ARC

The American Red Cross (ARC), headquartered in Washington D.C, is a volunteer-run humanitarian organization that offers emergency aid, education, and disaster relief within the United States (Miller et al., 2009). ARC is a selected United States associate of the International Federation of Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies, and currently, besides offering domestic disaster relief, the organization also provides services like communication services, community services, educational programs on health, preparedness, and safety, the collection, processing, and circulation of blood, the development and global relief programs (Miller et al., 2009). The American Red Cross is administered by volunteers and sustained through numerous donations from the community and income from safety, health products, and training (Miller et al., 2009). One of the strategic issues of the American Red Cross is the precarious financial position of the organization (Henderson, 2012). ARC having been assisting over $40,000 to $60,000 evacuees with a yearly budget of around $47,000 persons, which means that it is facing financial problems.

A five-part strategy development process will be applicable to this strategic issue. The strategy development process will start with the identification of visions and alternatives deemed right for addressing the strategic issue (Bryson, 2004). After the identification, the group will then enumerate the barriers for attaining the visions. It is apparent that doing this will help the company deal with the issues strategically. Thirdly, the organization should prepare the main proposals that will enhance the attainment of the alternatives or the visions (Henderson, 2009). Afterward, the organization will need to determine the actions that it will need to implement the proposal in the next two to three years. Lastly, the organization will need to have a detailed work programme that takes into consideration the implementation actions of the next 6 to 12 months (Bryson, 2004).

During this strategy formulation, the most helpful process guidelines include the identification of the visions and alternatives deemed right for addressing the strategic issue and for the preparation of proposals, which will greatly assist in the attainment of the same (American Red Cross, 2011).