Strategic Planning for Anglican Health and Welfare Services - Case Study Example

Briefing on Anglicare Anglicare was started in 1976 as Anglican health and welfare services (Inc). The name was later changed to Anglicare and is now officially the company’s legal name. In its early days, the company was established by Archbishop Geoffrey Sambell, as a move to delivery of social services by the Anglican Church. Anglicare has all along been supporting and advocating on behalf of the most marginalized people in the society. During 1886, a mission to the streets and lanes of Melbourne was established in order to advocate for the rights of the marginalized people in the society. In 1919, a mission of St James and St John was commenced so as to serve the same purpose. In1921, St Johns homes for boys and girls was set up in Melbourne. On 1st July, 1997, these three agencies were merged to form Anglicare Victoria. In the past years; Anglicare has achieved the following growth: The emergency relief by the organization increased by 29% to amount to 64,929 and through this increase, many people benefited from the relief. Financial counseling support has increases by 17% to amount to 6928 Support of drug and alcohol abuse increased by 40%.This support comes from various organizations and individuals. The non paid volunteers contributed 174,232 of support hours. These volunteers are mobilized by the agency so as to support its programmes. Foster carers increased from 588 to 680 while other volunteers increased from 1,179 to 1,395. SWOT Analysis Strengths Overcoming the present ‘all nothing’ approach and undertake what previously was not exploited in the society. Asset and capacity approach focusing on the volunteers’ contribution hence realizing adequate funds to serve the community. Involving the wider community through building capacity of foster care. Providing care for the vulnerable in the society is highly valued. Since a carer sufficiently supported, there is a likely hood of having a optimistic impact on the stability of placements Weaknesses A lot of demands in terms of resources are placed on an already strained system. Coordinating, recruiting, assigning and training of volunteers require a lot of resources. The impact of the more community members being involved in charity work is not tested. There are likelihood of conflict between the family and the primary volunteers. The possibility of succession dispute can grossly impair the operations of the organization. Opportunities Currently there are challenges of recruiting and retaining volunteers but the company could engage in innovative methods of recruiting and retaining volunteers. There is a proven huge community resource that can be tapped to help the company. This has been evident where people from the community have been calling the hotline for recruiting volunteers to enquire on how they can become volunteers. Recruitment and publicity is practiced in the organization and this can be used to effectively foster the volunteers. Threats The general challenges of common conceptual framework of delivering the kind of services that the company delivers. Recruitment and coordination of volunteers is daunting tasks which is surrounded by many risks management issues and liabilities. There are many concerns surrounding privacy and allegations of abuse or neglect. External environment Publics and the competitors Anglicare has a number of stakeholders who influences its operations. The stakeholders are both the people within the organization and from the external world. Some of the most important stakeholders include the staff, government, volunteers, donors and the community at large. It is with the help of the stakeholders that the organization is able to operate. For example donors contribute funds to run the activities of the organization. Volunteers also offer help in various ways e.g. administration work. The government on the other hand works hand in hand with Anglicare to ensure provision of social services. PESTEL analysis Political factors The political conditions have great impact on the operations of Anglicare. In the event that there is political instability in the country, the organization will be forced to function under many difficulties. For example political turmoil increases the number of disadvantaged people in the society who will be seeking for their services; while on the other hand, the assistance of the government may be reduced hence subjecting the organization to constraints. Economic factors Economic conditions in both the local and international market will highly have impacts on the company especially considering that they operate shops. The returns of such shops particularly depend on the performance of the economy. If the economy is poorly performing, the amount of sales from the shops is expected to reduce and vice versa. Similarly, the amount of income that the company generates from donors is pegged on the performance of the economy. Social Factors The socio-cultural behaviors of the people also have some impact on the company. Factors such as religion, language, culture and ethnicity among others influence the organization in one way or another. For example, religious believes encourage people to make donations to the less fortunate hence enhancing the operations of the organization. Christian teachings are based on the holy Bible which clearly stipulates that people should help the less fortunate in the society. Technological factors The emerging technology exerts a lot of influence on how things are done in the organization. To remain relevant in the provision of the services, the organization should adopt the appropriate technology to improve its effectiveness and also competitiveness. Technology is the backbone of most organizations in the modern world. Organizations that employ appropriate technology in their operations are very successful and so every organization in the modern society is striving to achieve technological advancement. Legal factors There are scores of rules and regulations that govern the operations of Anglicare. To be on the safe side, all laws should be complied well and effectively adhered to because failure to do so can lead to legal suits which might negatively affect the organization. Sometimes, new or changing laws puts the operations of the organization under great challenge, but the only option left is to strike good policy action