Organ Donation and Transplant Foundation of WA Organization - Case Study Example

Organ Donation and Transplant Foundation of WA Organization Background The organ donation and transplant foundation (ODAT) of WA is a non-profit, independent organization founded in September 2008 by Simone McMahon after becoming a transplant recipient in 1993. It is provides community services that saves lives, improves quality of life and has a cost benefit for society through organ and tissue donations. Each year there are only approximately 200 organ donors across Australia. This figure puts Australia as the lowest organ donor in the developed countries. Statistics shows that around 1600 people are on Australian transplant waiting list. Those people in the list can for about 6 months to 4 years to get a donor. This increases the waiting list deaths in the country. The foundation aims at creating community awareness on importance of organ and tissue donation1. The Internal and External Environment of the Organization Internal Environment; TOWS Analysis Strengths and Opportunities; Progress in medical science and technology has contributed to the growth of organ and tissue transplant. ODAT like any other organization needs to conduct TOWS, which the process of analyzing the threats and opportunities in an organization before looking at the weaknesses and strengths. Weaknesses and Threats; As a non-profit organization ODAT major threat is funding. The foundation relies on government grant, donations from private businesses and institution and even WA community. Lack of funds could lead to closure or the organization to run down. Lack of incentives for doctors to embrace the electronic system or even to motivate them. This may open doors for another threat and is black market where they sell the organs to the customers. One other challenge is fighting misconceptions with the truth, scaring away the donors. Australian government has spared health sector from broad funding cuts to provide a budget for tough economic times and to fund a budget surplus. This is a great opportunity for the organization to expand at a lower cost. 90% of the Australian population support organ/tissue donation and this provides an opportunity for expansion. This opportunity helps one to overcome the threats. The organization staff at the lower level are those who volunteer and incase there are no volunteers this weakness creates a gap. ODAT was founded by Simone after getting a transplant. The founder is passionate and a young leader with vibrant skills. Aligning the organization strengths and weaknesses to the threats and opportunities leads to expansion. Creating well labeled management by introducing new skills could increase donor funding because donors have confidence. The company is build through a strong network by the support group ranging from individual business organizations to individual groups. Through work placement environment it provides a mutual benefit between ODAT and the people involved2. The employers will gain from good reputation; the employees will be satisfied to help the society and ODAT to gain funding. The government being one of the share holders through its grants is able to boost the organization and these leads to reduction in the deaths and health problems in the country. The foundation faces stiff competition from well established organizations which are well funded. Some of these organizations have been in the field for such a long time and have gain public trust hence more funding. Such competitors include organizations such as transplant Australia which are funded by the government and expanded to most of the states. Others include Australian medical association; donate life and Australian organ and tissue authority. Strengths 1. Community Development; The organization augments community understanding of organ/tissue donation through promotional events/programs and networking. 2. Collaboration; The organization collaborates with NGOs, consumers and stakeholders 3. Extensive Research; The organization conducts immense research relating to organ/tissue donation 4. online presence and Identifiable Name; The organization has an identifiable name with a website that promotes online presence 5. administration; The administrative structure is well defined Weaknesses 1. No traceable record that reports trends and incidents of living donors in relation to life after donation 2. No performance improvement programs for staff and donors; 3. No key initiatives to bridge the demand-supply gap; 4. The organization has not created a culture where organ donation is a priority in the society; 5. no donor protection provisions in regard to protecting the donors intention where his/her family has not consented Opportunities 1. Demand for more donors 2. Technology development internationally Strength and Opportunity 1. Use community development to develop a culture where organ donation is a priority in society to meet the demand for more donors. 2. Use the collaboration strength to enhance performance improvement 3. Use its online presence to perform extensive research in a bid to keep traceable records and reports as well as identify key initiatives to bridge the demand-supply gap and also identify ways of donor protection Weakness and Opportunity 1. Take advantage of the demand for more donors to create a culture where organ donation is a priority in society 2. Use advanced technology to enhance performance improvement, identify key initiatives to bridge the demand-supply gap and enhance donor protection. Threats 1. Donor shortage and increasing recipients 2. Difficulty in acquiring donor and family consent 3. Donation myths Strength and Threat 1. Use community development, collaboration, online presence and extensive research to solicit for more donors and acquit themselves with the needs of new recipients. 