Furniture Bank Over the Past Few Years Case Study

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Furniture Bank

Over the past few years Furniture Bank has differentiated itself from other charity organization through its commitment to industry innovation which has made it one of Canadian most famous organization (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). The marketing abilities of the Organization have enabled it to compensate for its initial otherwise tight financial circumstances to establish an excess cash record over few years of operation whose main sources were; donations from the government and other corporate entities (Slack et al., 2010). The main vision of the Furniture Bank Organization includes constant achievement of operational excellence, conducting business in a safe environmentally sustainable and economically optimum way and manufacturing and supplying furniture and other households as well as services that ensure customer satisfaction in as far as their needs are concerned (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). The Organization also has a few objectives that include realization of potential of their staff, maximum delivery of community needs, safeguarding asset integrity and benefiting shareholders (Peter & Donnelly, 2006).

Furniture Bank Organization believes that community needs such furniture and other households will be an integral part of the global economic developments in future and therefore their role includes ensuring that they extract and deliver them beneficially and in environmentally as well as socially responsible manner (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). The organization has charged itself with the sole responsibility of working closely with their partners/stakeholders, policymakers and the community as a means of advancing more efficient and sustainable use of natural energy resources (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). Perhaps one of the most important relationships that Furniture Bank organization has is that of its stakeholders. A stakeholder can be referred to as a person who has developed interest in what a business does or an influence upon the said business (Peter & Donnelly, 2006).

ESSAY

Diagnosis

It is quite common to observe the fact that majority of large organizations have numerous different stakeholder groups whereby while some are internal to the business such as the employees, others are external to the business for instance the government (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). Furniture Bank key aims include participating in the search for and development of other sources of Households and Furniture's as a way of trying to meet the ever-changing community needs and the ever growing demand for households (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). The organization also aims at engaging responsibly, non-profitably and efficiently in fundraising, finance, risk and governance (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). That is why it is of great importance to the organization to identify as well as balance the expectations and needs of their internal and external stakeholders while behaving responsibly in view of all of them as a way of avoiding conflict and ensuring the organization is as successful as possible, keeping its license to operate (Peter & Donnelly, 2006).

Being one of the world's largest and non-profitable national organizations in Canada, Furniture bank serves an approximate 30 to 40 clients in a month; Provides furniture to those living in permanent homes in partnership with the street homes service providers (Slack et al., 2010) Additionally, the organization increase acquisition of furniture through acquisitions business programs that ensure increase in corporate donations and expand in house donors. It is however unfortunate that due to a growing world population and higher living standards household items demand is rapidly on the increase which means that there is more demand not only for gas and oil but also for other sources of energy (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). Furniture Bank has found itself faced with the enormous problem of helping meet the needs of the present as well as future generations while developing as little negative impact as possible to the community (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). Just like any major Organization, Furniture Bank its share of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Strengths

Unlike majority of companies that pay more attention to their external stakeholders for the future success of the business, Furniture Bank Organization is more focused on its internal stakeholders who are viewed by the wider community as a reflection of the Organization and the manner in which it operates (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). The Organization's main internal stakeholders include the employees, suppliers and shareholders who play an important part in the life of the business as a whole. Shareholders are considered to be a major strength by the Organization in that they not only provide a sizeable part of the capital that is needed to set up and run the business but also get to decide on a Board of Directors who will represent them and provide a direction to the Organization (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009).

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The Organization employees are also considered as an added advantage over competitors where it has so far employed over 100,000 individuals thus providing employment opportunities for a large number of people in a few years, something that many other large companies are yet to achieve (Peter & Donnelly, 2006).

As part of the internal stakeholders of Furniture Organization the workers tend to affect the manner in which the Organization operates. One of the main priorities of the Organization is to respect people and therefore it seeks to provide its employees with safe and good working conditions as well as competitive terms of employment (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). The staff's standard of work and commitment to health, excellence and safety is also important for the Organization to continue being a leader in the Charity field (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). Furniture's Bank reputation is determined by how its business actions reflect on the core values of the Organization which are considered central to everything it does. The Organization management is well aware of this fact and always strives in ensuring that their workers are satisfied with their working conditions which in turn enable them to give their best in their work, ensuring the sustainability and success of the Organization (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009).

Weaknesses

Furniture Bank Organization is also faced with a number of weaknesses or challenges for instance difficulty in developing Furniture supplies given the fact that overall world demand in terms of Furniture and household items demand has rapidly increased in the recent past (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). Technological advances are another weakness for the Organization as it may take them a long time to update its system with the new technology given that it is a large organization. Changing needs of customers are also putting a lot of pressure on the Organization's management to come up with easier and quicker means of meeting these demands and ensuring community satisfaction (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). With new and upcoming businesses aiming towards being the best in terms of charity organizations, organizations such as Furniture Bank Organization are faced with increasing competition in gaining access to potential Donors (Peter & Donnelly, 2006).

Opportunities

Despite it being one of the weaknesses of the Organization, increased demand in Furniture and household items demand is an opportunity for Furniture Bank Organization as it will provide them with an opportunity of making huge service in delivery chains as well as downstream infrastructure (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). The Organization also has an opportunity of developing new resources in conditions considered more difficult or from unconventional resources in order to be able to keep up with the ever-changing community demands for furniture and household items (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). The Organization will have to consider training their already existing staff on skills needed to keep up with the pressure from their rapidly transforming business environment to ensure smooth running of the processes at the heart of the project management (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). Furniture Bank Organization is now in a position to become more innovative as a way of meeting their operational challenges and Organization weaknesses. Tools such as new products and new ways of working will need to be developed to ensure delivery of products to customers and catering to their needs and preferences (Peter & Donnelly, 2006).

Threats

Perhaps one of the major threats that Furniture Bank Organization faces is that of shareholder conflicts. Considering the fact that the Organization deals with a wide range of shareholders who include employees and the general public, conflicts are bound to come up at one point or another due to concerns about their investment and return competitive with those of other organizations also leading in the this industry (Peter & Donnelly, 2006). Another threat that the Organization faces is that of the local communities that tend to live on the streets and may raise concerns over their safety and health (Ahlstrom & Bruton, 2009). Individuals and organizations who are in positions of influence such as government, business leaders, NGOs, financial community and academics make decisions and form opinions that may tend to affect the Organization (Peter & Donnelly, 2006).

Project Planning and Control

Slack, chambers and Johnston (2007) identifies a guideline of any project planning and control by, first defining the project at hand, the process to be involved in the project planning process, project control mechanism and techniques and….....

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