Red Cross SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis was invented in order to help companies in defining their strategies in the backdrop of the dynamic and increasingly competitive business environment. Its name was derived from the fact that it is used to examine the strengths as well as weaknesses of a given firm.It are also used to examine the opportunities as well as strengths of an organizations external environment. Meyer (2003) indicated that SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats with the company's environment. Its role is to bring about strategic perspectives through the distillation of fragmented facts as well as figures for the sake of strategic planning as pointed out by Mintzber (1994).It has also noted that a consideration of the SWOT analysis results against the Porter's generic strategies then allows us to effectively come up with strategies for improving the performance of the organization.
Strengths
Strong brand equity
Long history
Strong mission, vision as well as guiding philosophy
A robust presence in the social media
The largest blood supplier in the United States
High level of Accountability and Trust
Weaknesses
Poor labor relations
Negative publicity due to its use of funds
Lack of online presence
Lack of innovation
Limited Funds
Opportunities
Strategic alliances
Most competing organizations don't provide blood donations
Innovation
Online Presence
Expansion of products and services
Threats
Competition
Government policies and taxation issues
Strengths:
Strong brand equity
The American Red Cross has a very strong brand equity. The fact that it is the name that comes to mind in case of a disaster or any other situation that demands humanitarian assistance means that it enjoys the strongest brand equity among the non-profit organizations. Since 1881, the institution has won trust as well as awareness as America's premier emergency response corporation by branding itself with a suitable slogan which reads "Together, we can save a life" (Chiaravalle & Schenck,2006,p.41). The advantages associated with this are an increase in the level of public and private donations towards the organization as well as better collaboration from various individuals and groups in regard to volunteering and other activities.
Long history
The American Red Cross has a long history of helping individuals and families in times of war and natural disaster. The long history has seen it establish itself as one of the longest serving nonprofit organizations in our modern history. This has given it the opportunity to better serve people while winning public and corporate support in most of its ventures.
Strong mission, vision as well as guiding philosophy
The American Red Cross has a strong mission, vision as well as guiding philosophy. These have seen it prosper in its activities from its time of inception. The organizations with very strong mission coupled with a strong sense of purpose that exceeds the pragmatic objectives of operating a business. The clear mission helps the Red Cross employees to work together in order to achieve the organization's goals. For the American Red Cross, the organizational structure interweaves with a heavy reliance on a network of volunteers with a special infrastructure of professionals that underlies the need to effectively connect via innovative ways. The American Red Cross is primarily driven by the efforts of volunteers all along the way. The organization's mission provides them with a sense of purpose and connectedness which allows them to work smoothly (The Forum,2011).
A robust and loyal nationwide employee and volunteer database
The ability to have a robust volunteer base as well as the ability to mobilize them quickly in order to help people and communities in coping with and recovering from their losses is critical in the operations of the American Red Cross (Sullivan,2010). The American Red Cross has made efforts to form strategic partnerships with other organizations to help it in mobilizing its volunteers whenever disaster strikes.
A robust presence in the social media
The American Red Cross has an excellent social media strategy that has allowed it to enjoy an unparalleled amount of public exposure. The Red Cross' social media strategy is aimed at the creation of awareness in regard to its operations. The transparency is important since it allows the organization to get sponsors and volunteers in equal magnitude. This is beneficial since the time and money spent in looking for more volunteers and sponsors is shortened (Lupfer,2009).
The largest blood supplier in the United States
The American Red Cross (American Red Cross,2010) plays a very critical role in the American National health care system. The fact that it is the largest single national supplier of blood as well as other blood products makes it one of the organizations that plays a pivotal role in the safety of every American. The organization collects as well as processes...
The organization also plays a pivotal role in the protection of the safety of donors as well as patients amid a decreasing availability of blood. The organization has also been named among the very first organizations to develop as well as implement the testing of infectious diseases.
High level of Accountability and Trust
Ciconte and Jacob (2008,p.5) stressed the need for accountability and trust in the nonprofit sector. They indicated that accountability in this sector means that the organizations must be open and be very ready to answer any questions to the individuals and organizations that have invested their faith, trust as well as money in the organization. The American Red Cross is accountable to several stakeholders that include donors as well as funders at the state, local as well as federal agencies. All Red Cross employees are required to have a certain shared degree of individual responsibility necessary for ensuring that the organization continues to be answerable to all of its constituents while being true to its mission. Ciconte and Jacob (2008,p.5) noted that nonprofit organizations that are accountable enjoy several advantages such as being able to raise more funds through the building of stronger public confidence as well as by making of more effective processes. A 2006 report on confidence in charitable organizations by Wagner (2006) indicated that the most powerful predictors of the level of confidence was trust and confidence for the American Red Cross society. The level of public confidence in the organization was heavily influenced by the way in helped the families of the victims of the September 11th terrorist attack victims.
Weaknesses
The American Red Cross suffers from several weaknesses that heavily influence its operations and the general public perception. These weaknesses include;
Poor labor relations
The American Red Cross has for the last few years been faced with a barrage of allegations on the way that it treats its workers. The examples of situations that indicates the poor relations that the company suffers from are;The laying off of several staff members as a consequence of a $200 million budgetary deficit (Schwinn,2008;Dine,2009)
Negative publicity due to its use of funds
The American Red Cross has been faced with a series of allegations that its uses the funds that it has poorly. The mismanagement of funds after the September 11th cast the organization's image in bad light (Briggs,2002).
Lack of online presence
The American Red Cross lacks proper online presence. This means that people can not easily join the course or even donate to their various causes.
Lack of innovation
The American Red Cross lacks any form of innovation. This is because they don't have an office tasked with product and service innovation.
Lack of adequate Brand Protection
The lack of an elaborate brand protection has seen the company lose funds to fraudsters who uses its name and logo to fraudulently collect funds from people
Limited funds
The company has limited funds and is often faced with serious budgetary deficits.
Opportunities
Strategic alliances
The company can form strategic alliances with organizations that don't have any political or religious affiliations to enable it expand its services to the people of America and beyond
Most competing organizations don't provide blood donations
The company can bank on the fact that most of the competing non-profit organizations don't provide blood donations and use it to launch serious campaigns
Innovation
The company can include an innovation department among its ranks to ensure that it gains a competitive advantage in the nonprofit sector.
Online Presence
The company can improve its online presence in order to ensure that its presence it improved. It can also use the online presence to collect more donations and recruit more volunteers.
Expansion of products and services
The nonprofit can expand its products and services to include other innovative product ranges such as the prediction of drugs and other medical supplies to enable it cut cost of drugs. It can expand its services to food production so that it can produce its own food for its own causes.
Threats
Competition
The organization faces serious competition from other nonprofit organizations. This means that it faces serious reductions to its funding and volunteer based.
Government policies and taxation issues
Certain government policies interfere with the operations of the organization. An example being the taxation on some of its assets.
Strategic moves to improve its operations
The organization can take advantage of its robust presence in social media in gaining access large number of sponsors and volunteers.
The company can innovate by creating products and services that complement and reinforce most of its products and services. It can create better…
