The_American_Red_Cross

The American Red Cross University of Phoenix Mission According to American Red Cross (2010), their mission statement is; “The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement, will provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.” The American Red cross was founded in 1881 and it has been the United States’ number one emergency response organization. The Red Cross offers humanitarian care to countries worldwide that may be victims of war or natural disasters. Worldwide the Red Cross aims to prevent and relieve suffering. Domestically the Red Cross also aids in relief from natural disasters, however, they also help in other ways. The Red Cross offers community services to help the needy, they give support to military members and their families, they help to collect and distribute blood and blood products, as well as offering educational programs to promote health and safety. With all of the services that the American Red Cross provides it is easy to see that they have a very compassionate and caring culture within their business. Culture The culture of the American Red Cross has a great deal to do with involvement and volunteerism. The American Red Cross is a not for profit business that heavily relies on its volunteers. Volunteers constitute 96% of our total workforce to carry on our humanitarian work. American Red Cross (2010). A volunteer is someone who gives up their time to help others. Since the American Red Cross is mostly volunteers it is easy to see that the culture of the organization would be very caring. The culture of an organization is defined by the values and characteristics are important to everyone who works for the organization. The volunteers all share the vision of the Red Cross. They know that they want to help as many people as they can and they will do what is needed of them to accomplish their goals. The volunteers along with the employees of the American Red Cross agree on many characteristics within the organization such as management caring more about the outcome of the aid given in disasters rather than the techniques that were used to achieve success. The like-mindedness of everyone within the organization creates the culture of the organization. Communication The American Red Cross uses many forms of communication, both internal and external, to complete their day to day activities. A good example of this is the work that the Red Cross did when the earthquake in Haiti occurred. Internally the Red Cross was using a “Disaster News Room” to keep their staffers up-to-date with everything that was going on with the humanitarian efforts and where more help was needed. This was important so the staffers could send more workers to areas that were hit the worst. The American Red Cross also used many different types of external communications. The Red Cross used social medial tools to spread awareness of the disaster and call for the help of more volunteers; they also set up a way for people to donate money by texting if they could not volunteer their time. The Red Cross was very innovative by choosing these types of internal and external communication. They helped boost the impact of disaster communications. Communication and Culture The way that the American Red Cross communicates is related to the organization’s culture. The Red Cross chose to use social media, blogs, and texting to reach out to their employees, staffers, and volunteers. The Red Cross has a compassionate and caring organizational culture. They knew they would be able to receive the help they needed by pulling at the heartstrings of their employees, staffers, and volunteers. The American Red Cross depends on the compassion of their associates to keep their organization functioning. Values The American Red Cross has many values that they have enacted. Some of those values are; they do not discriminate against anyone for any reason, they are neutral, in other words they do not get involved in politics or wars, and all volunteer work is not for profit or gain. These values are not only enacted within the company but also espoused. Each person within the American Red Cross believes in these values and ensures that they follow them. Conclusion The American Red Cross is a not for profit organization that has a compassionate culture. They use internal and external communications to help give aid to people all over the world. They have many values that they have enacted and everyone within the organization follows. Resources: American Red Cross. (2010). About the Red Cross. Retrieved from http://www.redcross.org Schwartz, N. E. (2010). Red Cross’ Communications Innovation in Haiti Disaster Relief Effort — Smart Stuff. Getting Attention!. Retrieved from http://gettingattention.org/2010/01/red-cross-communications-innovation-in-haiti-disaster-relief-effort-smart-stuff.html