SWOT Analysis and Organizational Direction
The central emphasis of this report is the Indian Creek Foundation that specializes in offering help to children and adults with physical and psychological disabilities while the organization is non-profit and has local focus (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016). Nowadays, SWOT analysis is one of the most effective instruments to assess organizational position in the market by addressing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Sarsby, 2016). This evaluation is a valuable tool to determine the major gaps and areas for improvement for Indian Creek Foundation.
Thus, in the first place, it is vital to depict the present condition of the organization and compare it with the desired outcomes. Currently, the foundation tends to help local communities in need and address the preferences of customers with mental and physical disabilities. This matter assists the company in creating trusting and meaningful relationships with its stakeholders. Consequently, the existent values, mission, and vision of Indian Creek Foundation promote social change, pay attention to advocacy, and give representatives of different socio-economic classes and ethnicities an equal right to development since these concepts support human rights and encourage positive changes (Homan, 2016; Wronka, 2017).
Nonetheless, apart from the existent favorable position of the organization, the company still has the major gaps to be filled. For example, the Indian Creek Foundation has to focus on expanding its coverage and size and clarify its mission and attitudes to enhance its leadership position in society and meet the needs of the target audience. Focusing on the preferences and obstacles faced by marginalized customers and ethical stability can be viewed as the main organizational aims that identify its future (Johnson & Bonner, 2013; National Organization for Human Services, 2015).
Alternatively, it implies that the company should constantly devote its substantial resources to the development of the care team, improvement of debt-to-funding ratio, facilities, and “client and family-centered experience” (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016, p. 2). Consequently, filling these gaps will help the foundation become more client-oriented and address the needs of vulnerable populations profoundly.
Plans for Conducting Environmental Scan
Another phase pertains to conducting an environmental scan, and identifying its main steps along with different internal and external factors can help guide the implementation of the strategic plan. In the first place, the company needs to understand a diversity of internal and external factors by clearly depicting its strengths, weaknesses, and future orientation within 5-10 years. In this instance, plan of actions will include the phases such as 1) analyzing the current situation (SWOT); 2) defining future goals and identifying the main gaps; and 3) conducting interviews with stakeholders of the company.
In the context of the Indian Creek Foundation, the major internal conditions may pertain to the limited coverage, potential problems with encouraging change and development in the organization due to lack of internal communication, and unclear and vague points of mission statement such as only referring to unspecified opportunities. To avoid the negative consequences, the company should prioritize ethical decision-making and leadership, constantly expand the coverage, assess the needs and interventions to improve the conditions of vulnerable populations, align and communicate clear and concise goals to its stakeholders, and explain the value of social change to the employees and volunteers by making the organization consumer-centered (Kyounghae et al. 2016).
Thus, the next step implies assessing a plethora of external factors that may affect organizational performance and its development in the recent future. In this instance, the major external aspects can be related to the shortage of volunteers, economics, and political fluctuations that may negatively affect the debt-to-funding ratio and changes in demographics and needs of the target audience. In turn, decreased interest in philanthropic activities and donor trends and modifications of regulatory norms and legislation similar to the rule for Home and Community Based-Settings in 2014 can also be regarded as critical external forces (Indian Creek Foundation, 2017).
Their effects can be minimized by conducting a continuous analysis of environment and stakeholders’ preferences, creating trusting relationships with clients and families, seeking qualified workforce, prioritizing safety and health in the facilities, and making continuous adjustments to the funding model. Apart from that, the Indian Creek Foundation may establish partnerships with competitors such as the Community of Caring Foundation to improve its services such as BHS and enhance the application of ICCF to expand funding opportunities and develop new programs (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016).
Strengths
Nonetheless, apart from the well-developed plan of actions, it is essential to refer to the actual constituents of SWOT analysis and depict the main strengths of the Indian Creek Foundation. In the first place, one of the major benefits of the organization is its customer-centered orientation, as the company tends to offer an extended variety of supporting programs such as behavioral and health services (Indian Creek Foundation, 2017).
It depicts an organization’s unique value proposition and strengthens its brand image among competitors. This stage will assist in reaching its strategic goals linked to the growth of the market share, enhanced brand image, and higher recognition among competitors (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016). This strength will be used as a core value when training and recruiting the employees to support ethical leadership, social responsibility, and customer-centricity while encouraging growth and expansion of the services.
Along with that, other advantages of the company are connected to the substantial focus on advocacy and a well-developed framework of volunteers. These aspects can be perceived as strengths since advocacy implies organizational preparedness and response to any change in legislation while relying on volunteers helps create an image of a socially responsible organization with community spirit and profitable financial strategy.
In this instance, prioritizing advocacy in the mission statement will assist in reaching strategic goals related to building an atmosphere of trust and protection in the organization while volunteers will help establish a trusting bond with customers and families, review consumer needs from entirely different angles, and improve the financial stability of the foundation (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016).
