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Agency Analysis: A Case of the Emergency Department of Australian Red Cross Organization

Introduction

This agency analysis focuses on Australian Red Cross (ARC), specifically the Emergency Services Department (ESD), where I undertook my placement practice. ARC, according to Scott (2010), was formed at the outbreak of the Second World War (WWII) in 1914, during which time volunteers were mobilized to offer support to satisfy the needs of those who were affected in the war. Traditionally an affiliate of the British Red Cross (BRC), it was not till the year 1941 when ARC was integrated by the Royal Charter. The organization’s services are concentrated upon seven priorities that were established in 2015: (1) reinforcing national emergency preparedness, recovery, and response, (2) increasing global aid as well as development, (primarily the Pacific and Asia), (3) advocating for international humanitarian law (IHL), (4) addressing the effect of migration, (5) working with Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people, (6) overcoming challenges of social exclusion by offering bridges back into the society and community, and (7) working with communities, families, and youth in areas of localization disadvantage. The ARC equally operates blood service as distinct division.

Background of the Organization

ARC is an Australian leading humanitarian aid as well as a community services charity and auxiliary to the Australian government (Berry, 2015). As a branch of the BRC, ARC was established by Lady Helen Munro Ferguson in the year 1914, just nine days after the WWII started O’Brien, 2016). Started as the British Red Cross Australian Branch, ARC changed to the Australian Red Cross Society before it was incorporated in 1941 by the royal charter. The organization thereafter grew rapidly and by November 1914, there were already 88 suburban or city branches created in New South Wales and 249 country outlets had equally been set up (Guthrie et al., 2009). The organization provided assistance to the wounded, maimed, and the sick along with their dependents. Presently, the organization is working with the intention and goal of making and empowering vulnerable people more resilient and safe by way of delivering services and promotion of humanitarian values and laws. One million volunteers, staff, members, supporters, and blood donors form the ARC family.

Mission and Vision of the Organization

Vision: “To improve the lives of vulnerable people in Australia and internationally by mobilizing the power of humanity” (Coleborne, 2017, 461).

Mission: ‘To be a leading humanitarian organization in Australia, improving the lives of vulnerable people through programs delivered and promotion of humanitarian laws and values” (Coleborne, 2017, 461).

ARC’s Organizational Culture and Structure

ARC’s Structure

ARC has an annual turnover of above 850 million Australian dollars according to 2016-2017 fiscal year statistics. With such a turnover, the organization is currently the largest non-profit making in Australia, having more than 690 branches, more than 19,500 members, 38,000 volunteers, and more than 3,000 staff (Berry, 2012). ARC’s organizational structure comprises of a national office along with eight territory and state offices. Coleborne (2017) notes that His Excellency General, the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove MC, AK, Governor-General of Australia, serves as the organization’s Patron as well as a non-voting National Council (NC) member.  The NC denotes the peak governance of the ARC’s decision-making organ and it comprises of 53 members who are entitled to voting including the National Board and the board’s President. The NC delegates management as well as operational decisions along with other duties to the organization’s CEO and the National Board. Moreover, the blood service division also has its management and structure and board that reports to the ARC Board. The blood service is entirely financed by the Australian government and forms a central part of the Australian healthcare system. One challenge that has been noted with this structure is that it creates inefficiency and duplication.

Organizational Culture

As aforementioned, in all undertakings, ARC’s members, volunteers, and staff take into consideration seven fundamental principles. First, they consider the principle of humanity. ARC endeavors both in its national and international capacity to alleviate and prevent human suffering anywhere it can be found (Jones & May, 1992). As such, ARC is committed to protecting health and life as well as ensuring respect for the right of humanity and human beings. As such, it functions to promote mutual friendship, understanding, co-operation, and peace among all its people. The second principle is impartiality. By this principle, ARC makes no discrimination regarding race, nationality, political or class opinions, or religious beliefs. For this reason, ARC functions to relieve people’s sufferings since it is solely guided by the people’s needs and gives priority only to the most important and urgent cases of suffering.

