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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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April
2008
Volume
14
- Number 3 |
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Red Cross Looking
For a New CEO By Mutlaq Al-Subaie Mr. Everson's hiring came
after an extensive executive search procedure following the resignation
of
Marsha Evans as American Red Cross Chief Executive Officer in December
of 2005.
The Red Cross has had eight chief executive officers in
the past 12
years indicating that Everson's resignation is the most recent in a
sequence of
difficulties for one of the nation's most valued charities. The
Red Cross initiated its search for the
next CEO right away. The
interim post is now
being filled by general counsel Mary Elcano, whose previous experience
was as
general counsel and head of human resources for the United States
Postal
Service. The group has made
its greatest
advancements under interim leadership over the previous ten years,
questioning
the fact whether the organization really needs a prestigious chief
executive
officer and, since the process of finding a replacement CEO in the past
took
more than a year, how long will they need to find the successor. "If
this had been a single incident, I'm sure we could just chalk it up to
a little
personal failing. But it's not a single incident," Ruth McCambridge,
editor-in-chief at Nonprofit Quarterly said. "The Red Cross has
been really rocked by reputational and organizational difficulties. If
I was to
look at any nonprofit organization and I saw that they had had eight
leaders in
12 years, I would know that there was a problem". Given the
current problems that are occurring in the Red Cross other charitable
organizations may suffer. Once people begin to lose confidence in one
of the
nation's largest nonprofit organizations they will in turn begin to
lose
confidence in the other charitable groups. "When people's confidence is eroded in
these national nonprofits,
it always affects the reputation of the rest of us," McCambridge said.
"People will begin to say, 'Well, why should I put my money into these
institutions when clearly they are not handling themselves?' " The Red Cross, the
nation's biggest disaster relief charity,
should reevaluate the way they currently choose their successors since
the past
ways have done them no good. Is it necessary that the organization have
a
corporate style Chief executive officer given the fact that the
atmosphere and
work habits at the Red Cross differ from those at the profitable
corporations.
These types of organizations do not need to maximize shareholder
values, do not
need to inspect what business they are currently in, and also they do
not need
to consider acquisitions or divestitures. Thus making the need for the
reorganization of the group's current structure more evident. References: · http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=195900006 · http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21994150/ · http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16747746 |