National Kidney Foundation Leadership

National Kidney Foundation Leadership In 2005, National Kidney Foundation faced a leadership crisis that raised many public issues that became the subject of much scrutiny. A public issue is any issue that is of mutual concern to an organization and one or more of its stakeholders. With regards to National Kidney Foundation (NKF), both the organization and its stakeholders were concerned over the issue of funds being misused, a lack of transparency and the lack of enforcement of laws internally. The emergence of these issues has not only raised media attention but also became the subject of much controversy. It has resulted in public backlash and has definitely shaken public confidence in charitable organizations. The main ethical issue which surfaced was NKFs misuse and mismanagement of the funds primarily donated by the public. As a non-profit organization, NKFs public mission was to help needy patients. Though they were effective in using both the media and campaigns to garner donations to support their cause, these funds were misused. As stated in the case study, trials revealed that the claims made by an article published in the Straits Times in 2004, about NKFs Chief Executive Officer, T T Durai alluding to wastefulness and extravagance were in fact true. There was excessive spending made by T T Durai such as a gold tap that had been installed in the executive bathroom and personal luxuries including a fleet of eight cars that came together with company drivers. In addition, given that TT Durai was entitled business class flight by SIA, as a trustee over donors money, Durai should get best value on a business class seat instead of using it for first class on another plane (NKF v SPH: Cou rt Transcript for July 11th 2005 Morning Session). Instead of using the funds for the right purposes such as to help NKFs patients, T T Durai had misappropriately used the funds for his personal wants. Another major issue to be discussed is the lack of transparency with regards to being accountable on how NKFs funds collected from donors were utilised. There was a lack of a transparent system in documenting managment minutes at NKF. The meeting minutes was an important documentation reflecting the discussions and decisions of how NKFs funds should be utilised. The fact that it went missing may have given the public the impression that NKF was negligent in its duties. When the funds of the NKF were not properly accounted for, the public become skeptical and doubtful of NKF. People start to lose trust in the NKF as they become suspicious that NKF is just another bourgeois conspiracy. Corporate governance refers to the process by which a company is controlled, or governed. In having systems of internal governance that determine the overall strategic direction and balance conflicting interests that may arise, such is crucial to the organizations performance. In helping to establish an effective internal governance structure, the board members play a central role. They are responsible for setting missions and aims that take into account stakeholder interests, develop comprehensive policies and appointing a committee of top-level personnel to execute these policies. However, in NKFs case, the lack of a enforcement of policies within the internal governance structure among the Board members has led to repercussions. The actions of the Board members have contributed to these problems. Under the Executive Committee, approval of proposals were made by default without seeking the overall consensus of the board. Furthermore, the audit committee failed to receive necessary the necessary support from the EC and fellow members in implementing necessary internal control measures. As such, negligence from each department snowballed into an undesirable consequence that the NKF had to bear. Due to the fact that there was insufficient discipline in part by each committee, these were the main contributing factors to the problems. In addition, NKF provided no avenues for the public to give constructive feedback to improve its performance. Essentially, the failure of the Board members to employ good corporate governance had brought to light serious concerns over Durais fund raising strategies. Despite NKFs mischief, its fund raising strategies were very efficient . As a non-profit organization, NKFs main aim was to look after its patients and encompassed drawing resources from society to contribute back to society as a whole. To do this, NKF has successfully employed an interactive stance in engagement with the public to raise funds for charity. The introduction of the NKF live charity show since 1994 incorporated stunts performed by foreign and local celebrities in exchange for donations. Such a method was effective as they appealed to the public, raising $4.5 million in 1994 which slowly grew to $16.8 million in the 2004 show. This suggests that NKFs fund raising strategies were effective as they involved enthusiasm in adopting creative and innovative methods to genuinely raise funds for the greater good of patients. It was through these funds raised that patients benefited tremendously. Optimists have also supported Durais fund raising strategies as NKF has successfully reached out to different segments of the community, both the young and old. Besides having a charity show where the public can pledge their support, these additional strategies include using telemarketing techniques to recruit and retain donors, coupled with the recruitment of students and National Servicemen to raise funds via pledge cards. These initiatives illustrate Durais inherent motivation in garnering increased donations for its patients. By promoting its fund raising strategies through different avenues, this helped NKF to reach out to a wider spectrum of people, targeting the public from different age and backgrounds. Applying a two pronged approach, Durais fund raising strategies can also be applauded for having long term vision. He realized that besides the direct implementation of policies to raise funds, what was needed for NKF to garner substantial funds was to build its brand image. Under his helm, NKF increased its brand image locally by implementing a complimentary Cabby Health Screening Program and engaging local media channels through programs such as Health Maters. Through these, there was an emphasis that NKF strictly enforces a non-discriminatory approach when it comes to raising awareness about the disease in that every individual, regardless of background