Organisations that Deal with Disaster Response Services - Coursework Example

Introduction There are various organisations that respond to disasters when they occur. These organisations usually ensure that they are well prepared to deal with different kinds of calamities. These could be fire breakouts, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes among others. The personnel in these organisations are normally equipped with necessary equipment that can be used to salvage property and also save people’s lives. It is quite apparent that these organisations use different management approaches. This paper will therefore look at three organisations that deal with disaster response. These are; The Christian Disaster Response (CDR), The International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF) and United Kingdom civil defence force. There will be further elaboration on how these organisations are classified and management approaches that they can adopt. Classification There are various ways through which organisations can be classified. According to Mullins, there are a variety of factors that can make organisations to be classified together. One of the factors is how the organisations were formed, their structures, activities and even their way of doing things. (Mullins, 1994) First and foremost the three organisations can be classified into one big cluster- disaster response organisations. This classification can further be broken down into governmental and non-governmental organisation. Any governmental organisation is an organisation that was initiated and supported by the government. In this case the organisation is given funds to carry out its day to day activities. The government also controls all the activities that take place within the organisation. These may include recruitment and also firing of employees. Analysis of the above named organisations shows that only one falls in this category. This is the United Kingdom civil defence force. It was started by the U.K government and is also controlled by the same. The other two organisations, that is, International Relief Friendship Foundation and Christian Disaster Response organisation are classified as non-governmental organisations. These organisations were started by individuals who had visions of helping the community during disasters. Analysis of Mullins article on management reveals that organisations can also be classified according to the area that they cover. This therefore brings about two clusters; international and local organisations. In this case, local disaster response organisations only operate within the nation. On the other hand, an international disaster response organisation will always go beyond its origin nation and even give services to other nations when they have disasters. (Mullins, 2005) Analysis of the three organisations named above shows that only IRFF (International Relief Friendship Foundation) is an international based organisation. This organisation is known to give support to people who are affected by disasters. This therefore means that IRFF organisation is not limited by boundaries when it comes to offering its services to people affected by different kinds of catastrophes. Christian Disaster Response organisation can be classified as a local organisation since it does not offer its services across the borders. It therefore helps people United States citizens who are affected by calamities like floods, hurricanes among others. Analysis of United Kingdom civil defence force shows that it is local based. It mainly deals with helping United Kingdom citizen who are affected by various catastrophes. It is therefore classified under a local organisation. It is quite evident that these organisations can still be classified further into Christian and non Christian based organisation. Christian organisation means that it is sponsored by some Christians or a church. The Christians come together and start offering disaster response services to affected people. Only two of the above named organisations are Christian based. These are CDR and IRFF. United Kingdom civil defence force can be classified under a non Christian organisation. (Mullins, 1994) How do they operate? It is not enough just to identify organisations that offer disaster response services. It is also quite imperative to know how they operate. Analysis of Christian Disaster Response organisation shows that it works hand in hand with other disaster response agencies. These are Red Cross, NOVAD and Salvation Army. This organisation provides food to people affected by various catastrophes. Some of these facilities are usually fixed while others are mobile in nature. International Relief Friendship organisation also plays a very big role in helping people or families affected by disasters. It is highly known for mobilising various volunteer groups to help in such times. These groups include university students, women groups, youth groups and also business people. It is also highly reputable for giving support directly to the affected people. This includes providing household amenities like relief kits, clothing, food and blankets. This organisation provides these goods and services immediately they know that a disaster has occurred. (Appleby, 1994) United Kingdom civil defence force is known to provide excellent services to people affected by various disasters. The organisation has highly qualified personnel who offer different kinds of services. This includes rescue team that helps in rescuing people trapped under rubbles after a disaster occurring. It also gives services where property is salvaged from burning buildings. (Mullins, 1994) This organisation also helps in giving citizens information on how they can manage and prevent calamities like fire outbreaks. This includes giving citizens information how they can build their houses so that they cannot easily collapse in case of fire, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes among other catastrophes. Management approaches There are various management approaches that can be incorporated in different organisations. The management team within an