Strategic Management in Public Organizations - Case Study Example

Non-profit organisations By 13th November 0 Social Problem The people of Indonesia, especially those living in the coastal region, have been in the recent years suffered as a result of natural disasters. An example of a disaster that has hit the country is the earthquake that occurred on 25 October 2010. The earthquake was considered one of the worst in the country because it had a magnitude of 7.7. Moreover, it affected more of the country’s coastal region and one of the Islands in Mentawai. Since then, the country has been calling for non-governmental organisations to help in addressing disaster-related challenges. The problem in human health that arose from the disaster is a major concern worth analysis and discussion. The health deterioration in the coastal region and the island is an issue of concern because the earthquake destroyed the sewage system. The lack of a proper sewage system has triggered the outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera in the country. Therefore, there is a need to intervene and restore the order as fast as possible. Restoring the system will help reduce the deaths that are occurring in the region because of cholera. 1.1 Vision GoodLife’s vision is built towards making the lives of people in the country better and enjoyable. We, therefore, establish our camp on regions enduring difficulties due to lack of adequate resources or government intervention. Moreover, the organization intervened in the situation being led by the following principles that form our vision. Identifying the needs of the community and suggesting a possible solution. Working together with the community in re-establishing home facilities. Listening to the requests of the community and offering help in terms of finance where applicable. Considering these objective principles, the vision of the GoodLife is clear. Our ambition is to work with the community and to recuperate their life. Our long time goals are to lead non-governmental organisation in providing help to the needy communities in the country. Our position to the vision statement is driven by credible research that moves the community to enquire about their problem. The organization analyze problem and outline the possible measures that can be used to remedy it. 1.2 Specific objectives Our specific objective in this mission to solve the problem of the sewage system in the coastal region and the Mentawai Islands. Our specific objectives aims are disconnecting the main cause of cholera in the country. Goodlife aims to reconstruct the sewerage system and build new toilets and latrines. The communities have experienced the problem of sewerage with little support from the government. There are a number of activities that are to be carried out in order to hit our objectives. Goodlife seek qualified contractors to be involved in the construction of waterways. This canal will ensure that the sewage is drained to the appropriate place. For us to succeed in this process, we will work together with the municipal council of the region. The municipality is to help in identifying the best place where the sewage will be disposed. The destination of this waste will be in a place where it cannot affect the locals. The contractors help in drawing plans that ensure waste carrier does not have any effect on the residents. The second step that will consider in our effort of achieving our objectives is seeking the support of the residents. Since the work of reconstruction is involving, we will need the support of the locals during reconstruction. The local contribution will offer human effort that needed during the construction process. The task might be expensive if the work is left on contracted party. Goodlife aims to minimise the cost of reconstruction. This process is also valuable if done with the collaboration of the residents. First, the organization intend to extend financial support to support earthquake victims. Thus, a participant involved will earn a stipend for their effort. Secondly, Goodlife personnel will work to offer training to the residents during the event. The training benefit the local people in earthquake-stricken places. Therefore, the organization calls for people to engage for their benefit and that of the whole community. 2.0 Action Plan GoodLife is not a wealth manufacturing organisation. Our intention in helping the community does not in any way involve counting the profit at the end of the season. The institute works for the advantage of the community. One of the reasons that qualify us as a non-governmental and a non-business organisation is that we do not charge in the essence of effecting our mission. The organisation purely works to help the affected communities. We usually seek funds from the donors with the intention of helping people who are faced with disasters. One of our fundamental principles is culpability and pellucidity (Carstens, 2005). The action is better reviewed by the necessary government agency on how well we use our funds. The accountability that we as an organisation have portrayed to the public has granted us the opportunity to be the leading non-governmental organisation who are trusted by the donors, locally and internationally. Secondly, the institute usually works according to the wish of the community. Since the main objective of the organisation is to enhance the livelihood of the community, we usually consider their request to intervene on their problem. We usually consider doing several things before we move to the event of helping them. First, we usually consider the urgency of the matter. This is because we many a times receive requests that invite us to intervene on a community program. We usually deal with the most urgent problems first then the others follow according to their importance. After identifying the urgency of the program to be undertaken, we usually estimate the cost of carrying out the work. Since we are non-profit making organisation, we usually consider looking for donors from established institutions and the government. These funds usually help us to execute our duties and solve the community problem (Moore, 1995). When the funds received are not enough for the work, we usually engage the members of the community to work with us for their benefits. The community that we have worked with so far have shown great commitment, and we are happy to say that the Indonesian community are the best to work within a global context. 3.0 Our Suitability as a non-governmental Organisation The GoodLife as mentioned earlier tries to solve some puzzles that different communities suffer in case of the occurrence of a natural disaster. The organisation is located at the Indonesian capital; the organisation becomes active in various programs with the country. The natural event that has happened recently have attracted us and placed us as the main organisation that can come into action and salvage the community. The organisation has qualified individuals in various professions that is required in the execution of its mandate. For example, our team of research usually advises us on the best approach to consider while working on the ground. These approaches are vital in the way we plan for our finance and time (Joyce & Drumaux, 2014). Since we rely on donors, we usually ensure that the finance we get from them is used to carry out our duties properly. At the end of the project, we usually ask them to come and investigate the project and value it according to the amount we have used. We usually do this so that we can use their recommendation in finding the next donor. The process of identifying donors is the hardest in any non-governmental organisation. The process could be harder if we do not practice the accountability and transparency in our transaction (Hughes, 2012). The practice has thus placed this organisation in the forefront, and donors are coming into our consideration whenever we approach them for assistant. 4.0 The Organisation Structure The organisation structure is headed by an executive officer who is appointed after every two years. The appointment is usually done by a team of directors who are six in total. The team of directors usually meet twice in a week to discuss the proceedings of the organisation and to discuss various issues regarding the organisation. There are also managers who usually head different projects that are underway and also the upcoming ones. These managers usually work to see that the budget of the project planned and that the amount located to a certain project has been effectively used (Greener, 2009). The organisation purposes to work in harmony in order to fulfill the mandate outlined in the prospects. 5.0 Human Resource and Financial Strategy Our strategy in enlisting the financial and human resources involved is usually meant to attract faith from our donors and our clients, who are usually the community that we work with on the ground. Our aim in the operation is to seek long time donors who will help the organisation in fulfilling its duties. We are looking forward to a meeting with the world’s monetary organisations like the World Bank, who have taken interest in our operations. We World Bank has promised to work with us in funding our project (Schmidt, 2010). Their decision have been geared not only on the transparency and accountability system but also by our structure in absorbing some highly qualified and dedicated professionals to work for us on various departments (Anheier, 2014). The committed board of directors that ensures the organisation is run in a good way has also been boosted. 6.0 SWOT Analysis GoodLife, like any other organisation, experiences some issues that can be analyzed in the SWOT analysis system. The organisation, therefore, experiences some strength in a particular field, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Courtney, 2013). The analysis is useful as it helps us to shape up our operation system. We usually consider the analysis as a suitable tool that keeps us on track in the essence of fulfilling our obligations. 6.1 Strength The strength of our organisation is projected by several measures that we undertake in the running of the organisation. Our basic aim is to upgrade the lives of people who are affected by natural disasters. Since we know that this is the basic aim of the organisation, it gives us strength in working tirelessly to fulfill this obligation. The organisation, therefore, works with a staff that is dedicated to this nature of work that eventually see as achieving our dream. Another rank that we usually look at as a source of our strength is the practice of accountability and transparency in our transaction. The organisation is very serious on this matter as it usually create faith to our donors that their funds are in good hands and will be used in an appropriate way. 6.2 Weakness The weakness that we experience as an organisation is the lack of motivation to some of our staffs. Most of the staffs that we work with usually come into the organisation expecting to go home with money in their account. We usually pay them but sometimes we usually lack adequate funds to pay them on time. They eventually quit their jobs when they experience this difficulty. The organisation has been experiencing this problem for a while, but things are changing as our budgetary committee is considering this issue and acting appropriately. 6.3 Opportunities The opportunities within the organisation are countless. The organisation is growing at a faster rate and the work implemented being recognized by the government. We are, therefore, emerging as the best organisation in disaster response and management. The rank is making us look attractive in the eyes of the donors. 6.4 Threats In spite of our hard work to be the best, we are experiencing some threats. There are other emerging organisation that are privately owned and those owned by the government practicing our duties. These organisations are well funded and are seen as possible competitors to our organisation. The organisation is investing and working hard to ensure it remain relevant to overcoming the threats natural disasters. 