Sie sind auf Seite 1von 11

Principles of Management

PRM – 306/606

Case Study

Assignment Number 1

Submitted by Captain Jeff Eddy

Olivet Nazarene University

Major David Fulton,

Major Mark Turner

5/18/2015
Case Study

Being called to do the impossible: The following is my presentation of and

solutions to the “hypothetical” case study I was provided. Just as a word of warning, I

have lived this case study in real life and will be using actual methods and solutions

from a real Corps. This also means I have taken the liberty to fill in a few details of the

fine inner workings of a dysfunctional Salvation Army Corps. I hope this is okay! The

following is the case study directly from the official email I received:

“What a place I inherited. We get to this appointment to find this little

building that seems to be falling down around us. No space for storage, no

space for anything let alone growing into it. A small congregation that is all

related to each other, with limited skills and gifts. An office staff of two, a

secretary and a case worker who is not qualified, in fact goes to the

corps/church and is married to the Corps/church Sergeant Major. Now

here is the real kicker; the community has an 18% jobless rate and we are

about the only agency in the area that gives assistance, and we have no

money. What we have comes from State and local grants and we are

always out of funds by mid month. What am I to do?” (D. Fulton, Personal

communication, March 25th, 2015)

I will break each challenge into three parts, the first will be a presentation of the

issues. Secondly, I will explore some solutions. Lastly, I will create a timeline of when

these things might be accomplished.

The very first challenge I will address in this paper and would in real life is the

finances. Here is where I am adding some real life details to make this clearer for myself
Case Study

and the reader. The Corps is not only out of money, it is running at a current deficit and

owes Divisional headquarters nearly a third of it’s yearly budget. (About $240,000) that

had been accumulated over the previous four years due to very poor management.

Making this a priority are things like the current utilities shut-off notice that is on

the Corps Officer’s desk upon arrival. This notice is indicative of the hemorrhaging

taking place in the Corps finances for which there are several reasons.

The biggest reason comes from (added detail) the thrift store which the Corps

operates that has been losing in excess of $1000 a month due to poor location and

even worse staffing. It had been open in that location for almost 3 years and had only

made a profit a few of the 36 months.

To preface this, correcting this is a monumental task, but one that cannot

continue another day. Having said that, my very first step in solving this problem would

be to spend a few days at the store, dig into the books, get a good grasp on the

operation. Another added detail is that the store was at the very end of it’s lease. I

would begin a process to close the current store and begin looking for another, and

preparing employees for a possible period of unemployment.

In this instance the timeline to begin would be as soon as possible, or in this case

three months because that was the remaining time on the lease. Within that 3 month

period I would be securing a new location and setting up processes for the store and

clarifying what the expectations would be for the employees. Within the first year, at

minimum the old store would be closed, the goal would be that a new store would be

opened.
Case Study

Within the first 2 months I would work out the budget with the help of the

Advisory Board and Corps Council, and make it a regular topic of prayer for everyone

involved. The new budget would include the cutting of all unnecessary spending and

would help the Corps establish sound income goals for the upcoming Christmas

season.

With the store being closed no later than the 3rd month and unnecessary

spending also cut, I would expect that the 4th month, starting the Christmas season we

would not be operating at a deficit and no longer accruing debt to Divisional

Headquarters or any local vendors. However, true financial stability is likely several

years away at best.

The second part of the solution, and another added detail, is that Divisional

headquarters has set aside some incentive money. They have promised to forgive half

of a Corps debt each year the Corps ends balanced. So at the end of year 1 I expect

the debt to be $120,000 and year 2 less than $60,000. By this time I would expect the

Corps to have paid at least something toward it’s indebtedness. With the grant and the

Corps paying towards the total, the Corps will be out of debt by the 3 rd year and self

sufficient.

The next challenge identified is in property. The building has been neglected

mainly due to lack of resources and there are a few major issues and many more minor

ones. The bulk of the problem stems from the fact that the Capitol fund has less than a

$100,000 in it and produces a little interest and that small amount is used each month

for operating.
Case Study

Storage and program space is also very limited. We have a few small closets and

currently one Sunday school classroom has been turned into storage for Christmas

goods. The Corps does own an adjacent undeveloped lot that can be used seasonally

as program space.

The first thing I would do with property is make a list of needed repairs and rank

them from highest to lowest priority. That list would be presented Sunday as a prayer

topic in church and shared as a concern at the next advisory board meeting. Doing this

may open the eyes to the church and advisory board to the problems we are facing,

many of which the interested groups may not even be aware of.

I would get a property project in order to address the highest priorities out of

capitol. In this specific case that would be a roof that has been leaky for more than 15

years and has caused a variety of property concerns from the damage. The most recent

damage would be turned into insurance to be repaired once the roof is replaced.

Having shared the list with the church and advisory board I would solicit help

from those groups to work on the smaller issues for which they have a talent to fix. In a

later challenge I will discuss the congregation and their limited abilities, however, even

with limited abilities there are things that they can take care of and in turn will have a

healthier ownership of the property.

