Stakeholder Issues and the Salvation Army - Case Study Example

Case study: ‘Belief in action: The Salvation Army, a global not-for-profit organisation’ Introduction The Salvation Army can be considered as a not-for-profit organisation with global presence due to its wider reach in around 109 countries and conversion in almost 175 languages. The organisation is not only a Christian mission but also provides community services as per the need of the region (Murdoch 1996). The organisation is full of diversity due to its wide presence and therefore, it is essential to conduct stakeholder analysis and create strategic vision for the organisation for its future success. Although, the Salvation Army has its base in Christianity it aims to work with all other faiths in the world as well. Thus, it is important to understand how the organisation perceives other faiths and manage the stakeholders from different faiths (Drane 1994). Therefore, in this case study the various stakeholder issues that the organisation may face are discussed in detail. The study of the Salvation Army’s organisational structure would also provide insight into the working of the organisation. Therefore, this case study would also focus on how the Salvation Army should organise itself in terms of governance and strategic vision. Further, this paper would critically discuss the strategic choices that are pertinent to the strategic positioning of the Salvation Army. Stakeholder issues and the Salvation Army The Salvation Army has both internal and external stakeholders. Some of the internal stakeholders of Salvation Army include the General, the High Council, Commissioners, Uniformed and non-uniformed officers, retired members, religious congregations and families of the staff and officials. The external stakeholders have the governments of various countries, educational, social and health organizations, funding agencies, recipients of services, aid agencies, military organisations, regulatory bodies and other governmental organisations. Some of the other stakeholders are organisations of other faith, gambling and alcohol industries (Murdoch 1996). As the Salvation Army has its branches throughout the world, it is imperative for the organisation to create an environment of collaboration between its stakeholders. However, due to this very nature of diverse stakeholders, the organisation may face various issues as well (Booth 2006). Internal stakeholder issues and solutions The organisation is known for paying only modest salaries to its officers. In fact, Commissioner Alex Hughes was paid £10,258 in 2002, which was only around 15 per cent of what most chief executives of other charitable organisations are paid (Murdock 2008). This might raise concerns in the future for hiring best talents in the market. Most officers might prefer to work with other established organisations that give competitive salaries rather than joining the Salvation Army (Finney 2000). Therefore, the organisation should take proactive actions and revise its pay scale. It should at least try to match its salary packages as per the existing market scenario (Wilson 2006). The organisation is also facing the issue of decline in membership and ageing of its existing members, whiles the demand for its services are increasing by the day. Further, the organisation is not able to connect with the youth of today, which is also contributing towards losing its appeal with the younger generation (Harris 2005). The organisation needs to engage in promotional activities and promote itself with the younger generation to increase its member base. It needs to change its image and position itself as a more youth-oriented organisation. The organisation is working a lot for removing alcohol addiction. It should promote its good work in this field and involve the youth from universities as well as it would be an instant connect with the cause for the younger generation (Baron 1999). The Salvation Army also works along with local religious congregation to provide service requirements. It also works with different religious sects as well in different regions of the world. However, due to its strong Christian missionary character, it often faces issues related to working under a unified vision with these religious organisations (Borg 2003). Therefore, the organisation should establish a vision statement wherein they should emphasise on integrating other religious organisations’ goals with the Salvation Army’s objectives. In order to receive greater prominence, the organisation needs to work in a collaborative environment with other religious organisations (Hodge 2007; Smidt 2003). External stakeholder issues and solutions The organisation accepts money from various sources except from alcohol and gambling industry. It believes that "money can be cleansed by being put to good use" (Murdock 2008). Thus, the donors for the Salvation Army are from varied fields, who might not have earned the money through honest means. Thus, the organisation is at risk of losing its reputation (Hulme & Edwards 1997). Recently, the organisation had to face problems due to the acceptance of a large donation by the wife of McDonald's founder, Joan Kroc. The donation was deemed as the largest single charity donation in the world and had several restrictions upon its usage (Murdock 2008). The organisation should re-haul its donation policies and trace the source of the money being donated, especially bigger amounts. It is not enough to just refuse money from alcohol and gambling industry, but it should also look at other illegal means as well (Stillman 2007). The Salvation Army mostly has presence in countries where it is recognised by the law. It is unlike other charitable organisations that prefer to work in countries which are in trouble and have anarchical governments. This means the major stakeholders in a country of the Salvation Army are the government and the regulatory body. As the governments are well established, the Salvation Army seldom faces any issues in this regard. However, due to its cocooned attitude to remain in a comfort zone, the organisation is losing its reputation to other established organisations which are more forthcoming to work in disturbed regions (Miller et al 2009). In order to compete with other established organisations, the Salvation Army needs to work in other regions of the world as well, especially the disturbed areas. It should collaborate with anarchical governments and other agencies to spread its influence in these regions. Organising Salvation Army in terms of governance and strategic vision As the Salvation Army has a wider global reach it has been provided with a diverse culture and activities throughout the world. Thus, the organisation also has very distinct governance and vision, which is adjusted as per the local requirements. The organisation is also different in character from other commercial organisations as it is not in the business of making money by selling products. Thus, the complex situation under which the organisation operates does create various issues regarding strategic collaboration and governance (Booth 2004). The organisation has a single strategic vision that is being created in its international headquarter in London, which although might be relevant for the UK and some western countries, may not be suitable for other nations which has distinct cultural characteristic. Further, in the fast changing contemporary world, it is also important for an organisation to review its governance policies and adjust its strategic visions as well (Haggard 2007). Unlike other not-for-profit organisations, the Salvation Army is only present in countries that have an established government set-up so that the organisation is legally identified. This has made the organisation archaic in its thinking. It needs to re-orient its vision and expand to other countries as well which does not have established governments or are disturbed regions. Further, due to the strong Christian character of the organisation, it faces many issues to establish itself in religiously dominant countries such as Iraq, Pakistan or even India. There is a constant tiff that the organisation may face with other religious organsiations on several issues (Booth 2008). The organisation is also facing the problem of declining membership rate and failing to attract the younger generation. It therefore, needs to review its existing vision and try to include more of the younger generation in its strategy, planning and implementation of various programs to provide a fresh appeal to the organisation (Cairns 2006). It is also found that the actual governance of the Salvation Army is unlike most military organisations and has a decentralised character. Although, the organisation is governed by the international headquarters at London, the local branches are given equal amount of autonomy to act as per the given situation. These local territories are also asked to deal with the local government agencies in case of any issues. Although, it is good that the local branches are given autonomy, it is also essential that the organisation should have a centralised strategy and governance policy wherein the international headquarter should help these local territories with various strategy solutions in case of issues with government agencies or regulatory bodies (Daft 2009). Thus, the changed strategy of the organisation should focus more towards including the younger generation in its vision and expand in developing nations and other disturbed regions of the world, like its other not-for-profit organisations. In terms of governance, it should also focus on providing centralised strategic output to its local branches to deal with various serious issues such as dealing with the regulatory authorities and government agencies in the country of its operation, to avoid any litigation or other such complications. Strategic choices pertinent to the strategic positioning of the Salvation Army The Salvation Army is unlike the military force and does not have a centralised high command to create strategy and activities for local centres. Although, it has an international headquarter in London, its individual territories are independent entities that can take their own decisions. Therefore, the local territories are also governed by local legal regulations prevalent in the country of its operation. However, there is a central structure that the organisation follows (Danto 2009). The High Council is assigned with the task to take care of the territories and hold regular meetings to access the work of the different territories. The Council also provides advises on various strategy and policy decisions. There is also an International Management Council that looks after the operations of the London headquarters and access the progress in its monthly meetings (Winston 2000). The organisation also has separate social service and religious functions. The social services division is generally run by professionals. Although, the organisation had tried to integrate both these functions in the past, it had been resisted by the professionals (Booth 2008). The organisation also requires the local branches to solve its issues with the governmental bodies in the country of their operations. This has resulted in varied reactions from different countries. While the organisation has received praise for its work in the UK and the US, it was criticised in Russia. Further, the organisation is essentially a Christian organisation and with such strong religious element, it becomes a challenge for the organisation to expand in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq (Murdock 2008). The Salvation Army should look at creating centralised strategy division wherein the local divisions can ask for strategic inputs from the organisation’s headquarter to deal with critical situation. This would help in dividing the responsibility between the local centres and the international headquarter. Currently the entire responsibility for a decision is being borne solely by the local branch. Such a strategy would also create greater accountability for the international headquarter in the working of the local branch as well as provide professional advice to the local branches (Danto 2009). The strategic visions of the organisation is to work for helping the needy, to work as per the gospels, to create a work environment of trust and sincerity and understanding people’s needs. However, the organisation has not changed its orientation as per the changing circumstances in the contemporary society. In today's world, the society has become much more fragmented and requires customised services rather than a generic one. There is not just the need for food and shelter that the people are facing these days they are also looking for psychological support and security for their families. However, the central character of the Salvation Army still remains the same as it provides generic solution for various service needs (Wolf-Branigin 2009). Further, the organisation has not yet focused its attention towards the needs of the developing nations. It has very limited presence in these countries and is not able to create any major impressions as well. In case the organisation wants to expand its presence in the global map in a major way, it has to focus its attention towards these countries as well (Edwards 2009). The strategic position of the Salvation Army should be to re-orient its vision towards providing offerings beyond the