could be susceptible to the disease. Its network of dialysis centres was also expanded, providing accessible and affordable healthcare to the public. In the international arena, Durai strived to increase brand recognition by getting endorsement from public and international leaders and having their success story written by credible sources. NKFs programs were also promoted via renowned Brazillian soccer legend, Pele. Forward planning in directly raising funds and increasing brand image has thus helped NKF encourage a larger recognition of its practices and consequently, a substantial pool of donations. However, critics have argued that such fund raising techniques are too aggressive and have deviated from the motto of its organisation. Although NKF recruited the younger generation to raise funds through pledge cards, this was not done purely out of goodwill but in exchange for monetary incentives. Similarly, by consciously seeking and obtaining endorsements from public and international leaders as well as the employment of credible sources to write their success stories, their reputation and credibility is in question. Although these acts ultimately increase the brand recognition of the foundation, which is crucial to the attraction of donors, they display NKFs aggressiveness and possible misdirection in their techniques. Although important, a charitable non-profit organisations branding is fundamentally secondary to its mission and purpose. The deontology approach is defined as the approach to ethics that focuses on the good and evil of the act alone, not necessarily the outcome. Using the deontology approach, T T Durai may be deem as unethical as the intent to fundraise may be a misrepresentation of the NKF and therefore deceiving the public to donate more. In this aspect, his fund raising strategies are unethical as the means differ from what is advocated by the company. Setting executive compensation is one important function of the Board members. In NKFs case, the lack of corporate governance has also caused Durais compensation package to be the subject of much controversy. With the ongoing issues associated with NKF, cynics have felt that the compensation package remunerated to Durai was excessive. Durai was paid bonuses ranging between 4 months and 12 months which was not what one would expect to receive considering that he is working in a charitable organisation. Prima Facie, although his bonuses may seem to be over evaluated, Durai is not overpaid as he deserves to be rewarded for the outstanding results he achieved for NKF. In building NKFs brand image and employing successful fund raising techniques, Durai managed to increase the amount of donations that were raised through the NKF charity show from $4.5 million in 1994 to $16.8 million in 2004. Under his leadership, he was also awarded the Public Service Bar by the Singaporean government in 1992 for his contribution to NKF and expanded NKFs network of dialysis centres for its patients. Thus, from the perspective of distributive justice, the benefit of Durai being highly paid is ethical as much of the success of NKF was due to Durais tremendous efforts. In relation to the average salary other top executives are paid, Durai is not overpaid as his salary of $25,000 a month coincides with what individuals holding top management positions are paid. Furthermore, Tan Choo Leng, wife of former Prime Minister Goh Chong Tong commented that Durais salary was peanuts compared with the donations the high-flyer raised for the organization. [1] This suggests that based on his contributions towards NKF, Durai, such a high salary is justified and will provide an incentive for motivation to increase NKFs performance. In relation to Durais compensation package, there will always be differing views and there is no right or wrong to it. The reason why individuals feel that Durai may be overpaid may be due to the fact that NKF is a non-profit organization that should not be so concerned with profits. Perhaps, NKF should consider the views of the public, compare the salary of top managers with those of average employees and quantify the efforts of the management relative to their remunerations. In light of the 2005 NKF saga and its various spin-offs that have dominated the domestic news, there are several changes that can be adopted so that the same problems would not happen again. Essentially, there is a need for proper governance to ensure that corporate objectives are established, stakeholder interests are protected and the managements performance in check. In proposing the possible changes that could be adopted, analysis of the Stakeholder Map is imperative to determine the various positions of the stakeholders in terms of salience and position on the issues put forth earlier. Through stakeholders reactions to these issues, it is useful in determining possible changes that are crucial to ensure that NKFs decisions and actions are in line with stakeholders interests, to prevent such problems in the future. With collaborative involvement with these key stakeholders, the possibility of problems arising would be reduced as well. * * For Position on the issue Salience refers to how important an issue is, or how much attention it brings to NKF. When stakeholders have salience, they usually have power to assert a large impact on NKF, urgency in demanding NKF to do something about the issues or legitimacy which refers to the level of appropriateness of the stakeholders actions towards the issues. In the above stakeholder map, the public have the highest salience on the issue as they have high urgency and legitimacy. Since the funds of NKF are primarily contributed by the public, strong violations from these donors over the issue of misuse of funds would warrant much media attention. In proposing the possible changes that could be made, NKF needs to recognize that they are not able to operate independently. The survivability and performance of NKF then hinges on its effectiveness in engaging with varied stakeholders and recognizing their interests, especially the public. By aligning the publics interests with NKFs objectives, this would prevent the widening of the performance expectations gap, reducing the likelihood of these problems re-occurring. Hence, one area that could be improved on is information transparency and disclosure to the public. Steps should be taken to ensure transparency where there is communication to ensure involvement of the public. The public should be informed on new developments either