World Vision Australia is one of the organizations that participates in social work activities being an organization that gives back to the society through charity. The organization operates within Australia and offers help to most of the needy children within the country. The organization is built on the foundation of fairness, integrity, honesty and ethics which are the key values for the success of any organization. World Vision Australia has an efficient culture of leadership that promotes the growth of the leadership skills of the employees across all the organizational levels. In relation to the interview with one of the employees from the human services department, the organization has really shaped the lives of many children in Australia through various programs such as sponsorship programme for education and helping the orphans in the society. The report is going to outline the findings from the interview and is going to highlight some of the challenges in leadership in World Vision Australia together with the structure of leadership in the organization.
World vision Australia is dated back in 1966. It was meant to help the less fortunate in the society especially the orphans. It has established various children homes across Australia and receives donations from the government agencies from various nations to facilitate the program. In the year 1947 DR Robert Pierce visited various countries such as Korea and China where he met several individuals who had various needs. This sparked the idea for helping such people and after he went back to the United States, he initiated fundraising initiatives to support such people. He named his initiative as World vision which he said that he purposed to ensure all the less fortunate people in various nations were catered for hence this led to the birth of the World vision in September 1950 Pierce being the C.E.O. World Vision spread to various countries till it reached Australia in August 1966. It played a very crucial role in supporting the refugees from Indochina and the people who were affected by war in Bangladesh(Cosgrove & Rijsberman, 2014).
The Australians supported the project with various donations and by 1970, the World vision had really grown and it dominated the whole nation through distribution of food and other basic needs to the less fortunate in the society. World Vision played a crucial role during the Vietnam War by hosting over 3000 refugees in 1976 which made it famous throughout the world. By the year 1990 the international reach had really grown where it had a team that responded to various emergency issues to various parts of the world. Currently, World Vision Australia is the largest non-governmental organization in Australia and its working hard to eliminate poverty and its causes in the society for a better tomorrow.
World Vision Australia has enhanced the culture of open communication among its employees and leaders from the top to the bottom level of management(Cameron & Rössler, 2016). The preferred leadership approach is participatory where all the individuals are involved in the decision making process across all the levels in the organization. This is efficient because it enhances the commitment of all the employees in the organization towards the vision and mission. The organization has adequate opportunities for nurturing leaders through career development programs for its employees, the organization has training and development initiatives for the employees which also enhances their leadership skills. World Vision Australia provides development opportunity for both the employees and several volunteers who later become more efficient for the achievement of organizational objectives. Most of the volunteers assume the roles for various employees in the organization and in the process acquire necessary leadership skills and obtain a better understanding of the organizational culture which increases their efficiency
The culture of the organization refers to the way various aspects of the organization are dealt with. This range from the recruitment process, the leadership style used in the organization and many other aspects. Organizational values refer to the set of beliefs that regulate how individuals behave within the organization. The values such as honesty, integrity, respect and loyalty determine how individuals shall be operating within the organization as they strive to achieve the set goals and objectives within the organization. World Vision Australia is built on the belief of integrity and honesty as it receives donations from various stakeholders who are committed towards charity. The management of World Vision Australia ensures that all the donations are used appropriately to ensure the achievement of speculated goals and objectives. The organizational behavior is built on the foundation of integrity where the management do not use the donations for their own self interests. The belief that those who help the needy are blessed drives the organization towards helping most of the needy children in the society.
According to Grant, Butler& Murray (2014)world Vision Australia’s main strategy is to ensure better life for the less fortunate in the society. It has the following strategic goals for the achievement of the speculated mission and vision:
Competent Management
Through its competent management, World Vision Australia is in a good position to achieve its objectives effectively. This is because a competent management can initiate effective decision making processes to ensure the formulation of winning strategies within the organization
Forming partnerships
World vision Australia has purposed to collaborate with various Non-governmental organizations to ensure that they cover a wide area in offering help to the needy in the society. Through formation of partnerships, the organization shall be in a good position to access a wide source of funds from various sponsors for their programs in the society hence increasing the efficiency.
Ensure implementation of various policies.
World Vision Australia management ensure the implementation of various formulated policies which is usually difficult for many organizations due to partial implementation of their formulated policies.
Engaging and partnering with the stake holders
The success of World Vision Australia relies heavily on the support of the key stake holders who need to be fully engaged in various activities of the organization in order to enhance a sense of belonging among them.
World vision Australia has the following objectives:
To help those who have various needs in the society within and outside Australia
To be an organization of integrity in the provision of its services
To promote equality among all the members of the society
To create a bright future for the refugees
To contribute to the sustained well-being of over 20 million children by 2021.
To reach out and actively involve more than a million supporters by 2021 to actively connect with children and community in need.
To increase the income base of the organization to $1 billion by 2021 in order to achieve a long term stability of income to enhance the well being of the needy children through: revitalizing the sponsorship of the children, growing the organization’s income from major donors and enterprises, growing the organization’s income from grants and goods in kind.