2. Use online tools to eradicate the donation myths that stop potential donors from donating Weakness and Threat 1. Keep traceable records and reports and trends and incidents of the donors life after donation and invent ways to improve their performance in a bid to encourage more donors to donate and meet the demand for more donations 2. Create a culture where donation is a top priority in society in a bid to eradicate the donation myths External Environment Macro environment is the environment in which the organization runs and it keeps on changing. The operating environment for all organizations is never static and seldom entirely predictable, and can therefore profoundly affect a company’s course of action (Baines 2011). PESTLE stands for political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and ecological environment. Managers need to consider all these factors before making any major decisions. Stakeholders (public) and Competitors In western Australia, coping with competition is a normal way of life and one needs to know his/her competitors, compare themselves with the competitors, identify the competitors strengths and weaknesses, identify their strategies and ultimately devise a way in which to gain a competitive advantage against the competitors. The organizations barriers to its dominion are many. The organizations current competitors have many programs and key initiatives deployed in different locations in Australia and other places. Presently, the main competitors are NSW Organ and Tissue Donation Service and Kidney Health Australia. There are other competitors such as HealthInsite and WA-Donate Life plus much other state based agencies though majority of them lag behind with very little market command. The organizations stakeholders include the shareholders, the employees, the customers the trade associations, the suppliers as well as the community at large. More so, the organizations decisions are mostly influenced by the needs of the community, the media and the government with all of them having different priorities and agendas for the entire community that they serve. Every stakeholder holds a relationship with the organization and this relationship is the one that affects decisions made by the organization. Below is a chart portraying the organizations stakeholders? The Stakeholders Macro-environment; P.E.S.T.E.L Analysis In determining the macro-environment of an organization, various factors must be considered such as economic, political, technological, legal, environmental and socio-cultural factors as analyzed below. Political; Faith in the organization and the entire medical system is crucial to the success of tissue and organ donation. A sturdy political will to see the improvement of transplant outcomes definitely increase organ donation rates. There are various controversial issues related to the allocation of organs from the donor to the recipient. For example, there is a widely circulated myth by some people that livers should not be transplanted to alcoholics in danger of deterioration while other people believe that alcoholism is a medicinal problem just like diabetes. Economic; A country’s economic standing greatly affects an organizations strategic formulation. The organization majorly depends on government grants (state and federal), nongovernmental grants, fundraising and donations. The organization needs to come up with other workable funding strategies in a bid to increasing its reaching out to more donors. Socio-Cultural; Socio-cultural changes also trigger business strategies. The advent of globalization has brought in its wake a lot of changes in the community. One of these is that it has enabled the blending and mixing of different people from different cultures and backgrounds. Convincing people to engage in organ donation in such an environment can be very hectic unless effort is put to ensure that each person is accommodated and understood. This is because man is generally a cultural being and any information, actions and experience is interpreted according to one’s culture. Technological; Technology comes in handy when the organization needs to accurately identify diagnosis or the reasons for seeking healthcare and to identify the procedures performed to test or correct the illnesses that require attention. It is very important in the medical field because it allows one to easily access health records for use in clinical care, research and education. Thus, in order to stay afloat and increase donation rates, the organization needs to ensure that its technology is up to date and reliable. Environmental; Changes in climatic conditions are happening at a rate so high as compared to the rate of evolution and reproduction and even though some people adapt to this changing environment, the fact that some donors and recipients do not survive through these environmental changes after the transplantation process just digs loopholes in the entire organ/tissue donation process. The