through press conferences or releases. The companys financial activity should also be made known to the public with clear intentions, and certified by known accounting firms. This can be done through regular emails or letters that are sent out to donors or invitations to annual general meetings so that the public can contribute their views. By being accountable for the funds, the public would be more informed on how the funds received by NKF are spent, increasing the reliability of NKF. This would increase their confidence in donating towards NKF. Fostering a stronger relationship with the public will also help to reap benefits for NKF. NKF should reach out in engaging the general public through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to provide the public with the opportunity to voice out their opinions on company decisions. Such an interaction will allow NKF to draw upon the publics reactions and societal expectations to further boost NKFs reputation. By constantly updating these platforms with information or messages NKF wishes to convey to the public, this helps in the publics understanding of what NKF is doing. Beyond that, the public will also feel reassured that their interests are considered, building support for NKFs practices. Besides the public, the employees of NKF have low salience as they have been obscured on these issues. Due to the nature of their job, individual influence on any decision-making by the board is minimal. However, they must realise that they play a part on the issues revolving NKFs misconducts. By turning a blind eye to the misdeeds mentioned above or worse, taking part in it, these employees accommodate the problem and only allows it to escalate further. They must realise, that themselves being part of the organisation, they have a responsibility to act against any deviation from the mission of the foundation and a collective effort can prevent the history from repeating itself. Therefore, employees can have high salience if they collaborated and worked together, ensuring that the organization does not stray away from its core values. Upon futher analysis of the stakeholder map in relation to the employees of NKF, policies should also be employed to better ensure the organizations governing structure. For example, a system based on adequate internal controls should be introduced. In the instance of NKF, it is evident that there was a failure to adhere to internal audit controls as it was stated that the audit committee was to meet every 3 months to review audit plans and evaluate the adequacy of the internal control systems but they had never met. Furthermore, the committee failed to implement recommendations spelt out by internal auditors due to lack of support. Thus, NKF should outsource its internal audits to external auditors from independent accounting firms. Having such an unbiased third party ensures that corporate governance is enhanced as there is impartiality with regards to NKFs auditing processes. Although adoption of stringent practices may incur high costs, it is worth the investment to prevent the future misuse of funds. Such a practice would ensure that there is a system of checks to ensure funds are managed in line with the organizations mission, preventing financial lapses in the future. The members of the board should also only contain a few members that are current managers of NKF. The remaining members should be independent in the sense that they have no connection whatsoever to the corporation other than being a Board member. These members should either be appointed or elected by shareholders. In addition, the performance of each member should be reviewed regularly to assess if they were competent enough in assuming their responsibilities. Although NKFs Board members were volunteers who served in the belief that every member was acting in the best interests of the foundation, they normally approved proposals by default instead of through collective decision making. This meant that decisions were not made on a consensus basis but based on a hierarchal structure with the CEO having the dominant say, which resulted in the problems aforementioned. With a board comprising various key stakeholders, both internally and externally, greater transparency will be present an d the individual interests of major stakeholders will not be compromised. With greater transparency, the public would be assured that NKF has no intentions of hiding certain facts but are assuming their responsibilities. In moving forward to ensure that the NKF operates in an accountable and transparent manner, the initiative to align every committee members and employees responsibilities to NKFs mission is crucial. The Board members, together with the Chief Executive Officer have a responsibility to set future directions for the organization. The issues that surfaced at NKF were evidently due to the lack of governance in ensuring that stringent measures were implemented to ensure committees were compliant. Hence, the top management should incorporate regular discussions to remind employees of NKFs prime objectives, review performance and set new directions and foster team spirit in meeting these goals. NKF can also seek to provide employees with more say in broad decision making. Employees must also be made aware the channels for whistling and encouraged to flag when they feel that things are not right. By doing so, this will enforce that employees have a common and clear knowledge of the companys p ractices. It is evident from the stakeholder map that the government has high salience pertaining to these issues due to power in asserting a large impact. The opinions of the government on NKF will greatly impact the reactions and actions of the public and thus, should not be neglected. In hindsight, having a sound internal governing structure is the first step in preventing the future problems from occurring. The NKF saga was a result of a lack of accountability and mismanagement of funds which was further intensified as NKF was not transparent about meeting the publics interest and allocating the funds in the best possible manner. While the interest and needs of stakeholders are ever changing, NKFs attempts in balancing the varying interests and aligning them in the organizations direction is of utmost importance. This can only be achieved with good corporate governance.In doing so, the successful operation of NKF will establish trust within the government and translate to a win-win situation for both NKF and its stakeholders.