Weaknesses
Alternatively, another essential element of SWOT analysis is the evaluation of potential weaknesses since they are vehemently linked to the gaps that have to be filled. As was indicated earlier, it could be said that the mission statement is vague and has unidentified opportunities. This aspect can be discovered as a drawback, as it questions the future focus of the organization and makes the current guidelines confusing and difficult to implement. In this case, making the mission statement more detailed will help not only underline client-orientation but also assist the company is taking advantage of financial and environmental opportunities.
Other organizational issues may pertain to the problems with internal structure and the lack of acceptance of change, and they can be discovered as weaknesses due to their negative impact on the ability of the company to reach its strategic goals. To resolve it, the Indian Creek Foundation has to devote substantial attention to the development of a customer-oriented team of professionals and underline the significance of leadership (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016).
Paying vehement attention to applicants’ screening and recruitment process and prioritizing ethical practices in leadership are the major solutions to the depicted problems (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016; National Organization for Human Services, 2015). Lastly, limited coverage and scope of the organization can also be discovered as weaknesses since the existent strategies and facilities are not able to fully address the needs of marginalized social groups (Johnson & Bonner, 2013). In this instance, devoting a substantial amount of financial resources to organizational improvement will comply with the current components of the strategic plan.
Opportunities
Furthermore, discussing opportunities will assist in evaluating future potential performance of the company while depicting different advantageous situations to foster its development. In the first place, establishing partnerships with competitors is one of the major opportunities. For example, working in collaboration with the Community of Caring Foundation will help Indian Creek Association not only optimize its financial budget but also develop new programs to fill the existent gaps in the provided services (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016).
It will speed up the implementation of the strategic plan and make it possible to reach the identified objectives within the 2017-2021 timeframe. Another opportunity is the rising demand for different products and services, as there is a significant number of various consumer groups, whose needs are still not satisfied. Along with that, the Indian Creek Foundation should also view developing partnerships with communities and families as one of the major sources of growth in development. It will not only help develop interesting programs and expand geographical coverage but also can discover consumer needs and preferences.
Using a combination of these opportunities will assist the organization in improving its brand image and becoming recognized for its social responsibility while supporting the main initiatives of strategic planning. Lastly, the foundation should take advantage of an upward shift in philanthropic trends, as current amounts of charity account for $2 trillion annually (Bivin, Osili, McKitrick, Bergdoll, & Claire, 2017). Taking advantage of this tendency will help optimize organizational resources and develop new programs by seeking new funding options.
Threats
Apart from the strengths, opportunities, and weaknesses described above, one cannot underestimate the significance of threats, as they determine the matters that have to be enhanced to cater to the main strategic initiatives of Indian Creek Foundation. As it was mentioned earlier, there is an extended number of environmental factors that may negatively affect the implementation of the strategic plan. For example, any changes in politics and economics may limit the budget of the company. Along with that, apart from the positive projections of philanthropic trends, potential charities may not find it rational to support the development of the Indian Creek Foundation.
It is one of the major threats since it questions the financial stability of the organization and imposes limitations to its opportunities. To resolve these issues, continuously evaluating budget and environment, discovering new funding options, and having a well-developed financial strategy can be used to diminish these problems (Indian Creek Foundation, 2016). In turn, any changes in legislation are also threats, as they may require the organization to revise its current policy and strategies to comply with new regulations, but this problem can be easily resolved with the help of situational and environmental analyses. Overall, it could be said that Indian Creek Foundation should conduct a needs assessment, evaluate external and internal forces, clarify mission statements, and ensure the alignment of the strategic plan with the organizational objectives.
References
Bivin, D., Osili, U., McKitrick, M., Bergdoll, J. & Claire, M. (2017). The philanthropy outlook 2017 & 2018. Web.
Homan, M. (2016). Promoting community change: Making it happen in the real world. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Web.
Indian Creek Foundation. (2016). Strategic plan. Web.
Johnson & Bonner, M. (2013). Utilizing he six genetic human service competencies and ecological systems theory as a basis to understand barriers faced by marginalized clients. Journal of Human Services, 33(1), 47-55. Web.
Kyounghae, K., Choi, J., Eunsuk, C., Nieman, C., Jin Hui, J., Lin, F.,… Hae-Ra, H. (2016). Effects of community-based health worker interventions to improve chronic disease management and care among vulnerable populations: A systematic review. American Journal of Public Health, 106(4), 3–28. Web.
National Organization for Human Services. (2015). Ethical standards for human service professionals.
Sarsby, A. (2016). SWOT analysis. Raleigh, NC: Lulu Press, Inc. Web.
Wronka, J. (2017). Human rights and social justice: Social action and service for the helping and health professionals. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Web.