traditional services. The organisation should create a strong base among the younger generation by allowing them to work with the organisation in various youth related projects, such as fighting alcohol issues. Further, the organisation should identify the needs of the modern society, which has gone beyond alcohol addiction. Instead, it is facing greater addictions in drug abuse, which is plaguing the major young population. The organisation therefore needs to re-orient its focus towards providing help for drug addicts along with alcohol addicts. Sustaining its growth and success in the future The Salvation Army has become a successful organisation over the years and has been able to sustain itself for the last 150 years. It has constantly evolved and adapted as per the changing environment but at the same time held on its core beliefs as well. In fact, the founder of the organisation Peter Drucker had once suggested that the organisation should never lose its soul and should always maintain a balance between being considered a social organisation and a religious one (Murdock 2008). However, due to the ever changing environment of today's world and the fragmented nature of the contemporary society, it is becoming difficult to hold on to these core values of the organisation. It is believed that the organisation need to change its belief systems as it has become out-dated if it wants to create more resources to serve the needs of the people. Further, the organisation should create strategies to combat with its declining membership numbers and think of replacing its ageing members with the younger generation. However, this is a great challenge for the organisation as the younger generation is not able to relate with the ideologies of the Salvation Army. Therefore, the organisation needs to focus on creating a wider base with the younger generation by attracting them through various campus programs and even using technologies such as Internet and various social networking sites to connect with the younger crowd (Kizza 2010). The traditional outlook of the organisation needs to change drastically to attract the younger generation into its fold (Cairns 2006). The Salvation Army like other not-for-profit organisations should also focus on expanding to various developing countries as well. The organisation has either limited or no presence in developing nations such as India and China. The strong Catholic character of the organisation may also be a reason which is hindering it to expand to these regions. In India for instance, religion has a strong dominance and people are very sensitive about religious beliefs. Thus, for Salvation Army to expand in such a country it should be very careful with its ideologies and expansion plans. It should create its vision for the country in such a manner that the expansion plans should not hurt any religious sentiments. Similar policies of expansion should be adopted in countries with strong religious character such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan (Edwards 2009). Along with expanding to developing nations, the organisation should also plan to establish its presence in disturbed regions of the world as well. The organisation so far only operates in countries that offer them regulatory and legal support and which have established governments. However, other not-for-profit organisations have created its presence in various disturbed regions of the world and working for the social developments of such regions. This has also not only increased their presence globally but also made them hugely respectable and reputed organisations, which further assured bigger donations. Thus, in order to grow in such a competitive environment, it is essential for the organisation to establish its presence in such disturbed regions as well (Clark 1991). However, along with changing its characteristic and strategic vision, it should not forsake its core value and belief i.e. serving the people. The main aim of the organisation is to provide unconditional support to people that has helped the organisation to sustain for so long. Therefore, the Salvation Army should never abandon these core values. Further, it should continue to maintain a balance between being a social service organisation and a religious organisation. It should not attempt to integrate both these separate entities as it would create greater issues for the organisation to cope up with. Conclusion The Salvation Army has been able to sustain its leadership position for the past 150 years and have relentlessly served the people globally. However, with the change in the society, the organisation also needs to make some major modifications in its strategic visions and governance policies. The first and foremost challenge that the organisation faces is the declining number of members and ageing officials. The organisation should create strategies to attract younger people in its projects so that it is able to expand its member base in the future. Further, the organisation has to create a strong central base for itself, which can guide the fragmented local branches in case of crisis situations. This central base should also link these local branches with each other so that best practices could be shared between them. The organisation also needs to expand to various other regions of the world, especially in the developing countries and disturbed areas like other such not-for-profit organisations. Further, it needs to expand its services offering by identifying and including contemporary problems as well. The society is no longer just facing the issue of alcohol addiction it is also fighting the problem of drug abuse, especially among the younger generation. Thus, the organisation should be able to identify these contemporary problems and incorporate services addressing these issues as well. The Salvation Army has a strong reputation of being a leading social service organisation that helped many victims of disasters, terrorism and other such unforeseen events as well as social problems. For the Salvation Army to maintain this image, the organisation should re-focus its strategic and governance policies. Reference: Baron, S. 1999, “Street youth and substance abuse: The role of background, street lifestyle, and economic factors”, Youth and Society, Vol. 31, No. 1, 3‑32. Booth, C. M. 2004, “The Salvation Army in Relation to the Church and State and Other Addresses”, Kessinger Publishing. Booth, W. 2006, "Generalisations," The Officer, 50. Booth, W. 2008, “Social Service in the Salvation Army”, BiblioBazaar, LLC. Borg, M. J. 2003, “The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith”, 1st ed, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. 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