The 13th of December, 1666

The events, which took place on the 13th of December 1666. Made a dramatic change in my life. First I will tell you a bit about myself. My name is Mark. I am sixteen years old and I go to St Paul high school. I have one Brother who is five years younger than me called Bill. I also have a nagging step -mum who has looked after me since I was two. My real mum died in very strange circumstances but dad will not tell me the full story so I don't know much about it. At school I used to have two best friends. They were Sarah and Will. Will has blue eyes and a lovely personality. I had known Sarah ever since I was three. Sarah's mum and my step mum got on with each other really well. Will is one of my best friends; he's the only person who can make me laugh on a bad day. I am no longer friend with them now, after that horrible day of 13th of December. It all started when I was invited to a Will's Halloween party, I loved parties especially the food and dancing. We were all having a great time dancing eating etc†¦Until after the party had ended when Will, Sarah and I played truth or dare it was all fine until it came to my turn. They dared me to go in the haunted house, which was located near by. I couldn't refuse otherwise I would have been called a chicken at school for the next year so I reluctantly agreed. Up in a dark hill where the moon shines through the bare branches which casts an eerie feel to the atmosphere and where many crows are sitting on the branches looking, and waiting for the time to strike for there next victim. Stands an old house, â€Å"The House of Death† its called by the villagers. A chill went down my spine as I was walking up the hill. Flashes of stories came rushing to my mind. I tried to convince my self that those stories were all a bunch of lies. As I got to the top of the hill I reached for the big wooden door, which was covered with graffiti. My friends stayed outside so I would go in alone. As I entered the house I put my torch on, as the light in the house was not so bright I then took a few small curious step down the long corridor the door slammed behind I suddenly jump and took a few deep breaths and don't know what to expect to happen. As I was walking down the corridor the floorboards creaked which echoed down the corridor, water was dripping from the ceiling, there was many cobwebs on the side and corners of the corridor. I wanted to turn around and just run straight through that door which I entered. But I couldn't, I would then have been called a chicken. So I carried on walking down the corridor hoping for this day to end when suddenly I heard a machine being switched on at the bottom of the corridor. â€Å"Who is it, ok jokes over come out now?† I shouted There was no response and I really started to shit my self as there was total silence again I tried to convince my self that it was Will and Sarah being immature but I was still unsure. The silence crated a really terrifying tone, which turned this dare in to a nightmare came true. My head was rushing wild with stories, images and movies of when the main character dies in trying to impress someone. I kept on telling my self that it was all nonsense. When suddenly the light started flickering to my bad luck my torch also went out. I tried to hit it back on and it wouldn't come on. I started singing to my self to take my mind of the horrifying images, which were entering my mind when suddenly somebody or someone was whispering out my name, near the end of the dark corridor. â€Å"Who is it, who are you, stop messing around now it isn't funny† I shouted There was no response and my voiced echoed around the corridor. Frighteningly the lights went out, my heart was pumping faster and faster, my feet felt as if they were stuck to the ground I couldn't move it as I was so scared I was unable to breath I was taking deep breaths. I shouted out on top of my voice † Who are you!† To my joy the lights came back and I was so relieved until I looked on the floor, there was a note saying go to the room on your left. I didn't know what to expect from this note. I got really scared as to thinking that who was behind this insane prank. I didn't know what to expect so I gathered all my courage and decided to enter the room and see what is in store for me I turned to the left and entered the room and there stood in the middle of the room my dead mother. I busted out in tears to see such a sight I was terrified and feeling a sick as she been cut open from many part of her body. I went over slowly to see my mother when suddenly I heard machines being switched on again and this time I also heard my name being called out by someone. I looked all around me to see if any one was there, I couldn't see any one but I was terrified so I ran back to the door which I came from and left. I came out with a white scared face and tears running down my cheeks. Sarah and Will looked in shock when they saw me in the state that I was in. â€Å"What happened in there are you ok,† asked Will and Sarah I told