Organizations have different sizes and forms. An organization is refers to a body that has a mission that it must achieve. The organization must achieve the mission it has for the society and the community at large. Charity organizations, schools, businesses, hospitals and many others are different types of organizations. The community and the society in America and all the other parts of the world depend on organizations for the provision of goods and services required to preserve and sustain lives of the citizens. In the current society, the nations of the world are becoming connected because of much advancement in the technology field (Redcross.org, 2014). The advancement in technology contributes largely in the expansions of organizations throughout the world. When an organizations moves from one society to another society, there are issues that concern ethics that have an influence in the running of the organizations. The organizations must deal with the ethical issues to ensure smooth operations. In most cases, social and ethical issues arise within the society because of moving into a new society that have not had the goods and services the organization is dealing.
The Red Cross has existed for over 160 years. Its founder was the person who fought for the creation of a civilian relief personnel to respond to the suffering of human beings during times of conflicts such as war. He fought for the formulation of rules that would govern how nations can wage wars on themselves. Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that has a mission of providing emergency assistance, education and disaster relief in the United States. The organization main mission is to save and improve lives. The culture of the organization comprises of ordinary people that have an innate urge to deliver extraordinary things for humanity. Red Cross is an organization that embraces impartiality and diversity. It possess a bond that unites all the employees together not only during emergencies but also in delivering help services to their neighbors in their everyday lives.
The activities and efforts of the American Red Cross have a global influence. The depth and the breadth of the services that the organization offers have no match to any organization in the world. The American Red Cross delivers the services to humanity whenever and wherever they are called upon to provide their services. The organization has the ability to fulfill its mission and it is because of care, time and passion of its employees. The employees and the volunteers know and understand that the products and services the organization provides are for saving and improving the lives of humanity all over the world.
The American Red Cross has faced many problems in the recent past. The organization has almost lost faith of the public because of ethical issues. The organization has had a negative publicity. Workers went on strikes a thing that such a big organization that offers essential services should not face. The organization also was hit by a lawsuit filed by Coral Blood Services and HemaCare Corporation. They filed an antitrust lawsuit that the American Red Cross was using its influence in eliminating competitors. HemaCare and Coral Blood services alleged to have lost millions of money because of Red Cross Society. The people that filed the lawsuit alleged that the American Red Cross charged unfair prices on their blood. American Red Cross charged blood products below the production cost to ensure that the competitors moved out of the business. They filed an antitrust lawsuit and the Sherman’s that prohibits monopolization (Jones, 2013). The practice was unethical because it did not provide a level ground for other organizations to operate thought the organization was in the process of fulfilling its mission of providing quality services to humanity. The employees and volunteers went on strike because they were unhappy for the long hours of work, increasing health benefit costs and frequent schedule changes. The employees felt intimidated and overworked. The report on 911 attack showed that the American Red Cross involved itself in malpractices of spending its funds in a way that it did not please its donors. American Red Cross derives its revenue from blood but people that run it think that the American Red Cross primary purpose is disaster relief organization run the organization. They have relegated blood to stepchild status.
The organization has also faced challenges with the blood donors during blood donation. The American Red Cross fails to ask the donors questions regarding their eligibility to donate blood. For example, they forget to ask the donor if they have travelled in a malaria prone area in the recent past. The exercise of donating blood is prone to errors. The procedure has rules and regulations that all the employees must follow but in most cases, they do not. The employees must use and antiseptic in scrubbing the area before insert the needle. The area must dry for 3 seconds. The process does not auger well in across the societies. The process of donating blood is not common across all the cultures of the world. The American Red Cross therefore needs to conduct awareness programs on blood donation.
References
Redcross.org,. (2014). American Red Cross Culture. Retrieved 10 June 2014, from http://www.redcross.org/about-us/careers/culture
Jones, M. M. (2013). The American Red Cross from Clara Barton to the New Deal. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