To transform the lives of children through: the process of delivering and supporting high impact development, relief and advocacy programs that positively impact the well-being of children, the process of delivering and supporting high impact programs that shall benefit the children under their care.
To collaborate with the Australians to steer the agenda for helping children from less fortunate families through: initiating the growth of an active citizen supporter baze, initiating the growth of the value generated from various church partnerships in the country, enhancing good relationship with different partners in the country, influencing the policy and attitudinal change of the Australians towards the less fortunate in the society.
To build a sustainable organization through engaging and motivating employees to enhance high performance and developing new models of operation to bring communities and supporters close.
The World Vision Australia’s culture has a major impact on John’s leadership practice. Being a health practitioner as a lab technician in the past he had minimal experience in career in social work which he had much desire to serve humanity especially those who are in need in the society. The values of World Vision Australia has really shaped his skills as a leader. Values such as integrity and honesty has really enhanced his leadership position since he is usually responsible for the reception of donations on behalf of the organization and records everything which without a value such as honesty and individuals can embezzle the organizational funds received from the well-wishers. John uses participatory approach in leadership which enhances employee’s participation within the organization. His philosophy of leadership is aligned to the mission and vision of the organization which is the most important aspect for any leader. John has been influenced by the strategic objective of the organization in a significant manner. It has enabled him to incorporate his individual reflection into leadership which is the most important aspect for any leader as it enables him to know the new ideas that can be incorporated into the corporate organizational culture to increase the efficiency of the organization in relation to the achievement of the organizational vision and mission.
The style of leadership used by a leader is usually central to the success or failure of the organization. This is because it determines the degree of employee satisfaction within the organization. The leadership style such as autocratic hinders employees from making decisions in the organization hence the turnover rate increases in the organization. Participatory leadership enhances the involvement of the employees in the organizational activities hence enhances job satisfaction among the employees in the organization. World Vision Australia has a large number of employees who need to be involved in various decisions in relation to various organizational aspects hence John has to apply participatory style of leadership for efficiency. This has enhanced employee retention in the organization because of been involved in the decision making process in meetings and conferences where they make suggestions which are later implemented within the organization(Chambers, et al, 2018).
World Vision Australia embraces the idea of sharing knowledge, tasks and delegation of various responsibilities among the members which enhances unity in the organization. John as a leader always delegate duties to various employees and expose them to various leadership roles which is usually very crucial in the development of their future roles in leadership. This has always enhanced the promotion of the employees to higher positions of leadership in the organization on the basis of their integrity, performance and degree of leadership ability.
Effective leadership practices in the organization has enhanced the reduction of complaints among the employees enhancing the achievement of various objectives and goals set within the organization.
John outlines that he is usually very interested to work with a committed team of volunteers and employees within the organization. This is because this type of people are usually committed in their service to the organization whether they are paid or not where they sacrifice their resources for the success of the organization. Most of the employees in World Vision Australia started as volunteers but later secured a permanent employment in the organization. John outlines that the collaborative nature of the team gives him an easy time in the accomplishment of various tasks in the organization which enhances the attainment of the performance objectives set within a specific period of time in the organization. The core values in the organization such as hard work and commitment enhance the employees’ team work and collaboration in the organization. Through justice equality is achieved in the entire organization which facilitates the organizational growth and development. Through respect, diversity has been embraced in the organization and all the employees usually appreciate the efforts of each other.
Successful leadership in any organizational setting requires the commitment of all the individuals in the organization. A successful leader in social work should portray humility, honesty, integrity, commitment and extravertism to enhance the coordination of all the employees in the organization towards the vision and mission of the organization. The leader should develop good conflict resolution skills to ensure organizational harmony which ensures minimum wastage of time to in solving conflicts hence enhancing the effectiveness of activities within the organization(Elliott, et al ,2014). World Vision Australia receives financial donations from various stakeholders which implies that an effective leader in such an organizational setting should be transparent in all the transactions so as to gain confidence from the stake holders on the financial accountability. Appropriate financial budget is usually efficient for appropriate usage of funds in the organization. The budget ensures that the received funds are apportioned well for various projects which enhances the overall achievement of the objectives in the organization. World Vision Australia should prioritize its needs to enhance the satisfaction of the most basic needs with the donated funds.
The employees should be remunerated appropriately which enhances their job satisfaction which in turn leads to total commitment in the provision of their services in the organization. The employees should be appreciated for their good work in various ways such as promotions, various benefits such as house allowance etc. This reduces the turn over rate of the employees in the organization.
John is one of the key members of World Vision Australia’s management team. He is usually involved in the crucial decisions regarding the organizational operations. He is usually involved in the formulation of various policies which are usually essential for the effective operation of the organization(World Health Organization, 2015).In the process of policy formulation and decision making in World Vision Australia, John interacts with several stakeholders. The stakeholders he cooperates with in policy formulation and decision making include the volunteers, other employees in the organization, the sponsors and the senior management team.