organisation is endowed with the responsibility of choosing the right and suitable management approach. It is quite imperative to note that management approaches affect service provision and also decision making process. There are some approaches that highly incorporate all employees in the decision making process. Others emphasize on the top management making all the decisions. There are some management approaches that emphasize on people working in small groups while at the same time have goals that are related to the organisational goals. (Terry, 1997) Profit making organisations need to be more careful when choosing management approaches. This is because these approaches will always affect the organisation’s profits either negatively or positively. Below are some of the management approaches that are used by various organisations in this twenty first century; (Mullins, 1994) Human behaviour approach Systems approach Decision theory approach Social systems approach Empirical approach Contingency approach Mathematical approach Operational approach Analysis of the three disaster response organisations shows that each is unique in its own way. That is why each of them needs to have a management approach that will suit its operations. For instance, Christian Disaster Response organisation can adopt a human behaviour management approach. This approach would highly suit this organisation since it deals with human relations. It is evident that the goals of this organisation are human relations oriented. This will help stakeholders to have good relations even as they carry out their responsibilities. This approach will also work well for this organisation since it encourages motivation of employees. Through motivation, greater results are achieved. (Mullins, 1994) This means that in as much as the organisation is Christian based, the stakeholders also need to be motivated through things as word of praise or appreciation. This is after the relevant people or employees accomplishing a task effectively and efficiently. Another advantage with this type of approach is that it will enable the disaster response organisation to effectively handle group dynamics. This is because it was noted that most of the responsibilities therein are accomplished in small groups. (Mullins, 2005) This type of management approach also emphasizes on leadership and participation of all stakeholders. This will enable the management team in this organisation to organise all employees in a manner that all will be able to participate. With an emphasis on leadership, this management approach will help the management team within CDR organisation to choose competent group leaders. This will play a very big role in enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. (Mullins, 2005) International Relief Friendship Foundation organisation can adopt a social systems approach. Each and every nation normally has very diverse social systems. International Relief Friendship Foundation interacts with all these groups and therefore needs to be equipped with necessary skills. This approach also helps organisations to understand individuals and also groups of people. It will therefore be very easy for the management team to understand the two parties. The approach highly emphasizes relationships that are cultural based. This will help the organisation as it interacts with different cultures across the world. It is worth noting that this organisation interacts with varied social systems that have their own diversities. This approach will enable stakeholders to understand this dynamism even as they offer disaster response services and products. (Mullins, 1994) Further research on this approach shows that this approach highly deals with internal and external environments. International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF) organisation deals with these two environments and therefore this approach is very relevant. This approach emphasizes on overall cooperation of stakeholders in order to achieve desired goals. This means that the management needs to ensure that there is team work and that they also help the employees by putting in place proper structures. There also needs to be harmony between group goals and organisational goals in order to achieve the best results. If these aspects are strictly adhered to, then IRFF will definitely reap the benefits of this approach in due course. (Mullins, 2005) United Kingdom civil defence force can adopt the decision theory approach. In this approach, the management makes decisions on steps that need to be taken. This is the best type of management approach for United Kingdom civil defence force. This is because it was noted that the management in this organisation are given this responsibility of decision making. Other members or employees can help in solving problems and partially helping giving ideas on decisions that have to be made. All this is carried out in order to enhance efficiency of operations. This approach also encourages the use of technology in carrying out activities within the organisation. This approach can therefore help United Kingdom civil defence force improve its service delivery to U.K citizens. Decision making process can be simplified. This organisation can also have the contingency approach to work hand in hand with the decision theory approach. (Mullins, 2005) Conclusion There are many organisations that deal with disaster response services. All these play a very big role in saving lives and property that would have otherwise been lost. Mullins has classified these organisations in different categories. Analysis of CDR, IRFF and United Kingdom civil defence force shows that they fall in various categories. These organisations can adopt management approaches that will help improve their service provision and overall achievement of their goals. CDR can have a human behaviour approach. International Relief Friendship Foundation can have a social systems approach and United Kingdom civil defence force can adopt contingency and decision theory approach. All these will help the organisations enhance efficiency and effectiveness therein. Read More