MGMT 303

Rahul Poruthoor Ignatious

0063532

Assignment #4

Executive Director is the person who has the overall responsibility for the operations of

the organization. If the senior managers and staff will go to board members instead of

me for approvals, guidance, mentorship, and assistance with problem solving then it

means there has been no clarity in the hierarchical system which defines the

accountability and authorities of each person in the organization. Considering a non-

profit organization big enough to have paid staff and management members it is always

important to have distinctive roles to play for each member of the staff to attain

efficiency. In such organizations Board members are there to help the Executive Director

in taking important strategic decisions/policies and to support the organization in

promoting the organization to prospective funders. The staff must be trained to

understand who to approach for what matters. If board members are involving too

much in the basic internal matters, then they must be convinced about their role and

scope of activity in a diplomatic manner (Murray, 2006).

New board members will be provided with a board manual for them to understand

what the organization expects from them. They will have formal orientation process in
the beginning and at times are evaluated for their performance and involvement in the

organization (Murray, 2006).

Board meetings should be organized properly to achieve its objectives efficiently. For

this the agenda of the meeting should reach all the members early enough for them to

read and understand. Only relevant information should be there in the agenda that too

in a concise format. Most important matters should be placed in the top to make sure

those points are discussed properly. The rules of the meetings should not restrict

anyone to be frank about their opinions, but still there should be proper order for the

process to be systematic (Murray, 2006). Being the Executive Director I will make sure

the Board meetings follow these instructions so that they could come to meaningful

conclusions or decisions with consent from all.

Nonprofits showcase their purpose in mission statements and its should be this mission

that guides their programs and activities. I will make sure that the organization will

avoid all unrelated business activities, primarily because of their potential for mission

drift. I find commercial ventures only one among several paths to mission drift, and not

the most threatening. However, since mission drift has multiple sources, then all these

sources must be dealt to keep the mission intact (Jones "The Multiple Sources of

Mission Drift " 2007).

Another cause for mission drift I will carefully avoid is the shifting of core services to

those that can fetch us more funds. I will avoid applying to programs that marginally fits

our mission (Murray, 2006). Moreover, develop strategies considering all the
departments in the organization so that all can work together as a team towards the

fulfillment of our mission. I will apply the strategic thinking and planning process

systematically to come up with programs that can find funds at the same time supports

our mission. I will also try to come up with collaborations with other competing

organizations thereby pooling the resources for efficient mission accomplishment.

Changes require thoughtful answers and hold the seeds of exceptional opportunity. For

these incentives, leaders will need to challenge their own beliefs and consider new

possibilities. Those who do will perform more effectively; they will also be better able to

contribute with a wide range of creative solutions. (Mollenhauer "Forces of Change:

Reshaping How Non-Profit Organizations are Governed, Managed, and Resourced"

2017).

This idea of effectively leveraging the changes is also applicable to not for profit

organizations. People nowadays are looking for a quality career that they will find

meaning full in the long run. For attracting competent employees for my organization, I

will make sure that there is standard salary, benefits and all other features like a

standard job at a profit organization. Moreover, I will make sure that there is succession

planning, mentoring programs, leadership training, and ongoing evaluation efforts in the

organization counter skill shortage and turnover (Ymeren & Lalande "Change Work:

Valuing decent work in the not-for-profit sector" 2015). When it comes to shortage of

resources priority is to reduce the use of resources. One of the best ways to reduce cost

is to apply technological advancements in all the possible processes that drive the
organization (Greenberg, Hirt, & Smit "The global forces inspiring a new narrative of

progress" 2017). When it comes to accumulating resources, I will make sure that there

are backup sources and reserves available when needed(Murray, 2006). Pooling of

resources of organization with similar mission and programs will also help for mutual

loaning of resources. I will develop programs that will find funds or resources from

themselves rather than finding funds for them separately. In the case of foodbanks,

collaboration with companies to test market their new food products in the foodbanks

and collecting beneficial data for the company. Moreover, in a way they can have their

products marketed by this means. So, in this new era of changes I will have to think

strategically like the head of a profitmaking company, at the same time keeping our

organizational mission intact.

Community meetings helps us to learn more about what community expects from us.

These meeting helps us to discuss new ways in which different organizations can

collaborate and conduct programs that has greater impact. If there has been no

participation from our organization till, then it is obvious that they haven’t seen us for

meetings. But if they say they haven’t heard about our organization then it means the

impact the organization has made till then is so minute to acknowledge its existence.

This shows it is high time for us get more involved in the society and market our

programs and the organization itself. I will make sure that our organization will utilize

these opportunities that comes with involving in the community activities and develop a

successful non-profit organization with enough impact that it will be acknowledged by

all (Murray, 2006).

 References

Murray, V. (2006). Management of Nonprofit and Charitable Organizations in

Canada (1st ed.). LexisNexis.

Jones, Marshall B. “The Multiple Sources of Mission Drift - Marshall B. Jones,

2007.” SAGE

Journals,1June2007,https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0899764007300385

Mollenhauer, Linda. “Forces of Change: Reshaping How Non-Profit Organizations Are

Governed, Managed, and Resourced.” The Philanthropist, 29 May 2017,

https://thephilanthropist.ca/2017/05/forces-of-change-reshaping-how-non-profit-

organizations-are-governed-managed-and-resourced/.

Greenberg, Ezra, et al. “The Global Forces Inspiring a New Narrative of

Progress.” McKinsey Quarterly, Apr. 2017, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-

functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-global-forces-inspiring-a-

new-narrative-of-progress.

Ymeren, Jamie Van, and Lisa Lalande. Change Work: Valuing Decent Work in the Not-

for-Profit Sector. Ontario Nonprofit Network, Toronto Neighbourhood Centres,Mowat

NFP, 2015, Change Work: Valuing Decent Work in the Not-for-Profit Sector, 2015-11-25.