World Vision Australia is headed by the Chief Executive officer. The management team comprises of the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Corporate Affairs, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Marketing And Product Officer, Chief People And Culture, Chief Strategy, Innovation And Digital,Chief Retail And Supporter Experience and Chief Technology Officer. The interviewee is among the senior members of the executive team. The key values that enhance the leadership of the executive team are: honesty, integrity, respect among others(Rose, et al, 2017).John being one of the leaders from the top management teams leads by example by practicing the organizational key values in all his organizational undertakings. John respects all the employees in World Vision Australia from the top to the bottom level of the organization inspite of his position in the organization.
Some of the macro-environmental factors identified by the management of the organization after a thorough macro-environmental analysis are:
Australia has over a hundred international aid-based institutions and foundations despite the indulgent humanitarian laws that usually regulate the operations and registration of philanthropic based institutions within a given region to prevent unhealthy competition that may arise in the provision of services and enjoying maximum benefits from donations from various agencies. Such institutions include the Caritas international, Canadian-Aid, US-Aid, UK-Aid among others. The enrollment of more non-governmental organizations results to competition for available donations and competition for project allocation among the organizations intensifies(Khairallah, et al, 2015). The government should set appropriate policies and restrictions for entry for new organizations so as to minimize the threat posed to World Vison Australia.
This is a common practice for most of the humanitarian organizations due to the nature of the services they offer. World Vision Australia and US-Aid perceives each other as rivals due to competition that exists between them to catch the attention of the donors (Whitewood, Black& Hopkins, 2017).This has enabled the organization to increase its source of funding apart from the donations received. The most recent research has indicated that over 78% of the World Vision Australia funds has been generated internally with only 14.8% being received from donations.
There has been an increased propensity in specialization among the existing firms to provision of unique services specific under human aid due to increased number of humanitarian firms. Most of the non-profit making firms have been registered to provide humanitarian aids such as provision of relief facilities during various natural calamities such earth quakes, hunger, floods etc. Such firms are facing stiff competition from well-established foundations that are usually formed with an aim of giving back to the community through corporate and individual social responsibility and do not provide their services only during calamities but often helps the society(Dawson, et al ,2015).World Vision Australia has faced stiff competition following the 2008 child sponsorship controversies as people prefer for scholarships that are perceived to have a direct benefit as opposed to World Vision Community based approach.
The micro environmental factors influencing the operations of World Vision Australia
According Hunt (2018)some of the internal factors influencing the operations the organization are:
Effective Leadership
The leaders in the organization are very efficient in ensuring the implementstion of strategies which enhances the success of the organization.
Availability of finance
The organization receives financial support from various well wishers which enhances its operations.
Committed work force
The employees are very committed towards the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives.
Conclusion
Effectiveness in leadership is the most important aspect for the success of any organization. The core values and organizational culture should be adhered to for effectiveness. Participatory leadership should be applied in the organization because it enhances the jobsatisfaction among the employees in the organization.
References
Cameron, C., & Rössler, M. (2016). Many voices, one vision: The early years of the World Heritage Convention. Routledge.
Cosgrove, W. J., & Rijsberman, F. R. (2014). World water vision: making water everybody’s business. Routledge.
Chambers, I., Russell?Smith, J., Costanzo, R., Cribb, J., Kerens, S., George, M., & Ansell, J. (2018). Australia’s north, Australia’s future: A vision and strategies for sustainable economic, ecological and social prosperity in northern Australia. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 5(3), 615-640.
Dawson, K. S., Bryant, R. A., Harper, M., Kuowei Tay, A., Rahman, A., Schafer, A., & van Ommeren, M. (2015). Problem Management Plus (PM+): a WHO transdiagnostic psychological intervention for common mental health problems. World Psychiatry, 14(3), 354-357.
Elliott, J. H., Turner, T., Clavisi, O., Thomas, J., Higgins, J. P., Mavergames, C., & Gruen, R. L. (2014). Living systematic reviews: an emerging opportunity to narrow the evidence-practice gap. PLoS medicine, 11(2), e1001603.
Grant, R., Butler, B., Orr, S., & Murray, P. A. (2014). Contemporary strategic management: An Australasian perspective. John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
Hunt, J. (2018). Community development for sustainable early childhood care and development programs: A World Vision Australia and Central Land Council partnership. The Australian National University.
Khairallah, M., Kahloun, R., Bourne, R., Limburg, H., Flaxman, S. R., Jonas, J. B., & Price, H. (2015). Number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract worldwide and in world regions, 1990 to 2010. Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 56(11), 6762-6769.
Rose, N., Hearn, S. A. H., Bucello, P., Council, C. S., Klein, S., Council, H. S., & Tran, C. (2017). Food Systems and the Role of Local Government. VLGA. Melbourne: SUSTAIN.
World Health Organization (WHO. (2015). Impact of increasing prevalence of myopia and high myopia: report of the Joint World Health Organization. Brien Holden Vision Institute Global Scientific Meeting on Myopia.
White, S. L., Wood, J. M., Black, A. A., & Hopkins, S. (2017). Vision screening outcomes of Grade 3 children in Australia: Differences in academic achievement. International Journal of Educational Research, 83, 154-159
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