to ensure compliance with little side effects. Mission To care: By doing the work of god which helps community grow and addresses social emotional and physical needs, and which are the fruits of the gospel of the lord Jesus Christ. That seeks to bring the gospel of the lord Jesus Christ that alone meets spiritual needs. In partnership with the wider community where appropriate and the churches where possible. Vision To resource and empower children, young people and families to achieve their full potential through: the promotion of social justice, the strengthening of local communities and the provision of quality innovative services. Strategic goals Anglicare will operate on the basis that is feasible and sustainable Anglicare will develop mutually beneficial partnership within the diocese and the wider community. Anglicare policies, services and programs will reflect Christian notion and ethics based on research, modernization, current best practice and constant improvement. Anglicare will be a respected and an informed Christian voice contributing to public policy formation and community awareness. Anglicare will be an organization that has transparent decision-making, practices organizational values at all levels, has effective communication at all levels, provides all staff and volunteers with opportunities to develop their skills and gifts in ministry. Anglicare will put to use effective and innovative leadership practices in all the organizational Key challenges of the organization In recent times, the increased need for accountability requires an agent to be more professional as attention has strictly been given to staff qualifications, policies and procedures, continuous improvement and quality control. Such are the requirements in order to compete for grants and tenders. Essentially, the organization needs to budget for hefty of money to pay highly qualified employees and also spend a lot of money on operations as the processes are involving and expensive. The states control of social policies and social welfare sometimes conflicts with our own policies. Often, the laws enacted by the government touching on our practices leave the company tangled in myriad of problems especially where immediate adjustments are required to be made for compliance. In some instances, the organization experiences strain of funds while trying to comply with such regulations. Nowadays, Anglicare deals with very serious social problems that demand a lot of care, finance, and human capital. These social problems ranges from HIV orphaned children to victims of natural disasters and human conflicts. The number of those requiring attention is on the increase yet the organization is constrained especially by funds. The challenge is even more rigorous during emergencies. To achieve organizational goals, strong partnership is required between Anglicare and other stakeholders. The problem arises when most of the members of the society (who are supposed to act as our partners) have not recognized or accepted their responsibilities to ensure welfare of everybody. Instead, there is an enduring notion that maintenance of peoples’ welfare is a preserve for the state and agents. As such, Anglicare receives very little cooperation from the members of the society in ensuring welfare of people-which is a big obstacle. There lacks adequate laws and regulations that defines the role and position of Anglicare in the society. Proper legal framework is essential for the proper functioning and access of resources by Anglicare. The position of and the relationship of Anglicare with the government and other crucial institutions is instead dependent on the strengths and the capacity of the leadership. The organization is chiefly dependent on donors and well wishers for funding. Naturally, the donors cannot meet all the needs of the organization while the well wishers are not always available. Poor economic status has also rendered the market of goods lower, and hence less profit is expected from the shops. Such constraints have continued to limit the capacity of the organizations services to the community. Anglicare fights to meet the needs of the vulnerable in the society. Such needs are urgent and every beneficiary’s’ needs vary. In such circumstances, it becomes a daunting task to set priorities, of what should be done first and what should follow. How I can work with the client My role as a consultant is to provide the management of Anglicare with strategic recommendations. As such, I ought to report to the authorities who deal with strategic planning. In this case, executive general manager, corporate strategy and marketing is the immediate person I should report to, who in turn reports to the C.E.O. After being allocated the task by the client, I embark on it while maintaining teamwork with the client especially through the general manager, corporate strategy and marketing. Throughout the engagement, I should maintain contact with the client, giving updates of my progress .at the same time, it will be important to keep pace with the timelines so as to meet the time stipulated in the contract; while making sure that I meet all the other important conditions. After finishing my mission, I am required to compile a reports underscoring my findings and the recommendations, which I handover to my immediate boss for action. My available budget My budgetary estimation for the successful completion of the project amounts to $120000 and an extra $ 24000 to cater for unforeseen occurrences. About $12000 will be spent on preliminary preparation, while $100000 will be spent on staff salaries. The remaining amount will cater for any other expenses. The key focus in the project shall be to find out the principle challenges that the company is undergoing with the aim of giving an appropriate remedy that will work for the organization. To achieve this, I will carry out an extensive research on several similar companies to establish the challenges they are going through. After that, I will embark on Anglicare where I will use questionnaires to gather important information from the managers and the staff. Finally, I will compile a report on my findings, together with the recommendations on the way forward. Bibliography Anglicare Australia.1999. Anglicare Australia: submission to the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the New Tax System. Melbourne: Anglicare Victoria. Read More