organization should put more effort in performance improvement so as to boost the donors trust. Legal; Organizations are often confronted by state, local and federal regulations and laws. Western Australia has proposed laws that compel every adult to indicate his/her willingness to become donors when applying for driving license renewal in a bid to increasing the number of persons on the donor list. Though this a commendable moves, the organization should lobby for more donor favorable laws in a bid to keep increasing their numbers in the register. The Organizations Vision, Mission, Goals and Strategies Vision; ODAT is a charitable organization whose vision is to serve the community as a leader in the advancement of the organ tissue donation and transplantation, for the benefits of the society. Being a leader in that they are able to help the communities, educate and be the voice of the patients in terms of representation. The patients will be able to reach out to the government through these organizations. Mission; The organization believes in the mission and values set by the organization. This is to foster, promote and develop all aspects of organ and tissue donation and establish sustainable mechanisms of increasing community awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation to the communities. Families, patients and even the general public need to be educated and through this initiative it is able to improve the quality of life as people are well informed about all the necessary information. Patients at the hospitals won’t die because they lack the donor but organs and tissues are readily available. These foster healthy economical Australia with a well informed community. Goals; The organization endeavors to coordinate life enhancing and life saving transplants for persons in the waiting list while offering support to the generous donors who have made it their concern to give other people a second chance in life. Its major goal is to increase the number of donors in the donation register as well as sensitize the community about the importance of organ and tissue donation. Strategies; Most of the strategies put in place is to increase the public awareness to reduce the organ waiting list deaths as in Australia, each person has a 10 times greater chance of requiring an organ transplant than of becoming an organ donor. ODAT is looking forward to continue working with partner members such as donate life to ensure that excellent outcomes in donation for Western Australia continue to be achieved. The organization is also encouraging synergy spirit where staff contributes in form of shows and organizing other functional events to raise funds3. The organization has five major performance strategies and these are; 1. Community Engagement and Education; Increasing the society’s understanding of tissue and organ donation. 2. Collaboration; Maximizing stakeholder, NGO’s and consumer collaboration. While keeping up its current strategies, at the same time, it should adopt some of its competitor’s strategies so as to be able to attain a high ground above its competitors. 3. Advocacy and Support; Maximizing advocacy and support networks for persons involved in the tissue and organ transplantation and donation process. 4. Development of Hospitals; Education, recognition and consultation of health professionals. 5. Website Creation and Maintenance; Maximizing online presence, interaction and services in a bid to provide support, networking and education. Recommended Strategies Get modernized and up to date technology to boost its performance in the market. Increase the number of donor registration centers in most frequented places so as to broaden thus increase their market target. Secure fresh financing for the attainment of its new high ground vision statement. Aim at securing and maintaining a good bargain in transplant costs so as to give it leverage above its competitors. Come up with a strategy that can work around the issue of cost of labor and security costs. This strategy may encompass charging higher costs for the particular kind of services. While keeping up its current strategies, at the same time, it should adopt some of its competitor’s strategies so as to be able to attain a high ground above its competitors. Strategy Implementation First things should always be done first. This way, the organization will ensure that it does not leave out any step in the plan. The management of the corporation will honestly undertake its controls and evaluation by doing a frequent evaluation of its long term objectives and using its high ground mission as a benchmark. That is evaluating whether the organization has ensured maximum safety for its customers, whether the organization has improved its productivity and whether it has gained in its market share. Key Issues and Challenges Facing the organization; Clients Perspective ODAT like any organization have had its share of the challenges especially as an upcoming organization. Although 90% of the Australian thinks that organ donation is the best, only 4% of the total population has registered at the organ donation registration centre. Sarah Hill's husband, Jason, was diagnosed with total kidney failure at the age of 31. He has been living on the waiting list for the past six years. What Sarah describes is an agonizing, painful wait where the future is uncertain. This is one of the worst experiences of the