Introduction
A non-profit organization is an organization that does not have profit-making as the primary goal of its activities and does not distribute the profit received among its participants. The goals of non-profit organizations are the implementation of charitable, social, cultural, and health programs to improve the well-being of various groups of the population (Binder-Aviles, 2012). In addition, such companies aim to protect the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and organizations, resolve disputes and conflicts, andprovide legal assistance, as well as for other purposes aimed at achieving public benefits.
Save the Children was created to help children worldwide by saving them from hunger, war, and natural disasters. However, some shortcomings in the organization’s organizational structure and the principles of its work should be corrected.
SWOT Analysis
Save the Children is one of the largest child rights organizations in the world today. The company believes that every child, no matter what country he is in or his financial situation, has the right to a decent standard of living. The main goal of the organization is to provide children with what they need at the moment. The company was founded over a hundred years ago and, during this period, has been able to expand its assistance to more than a hundred countries (Save the Children, 2022). However, this organization has strengths and weaknesses that can be seen through a SWOT analysis.
Table 1: SWOT Analysis.
Strengths
The company’s strengths include, first of all, the fact that it assists children in many countries around the world. Some developing countries cannot independently cope with noise and humanitarian problems and need support. Save the Children has the right amount of resources to handle the heavy workload, which is the company’s strength.
Another advantage of the organization’s management policy is cooperating with global corporations like Amazon, Google, Accenture, and many others. Interactions like these enable the company to respond more effectively to incidents and help people in any circumstance. Many of the company’s partners provide financial support, while others improve their capabilities by providing the necessary tools (Save the Children, 2022). Working together in this way, better results can be achieved than acting alone.
Weaknesses
The company’s weaknesses are manifested to a greater extent in the corporate culture and behavior of employees. The working environment in the company was not well organized, which resulted in a series of scandals. In 2012 and 2015, several employees complained about the harassment and inappropriate behavior of the then-CEO of the organization (The Charity Commission, 2020). This subsequently led to his resignation, but no apologies were made.
The second weakness is that the company thoroughly ignores the facts of the incident. Such behavior contributes to the deterioration of the attitude towards the organization and the decrease in the motivation of the employees of Save the Children. This can lead to fewer volunteers being willing to collaborate and large companies not wanting to do business with the organization.
Opportunities
Despite the indicated weaknesses, the company has potential and great opportunities. Among them are the expansion of powers and the consideration of new areas of activity. It is possible that some categories of people are not considered. For example, the organization is not engaged in fighting and helping children suffering from kidnapping and slavery. This category of children is quite vulnerable and requires special treatment since such children experience significant psychological problems as a result of post-traumatic syndrome (Ras, 2020). This is an excellent opportunity to try to start helping new categories of affected children. Another opportunity is to improve corporate ethical standards. The organization experienced significant problems in this area.
Threats
One of the threats that can affect the company is the emergence of new conflict situations. Scandals that may affect the organization are primarily related to the emergence of new corporate scandals. This happened in the past, and the organization ignored the scandal, as mentioned above. Accordingly, it is possible that if the organization’s corporate policy does not change, then the risk of such situations remains.
The second risk is possible corruption among employees or management. The company constantly receives significant money from regular partners and one-time sponsors. In this regard, funds may not always reach the place of their application and may instead be stolen.
Prevention of Negative Outcomes
Given the analysis of the Save the Children organization, several types of possible recommendations can be identified. These include advice on corporate change and improvements to the company’s assistance policy. Firstly, corporate culture is an essential aspect of an organization. Its absence can lead to undesirable consequences that happened to the organization in question in the past. Building strong ethical norms and connections will allow employees to understand each other’s needs better and work more efficiently, as there will be no incidents that could negatively affect their feelings (Caligiuri et al., 2019).
By strengthening this policy, two tasks can be solved simultaneously, internal integration and external adaptation (Caligiuri et al., 2019). In today’s rapidly changing environment, organizations are forced to adapt quickly to any changes in the external environment. The ability to change implies the presence of internal consolidation of efforts and mutual understanding of all employees.
Recommendations
A good practice for Save the Children will be the formation of a robust system of financial control. Features of financial relations in non-profit organizations require more effective supervision than in other areas of economic relations. Non-equivalent or irrevocable payments predominate here, making it easier to commit illegal acts compared to trading (Oliveira et al., 2021). In non-profit organizations, it is more challenging to evaluate the effectiveness of capital investments and current costs, create material incentives for employees, and attract founders and investors. It is also more challenging to control the safety of financial resources.
The implementation of a stable and reliable financial system will be necessary for the effective achievement of the company’s goals. Besides, it is crucial to establish proper control not only over ordinary employees but also over management to avoid harassment and incorrect behavior. In addition to this, the organization’s child support policy may also be subject to change to be expanded. This will be useful to improve the efficiency of the company and its reputation, which has recently suffered significantly. Implementing the new child support policies should be discussed in detail and consulted by all relevant agencies, such as the police and the Missing Children’s Department.
Conclusion
Considering the positive and negative aspects of the work of the non-profit organization Save the Children, it is essential to note that most of the identified shortcomings can be corrected. The recommendations given in this paper are based on the SWOT analysis. It helped to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company. This made it possible to reasonably argue that the organization should implement changes regarding corporate culture. This action will improve relations in the team and avoid unethical incidents. On the organizational side, the company should establish a sound financial system to ensure transparency of money spending. These recommendations can significantly enhance the assistance the organization provides today to children worldwide.
References
Binder-Aviles, H. (2012). The NGO handbook. Bureau of International Information Programs.
Caligiuri, P., Mencin, A., Jayne, B., & Traylor, A. (2019). Developing cross-cultural competencies through international corporate volunteerism. Journal of World Business, 54(1), 14-23. Web.
Oliveira, M., Sousa, M., Silva, R., & Santos, T. (2021). Strategy and human resources management in non-profit organizations: Its interaction with open innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(1), 75. Web.
Ras, I. A. (2020). Child victims of human trafficking and modern slavery in British newspapers. Contemporary Media Stylistics, 191-214.
Save the Children. (2022). About us. Web.
The Charity Commission. (2020). Save the Children UK let down complainants and the public over the handling of allegations of workplace harassment. Gov. uk. Web.