Thirdly is the neutrality principle. As a way of continuing to enjoy confidence of all its stakeholders, ARC does not take any side in hostilities or involve itself at any single time in controversies of racial, ideological, religious, and political nature.  Similarly, ARC is independent. The organization always uphold a high autonomy level so that they may be unable to act according to principles that contravene or jeopardize their operations and service to its stakeholders. ARC, as part of its culture, offers voluntary services; it is not promoted to offer services out of the desire to gain something from its undertakings.

ARC’s Primary Beneficiaries and Clients

ARC is focused on building a better society that is based upon people helping other people. ARC’s ESD’s beneficiaries and clients are people involved in a disaster, suffering during wars, and people affected as a result of failure to observe IHL. Additionally, the wounded, maimed, sick, ex-service individuals are beneficiaries of ARC’s ESD. The vulnerable people and the less empowered people in the society are also beneficiaries to the larger organization. 

The Main Services ARC’s ESD Offers to its Clients/Beneficiaries

 ARC is focused on saving lives and supporting people before, during, and after disasters strike. The organization works to alleviate suffering during conflicts and wars and promotes laws regarding wars, in addition to working to assist the most vulnerable people regardless of their conditions and circumstances. To attain these, the organization provides a number of programmes and services. These include international aid within and across the Asia-Pacific area, migration support, IHL advocacy, and community services for Torres Islander and Aboriginal peoples, families, youths, the elderly, families, and people with disabilities. However, in the organization’s ESD, two main services are offered: blood donation and emergency services management. People get injuries and are exposed to dangers through different ways: flood-associated, earthquake-associated, and hazardous material-caused injuries, mold exposures, human remains, and flood-associated skin infections. To these, intensive health care services, like surgeries, blood transfusion, intensive care unit services, are offered to causalities and victims of disasters.

Ways ARC Provides Its Services

ARC is committed and dedicated to working towards the vision of peace, human dignity, wellbeing, and safety for all people. To realize this vision, the organization’s ESD employs a number of strategies to provide its services. First, the department provides a secure, cost effective, and safe supply of blood as well as related products. Patients, the wounded, the sick, the injured, and victims of different circumstances and conditions are offered cost effective, secure, and safe blood supply so that their health can be restored. Secondly, the ARC’s ESD functions to ensure that the organization builds an inclusive, active, and diverse humanitarian that is based upon voluntary services. The organization’s supporters include social media utilizers, volunteers, members, staff, and blood donors. The ESD uses digital apparatuses to check on people who are isolated or volunteers at a disaster evacuation centre or give first aid provision and humanitarian education (Guthrie et al., 2009). The department also leverages the resources as well as expertise of ARC’s members at large with regard to offering first aid and emergency services both within and without the organization’s precinct. Coleborne (2017) adds that the ESD also ensures that the organization’s resources and tools, brand, expertise, and connections to organize themselves so that they can take action and advocate to assist communities and people.

The third main strategy employed by ARC’s ESD is saving lives, building resilient communities, as well as supporting people during disasters. The department ensures that people are better equipped and prepared for disasters. When prepared for disasters like storms, drought, bushfires, and cyclones among other disasters, people can assist in saving lives and limit the effect of what occurs. Through this strategy, the ESD and ARC as a whole functions to minimize the economic and social impact of disasters within the Asia-Pacific area and this they do by building their internal capability, aiding them with skills, expertise, and tools that people need to alleviate disasters. 