Another outcome of sharing the property needs list with the board and the church

is that many of the people are likely to share the needs with others who may have the

resources to solve the problem or the expertise to fix the problem.


Case Study

The time line for this is complicated; the property issues have been years in the

making. The identifying of problems should be done in the first month, through at least

one Advisory Board and Corps Councils to get them involved before the master list is

presented. The major repairs such as roof would be taken care of in the first six

months, and the little repairs over the course of the year.

The issue of space is the hardest to resolve, with limited funds it is unlikely any

expansion of the building would be possible at any time in the near future. Lower cost

storage sheds could be purchased in the meantime to hold items that would not be

affected by temperature.

The next issue to resolve is staffing. The Corps has a case worker and an office

manager, neither are educated in their field of work and are related to the church body,

in fact the case worker is married to the CSM. Although being part of the church could

be a positive, it is proving to be negative. There is often shown favoritism, and there is a

strong sense of “us and them” in the social work and business of the Corps. They can,

from time to time, feel entitled and secure and can demonstrate some questionable

ethics.

My first solution to the staff problem would be to immediately try to engage the

employees. Not just telling them what I want done, but as much as possible sitting down

beside them showing them how I believe it should be done and really getting a good

grasp on what they do and why. Through this they would clearly learn expectations and

hopefully be more likely to fix any actions that are less than ethical, and know for sure

the consequences for intentionally making unethical decisions.


Case Study

I would begin this engagement process immediately, dedicating at least an hour

a day to working with the employees and I would expect that they would understand that

some of the poor decisions made regularly in the past will no longer be tolerated within

the first week. I would schedule a meeting with each individually after 3 months to

discuss their job description and give them the opportunity to voice frustrations and

propose possible changes.

This leads me into the next topic, Social Services. Problems within are an 18%

jobless rate, the need to donations ratio is terrible, we are funded by grants that run out

almost as fast as they come in. Clients know the day we get them and they are waiting

outside the office that morning. This creates a lack of hope for the client and the

employees which often leads to unfriendly interaction.

Because of the great need, and that we are one of the few providers, the majority

of people seeking our help are turned away and the only people that make it in while we

have money are the ones who know how the system works, Corps members and repeat

clients, and the community knows it. This has lead to a lack of support by the small

community we are in.

As far as solutions are concerned, social service will take a good deal of work. I

would plan to work alongside the case worker as much as possible and develop a

system that can help those who are repeat clients to rely less on the help of others and

in turn have more help available for emergencies.

The timeline for this would be spending the first 2 months working with the case

worker a little each day to help train how we should interview and help a client. By 6
Case Study

months I would want to have a process in place and documented on how each case is

handled, limits and processes. The hope is that within the year the community would

start to see us being better stewards of the money and respond with support.

The Church would be my next point of concern. The CSM is married to the case

worker, and as I explained before it has caused some issues, we have addressed it on

the staff side and now it needs addressed from a congregational standpoint. The church

has begun to react since addressing staff. Somehow I must convince them, without

violating confidentiality that I had the everyone’s best interest in changes that were

made.

The second challenge is that the congregation is simple and not very capable,

they need a lot of support, often more than I can give. They are also related and not

comfortable with newcomers or really even visitors which has kept the church from

growing for years.

My first solution would be to schedule regular meetings with the CSM to work

hard to help him understand that I make decisions for the good of the group, and not for

any one person. In doing so, I would work with him to come up with a plan as to how to

change the culture of the Corps to be welcoming and able to grow. We would find ways

for more of the congregation to be involved to help them get a healthy ownership of the

Corps.

The timeline for this is one that may exceed my time at the Corps, however, I

would schedule the meetings with the CSM within the first 6 months. I would conduct

them regularly for at least 2 months, perhaps longer depending on how far we get. I
Case Study

would like to have the congregation more involved by the end of the first year, and

taking ownership by year 2.

The last detail I am going to add, because it has been my experience that my last

detail is synonymous with Corps in this situation is that there is a small and not all that

involved advisory board. The members that serve have served for many years and are

now retired, and although good, faithful members they are no longer connected to those

running the community.

My solution to this is through relationship. Some ways to build these relationships

are by joining local club and being a part of community. Service clubs can be a great

place to meet potential board members, and taking part in community events can attract

supporters and board members to the Corps.

The timeline for this is another that may be years, but I would expect that within

the first two years I would have at least 5 new productive members. Once I start

recruiting new members, I would hope that those new board members would use their

connections to then recruit new board members. I would reinstate terms and limits so

that they don’t feel like a board spot is a lifetime commitment.

Like I said before, much of what I have written in my paper have come from

actual experiences in my actual appointments, especially my first. It has been, in my

limited experience, that this case study is indicative of many of our small Corps. In

hindsight, although this course is still very helpful, I could have been more effective had

I taken this course at the beginning of my officership. The positive thing is that it did
Case Study

work and the Corps in which this is mostly based on is still functioning very well to my

knowledge, and continues to grow.


Case Study

Turner, Major Mark & Fulton, Major David. (2015). Principles of Management [Syllabus].

Bourbonnais, IL: School of Graduate and Continuing Studies, Olivet Nazarene

University.

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen