
It can do so by keeping up with the likes and dislikes of its customers as well as form a strategy that will strengthen the relationship between the customers and the stakeholders. The bottom line is profits that the company can show at the end of the year. Profits add to the success of the company and help with its survival in the future role that it plays in determining if the company will remain in existence. Determine and discuss the role that ARC’s stakeholder orientation played in this scenario.
Stakeholder orientation is summed up as an understanding of the needs of its stakeholders and how those needs are met to the satisfaction of the stakeholders. Organizational capabilities involve the combination, coordination and deployment of organizational competences, which are directed towards the strategic purpose of the organization (Keelson, 2013).
Organizational capabilities can also be described as an organizational ability to perform a coordinated task, utilizing organizational resources, for the purpose of achieving a particular end result (Keelson, 2013).
Three components of the stakeholder’s orientation are: 1) gathering data about the stakeholders, 2) that the information gathered be distributed throughout the company by the employees, 3) the reaction of the company to adhere to the rules of the stakeholders and what is being done to inform all of the expectations to exceed or abide by what is expected. The American Red Cross has an obligation to fulfill its role as a non-profit charitable organization to the stakeholders. Any negative activity or behavior of the organization has a direct reflection on the stakeholders. Starting with those chosen to lead the American Red Cross.
The Dissertation on American Companies & Globalization
American Companies & Globalization American companies working with International companies are rumored to believe it is hurting the U.S. economy by outsourcing jobs to other countries because of cheaper labor. Contrary to widely held public opinion, the expansion of offshore manufacturing and other activities by U.S. based multinational businesses benefits the domestic economy, and has not ...
Beginning with the time period of 1999, the Red Cross has had seven acting or permanently appointed director to leave office without completing their full terms. Each left due to some sort of misconduct on their parts. The American Red Cross was becoming an agency known for hiring and firing rather than developing a strong organizational base. In additional to the high rate of directors being fired or resigning, they would receive substantial severance pay amounts as a part of their termination. Leadership at the lower levels also showed signs of weakness and distrust as there were incidents of mismanaged funds and embezzlement.
The American Red Cross updated it “Ethics Rules and Policy” statements. All employees and volunteers associated with the organization were required to sign the document. Congress forced the American Red Cross to be more visible with their practices in 2006 amid allegations of missing funds and other wrongdoings. In 2005, following a natural disaster, an article was published in the New York Times pertaining to the American Red Cross. Several editorials pertaining to the ARC, such as one calling into question the trust and loyalty that is granted to the organization (Groscurth, 2013).
According to this editorial, the American Red Cross represents all that is right and wrong with the American preference for federal disaster response to be carried out by private volunteers rather than government (Groscurth, 2013).
Determine and discuss the ways in which ARC’s corporate governance failed to provide formalized responsibility to their stakeholders. There are several ways that the American Red Cross corporate governance failed to provide formalized responsibilities to their stakeholders.
Beginning in the year 1999, with the resignation of Elizabeth Dole, the role of the Board of Directors chair person has been weak. The American Red Cross has wasted time seeking candidates that have not fulfilled the requirements need to successfully manage a large conglomerate such as the Red Cross. The lack of leadership caused a negative effect on the reputation of an industry that took years to build. There was no standard of punishment for the actions of those trusted to run an organization such as the Red Cross. The Red Cross did not take a serious look at updating their policies and procedures until year later.
The Business plan on External/Internal Factors Of The Red Cross
The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement. The Red Cross provides relief to victims of disaster and helps communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. The Red Cross is a business whose effects are felt around the world. When disaster strikes the ...
Stakeholders can be informed by allowing different departments to engage in similar practices to be attentive to and address the demands of their various stakeholders (Maigan, 2011).
By combining these practices, businesses would become able to manage and act upon stakeholder information much more systematically and efficiently (Maigan, 2011).
Recommend steps that ARC could follow to improve their stakeholder perspective. To improve their stakeholder perspective, the American Red Cross could be to continuously address stakeholder’s needs as an ongoing effort.
They should discuss and re-evaluate the role of the American Red Cross and seek ways to always improve upon it. Review what the ARC stands for and what the stakeholder’s expectations are in order to fulfill the needs effectively. The American Red Cross must continue to monitor all of its actions so that mistakes of the past are not repeated. All stakeholders should be given accountability for their roles and allowed to examine what need revamping or restructuring so that the Red Cross can remain a great organization. References