Impacts of DCC’s Organizational Structure and Culture on its Service Delivery

While organizational structure refers to a structure or system in which the responsibilities, strategic vision, roles of an organization are laid out, arranged, and coordinated in a way that the objectives and goals of the organization are realized (Martins & Terblanche, 2003), organizational culture connotes the underlying beliefs, values, assumptions, along with ways in which people interact to contribute to the social and psychological atmosphere of an organization (Janicijevic, 2013). ARC’s organizational structure serves to facilitate the employment and incorporation of the organization’s business strategies and management, and responds to the expectations, needs, demands, and wants of the organization’s society/stakeholders (Glisson & James, 2002). Both organizational structure and culture function to influence services offered in ARC. The organization’s culture mentioned above establishes the conducts, norms, beliefs, and principles upon which the ARC’s ESD offers its services and also spells out conducts, behaviours, and initiatives that are ignored, approved, or permitted within ARC (Burhans et al., 2012). ARC’s culture also establishes behaviours that are either punished or rewarded, signifying that the ESD’s staff ensure that while they deal with the organization’s clients, they only exhibit behaviours that are rewarded and permissible. Absorbed by the department’s staff, the organization’s culture influences the workers’ attitudes and actions. However, the culture has been shown to somewhat negatively affect communication, teamwork, collaboration, and cooperation within the organization because some staff members feel very restricted/limited by the organization’s culture.

Similarly, ARC’s organizational culture adds more cultural element and weight to the quantity and quality of healthcare and any other service offered by the ESD. According to Abiew (2012), building an association is considered as a crucial strategy towards the development of a holistic understanding of all discipline’s viewpoint during care and service provision at an organization. As such, ARC’s culture fosters open/transparent communication along with mutual respect for each and every profession represented in ARC since such are integral components of provision of a shared goal within an organization.

How ARC’s ESD Fits Into Humanitarian Service Delivery

According to Kopinak (2013), a humanitarian aid implies a commitment and dedication to support people who are vulnerable or people who have experienced some unanticipated as well as abrupt crisis or emergency, thus requiring an ongoing help and aid to better or sustain their lives’ quality. From the above analysis, the ESD and the organization at large fits into the broader system/field of humanitarian aid in several ways. The department provides necessary knowledge and skills and first aid training to its members and stakeholders as a way of empowering and supporting communities and people during times of vulnerability (O’Brien, 2016). They also purpose to minimize suffering both within and without Australia by way of mobilizing the humanity power. The department focuses on saving lives and supporting people before, during, and after a disaster strikes (Scott, 2010). They also alleviate suffering during and after conflicts and wars besides promoting laws of war.

Alongside policymakers, politicians, the public, and other organizations, the ESD works to better the condition of most vulnerable individuals in and out of Australia. The department and ARC at large advocate based upon direct evidence and experience, and empower individuals to voice their desires, expectations, and needs and take action to better their living conditions and lives (humanitarian aid as well as a community services charity and auxiliary to the Australian government (Berry, 2015). The organization and the department are both bound by the seven aforementioned fundamental principles of impartiality, neutrality, humanity, voluntary service, independence, universality, and unity. The department does not also make any public declarations or statements that may jeopardize ARC’s principles, values, or the ability of ARC and its movement partners to continue alleviating suffering wherever it may be recognized (Berry, 2012). The department is equally committed to reconciliation as well as building of an Australia wherein humanity can flourish. With these services, programmes, and strategies aimed at bettering the condition and lives of vulnerable, victims of disasters, wars and conflicts, ARC’s ESD fits into the broader humanitarian aid.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ESD of the ARC substantially role plays in ensuring that the lives of vulnerable people within Australia and across the world are bettered by mobilizing the humanity power. This is done since ARC intends to be the number one humanitarian organization within Australia, bettering the lives of people and promoting humanitarian values and laws. To do this, the study has shown that there are several services that are provided to the organization’s beneficiaries and clients through various strategies. The analysis has also shown that the organization’s culture and structure significantly influence the quality of services offered by the ARC’s ESD since it is associated with employees’ attitudes, values, and commitments.

Recommendation

ARC and ARC’s ESD need to ensure that the diversity seen among its employees is used to the benefit of the organization at large. The organization can achieve this by educating its employees and stakeholders on the benefits of one another and their diverse professions, culture, beliefs, as well as values. The organization should also reorganize its hierarchical organizational structure by making it more flexible, less bureaucratic, and that which allows effective and efficient communication flow.