7.0 Organization Mapping Organization have over a long time relied used organization structure to provide essential information to the management. However, these structure have not been revealing real-time and accurate information on how to manage an organization efficiently. Therefore, organization mapping provides real information at the right time for management to act. Organization Mapping provides analysis and leveraging information in a graphic presentation (Bioss Southern Africa, n.d.). The graphical presentation demonstrates the gap within the organization and thus indicate where and when the executive can intervene to address an emerging concern. Through Organization Mapping, Goodlife can be able to address organization challenges as they arise and assist in better decision making. Organization Mapping has an advantage in that it can manage individuals in the workplace as well as the impact on interpersonal relation. Moreover, Organization Mapping identifies the highly talented workers for succession scheduling and distribution of the task forces as necessitated by their outcome. Source: Bioss Southern Africa. 8.0 Mandate Analysis Mandate analysis is a tool used in the organization to examine the mandate of the organization department. Goodlife requires setting specific function of the organization to established department. For example, all financial matters need to be dealt with by the financial department while human resource related issues to be handled by the human resources department. In Mandate Analysis, three things are set out which department ought to do and not do. These include the things that the department must do, things that a department is not supposed to engage and that which the department might do. For example, Goodlife can engage in the following Mandate Analysis. 8.1 Must do action The organization is entitled to non-profit establishment of helping victim of earthquake disasters. Therefore, all department of the organization are supposed to utilise their expertise and finances toward this course. 8.2 Must not do the action The Financial and Human resources department are not supposed to raise money out humanitarian actions. 8.3 Action that might be done Goodlife can engage in helping another human suffering that might be caused by other things other than earthquakes. Therefore, the financial department might consider advancing aid to another society problem such as malnutrition. 9.0 Stakeholder Mapping Stakeholder Mapping involves the engagement of the organization and all its stakeholders to determine the important agenda across the spectrum. Stakeholder Mapping is divided into four phase, identification, analysing, mapping, and prioritizing (BSR, 2011). In identification, the organization is tasked with listing the relevant people, organization of groups that are in line with the vision and mission of a specific group. Moreover, analysing involves finding out the interest of the people such as their wellbeing after catastrophic earthquakes (BSR, 2011). Mapping involves establishing relationship and visualizing relations to the objectives of the organization and its stakeholders. Lastly, prioritizing involve ranking the organization stakeholders in order of priority, relevance while identifying different role assigned to different stakeholders (BSR, 2011). Similar Non-governmental Organization in the Country There are other non-governmental organizations in the country working on aid of the earthquake victims. They offer various services to the community affected by the earthquake. The SAF medical team is one of them. The organization consist of 54 medical doctors from the Singapore Armed Forces and offers medical support to the victims. Japanese Emergency Organization JEN is another organization that is offering emergency aid to the victims in Indonesia. The services offered ranges from medical services to rehabilitation aids. The Swiss government have also come into help in various fields. All these are an international organization tackling various issues. GoodLife remains unique in the provision of the services in the earthquake hit Indonesian coast. The following pie-chart summarizes the NGO’s present and the level of role they play in the country GoodLife’s Mandate GoodLife being a local non-governmental organization; our mandate is to work with the local people who need environmental support. The organization financial position cannot allow us to carry out some services that need large finance operations. The international organization are offering those services. References Anheier, H. K., 2014. Nonprofit Organizations: Theory, Management, Policy. New York: Routledge. Bioss Southern Africa, n.d. Organization Mapping: Seeing The Big Picture. [Online] Available at: http://www.bioss.co.za/pages/files/library/factsheet_orgmapping.pdf [Accessed 23 November 2014]. Carstens, A., 2005. International Monetary Funds: The Role of Transparency and Accountability for Economic Development in Resource-rich Countries. [Online] Available at: http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2005/012705.htm [Accessed 13 November 2014]. Courtney, R., 2013. Strategic Management in the Third Sector. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Greener, I., 2009. Public Management: A Critical Text. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Hughes, O. E., 2012. Public Management and Administration. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Joyce, P. & Drumaux, A., 2014. Strategic Management in Public Organizations: European Practices and Perspectives. New York: Routledge. Moore, M. H., 1995. Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government. New York: Harvard University Press. Schmidt, J., 2010. Why Transparency and Accountability is so Important for the International Efforts on Global Warming. [Online] Available at: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/jschmidt/why_transparency_and_accountab.html [Accessed 13 November 2014]. Read More