Australian people as they have to wait for a longer period before finally getting a donor. The donor turnout is quite low and is predicted to go further down due to the aging population and increased incidences of diseases like obesity and diabetes. One other challenge which the organization is greatly strategizing to overcome is the publicity. Basically there no enough publicity about what people are suffering from. Most of the patients or those close to the patients get this information after going through this, when they only have few options left. ODAT mission is to establish a mechanism of creating community awareness and to conduct these programs requires funds. These clients also need to be informed about all benefits, challenges, how and when to donate including other necessary information. One big challenge the clients have been having is the issue of the informed consent. This is a situation where a person before he dies registers whether he wishes to donate his organs to the family members. This is currently what is considered in Western Australia where a group of parliamentarians from different political parties are seeking to introduce a bill to establish a system of presumed consents4. Families of the death relatives do not consent to the removal of the relatives’ organs. They believe that might go against their wish. They still hold to their values yet other family members are dying because they need these organs. ODAT foundation according to the organization structure depends on volunteers for their daily routine duties. The top level management is the only permanent staff of the organization; this is quite a big challenge because sometimes there are no volunteers to provide the necessary services. These people majorly conduct awareness campaigns to the public. One other issue concerning the staff members is the professional ethics. Some doctors and nurses are not able to discharge their duties well and in a professional manner. Patients are not given enough information about their conditions and the procedures to be undertaken. Some patients suffer long after such procedures are conducted while others die in the process. Like in the case of brain death, clients cannot believe that their relative is half life and half death. Even after the federal government supporting the patients and the donor agencies, funding has been a great challenge to the organization. Conducting operations is quite expensive and some clients cannot afford these major operations. Maintenance of these patients after the process is also challenging. The foundation on the other hand requires funding to support these patients and to create awareness. How the Consultancy would Work with The organization ODAT foundation will take the consultant psychologist type of consultancy. This is a process where the consultant asks questions then listen to w this is what the clients are saying. More of this is what the client doesn’t say. This helps to bring into a clear focus clients needs and wants. The main aim of this consultancy is to bring into clarity to the context of the problem rather rather than the problem itself. This approach could be more frustrating to the clients but later they will come to accept it. Organ donation and transplant is subject that needs to be understood well by the client’s parties5. Communities need to understand the problem itself and how it will affect their lives. The top management is the one providing a frame work for the volunteer ship. Public awareness aims at giving out information about the impact of organ and tissue donation, whether positive or negative. They don’t have any other choice but understand the situation. Nurse consultant type can also be applicable. This is a situation where the client knows the situation of the problem and also has an idea of the process required to fix it. These clients seek to be involved along the way and possibly learn from the process. Since this is a volunteer ship program clients who have about this or underwent through are in a better position of informing other and later benefit by learning more. Simone and other top management people in the organization also went through this hence have learned a lot. All of them have been benefited from the transplant and hence have managed the organization well and even inspire others to do the same thing. The Estimated Budget and Initial Ideas that we would Work on for the Organization The consultancy will divide itself into five management levels which are national (with one main office), regional (inclusive of autonomous communities), and local (with stakeholder, hospitals and NGO coordination teams). The overall budget dedicated for the consultancy for one year is $6,000,000. This figure is inclusive of salaries, training courses and the administrative budget. The team will be paid in accordance with activity performance. References Abbott, Lon. Weekend Rock: Arizona: Trad and Sport Routes from 5. 0 To 5. 10a. The Mountaineers Books, 2006. Henderson, Bonnie. Day Hiking: Oregon Coast. The Mountaineers Books, 2007. Mark A. Ratner, Daniel. Ratner. Nanotechnology[: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea. Prentice Hall Professional,, 2003. Tilden, J. H. Children: Their Health and Happiness (1928). Kessinger Publishing, 1997. Walter Jack Rejeski, Elizabeth A. Kenney. Fitness Motivation: Preventing Participant Dropout. Human Kinetics 1, 1998. Read More