them that my dead mother was in there. Sarah was in total shock her face turned blue. But Will didn't believe me he said that my mum must have been buried as she has died. So he went to see for him self I was outside with Sarah telling her what happened, when Will came rushing out saying there's nothing there I said there is something there. We went in together and where my dead mother once laid was now missing†¦there was a silence in the room I said to my self who or what was it †¦ I'm now writing this in my dying days, My story is the truth it is not some wild fantasy made up to scare people with. Mine really did happen. The story is personal to me and telling it to anyone makes me appear insane to the outside world. I guess it does seem unbelievable in retrospect. The images of that night of the 13th of December still haunt me to this day I am hoping that you will never feel the need to show courage, as I did to my friends, because the results may not be what you expect That night I lost my friends and my sanity.

Failure Analysis/Change Strategy Essay

There should also be a strategy in mind when it comes to businesses in order to prevent failure. The company should have everything documented all the way from budgeting, goals, employees and other important factors that a business will need in order to succeed. There are two companies that are great examples of a business failure and success. The failure would be Blockbuster (movie rental company) and Starbucks (coffee shop). These two companies have been around for years. However, one of the companies failed recently, which is Blockbuster. The objective, vision and mission for Blockbuster was to provide a great service for families and friends to enjoy the presence of movies as if they were at the theatre. Blockbuster was a company that served the public for many years. Having the ability to rent movies from different years and all categories is what helped the business succeed. The vision was to give individuals the ability to see movies that were no longer at the movie theater or on television. The mission was to provide media entertainment. The objective, vision and mission for Starbucks is to provide quality coffee to customers and keep them satisfied. The individuals that work for the company must have an enthusiastic personality to fit the company and keep customers smiling. This has helped them to remain successful along with serving a great beverage. This company also has different franchises all over the world to meet the needs of customers. The indicators from the failure of Blockbuster has a lot to do with structure. There are many companies out there now that are more convenient when it comes to movie rentals. Individuals are able to order movies online and from the actual cable company. There are also movie stands in front of certain stores and individuals can rent those at ease. This business would not be able to keep up with all the advanced technology. The success from Starbucks would be the quality of leadership style that the company possess and structure. The structure of the business is set up in many places which  provides better access for consumers. Any place that a person may go, there is likely to be a Starbucks around to grab a hot cup of coffee. This keeps the company booming and convenience for the customers which keeps them satisfied. This business will to continue to grow with all the different franchises that are also produced.

Frosts simple style is deceptive Essay - 1354 Words

‘’Frost’s simple style is deceptive and a thoughtful reader will see layers of meaning in his poetry.’’ Robert Frost (1874-1963) was a pastoral Rural American poet who portrays a benevolent side to New England in the US. Robert Frost was not fond of the fashion of the time. Instead, he adopted the persona of the New England farmer inspired by natural events. This deceptive but realistic poet had quite an individualistic style in comparison to any other poet, his poetry is written in the everyday, vernacular colloquial language in order to bring across the message he wants his audience to receive. ‘’our literature has to come down sooner or later to the talk of everyday life’’. Frost was predominantly coherent with his language use in†¦show more content†¦However, his poetry may deceive the audience at first and to get the real message, Frost wants his poetry to be read carefully and deciphered well, by thoughtful readers. ‘’If poetry isn’t understanding at all, the whole word, then isn’t worth anything.’’ Nature provides a beautiful but passive background to the horrific event in ‘Out-Out’ (1916). This poem outlines the fragility and brevity of life, as some may think. This poem is open to interpretation. Some think it is heavily emphasized on the brutal accident of the boy and others say that it is emphasized on the last two lines ‘’And they since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs’’. Seamus Heaney commented, that this is the ‘’Grim accuracy’’ of the reality of life. The poem is written in the everyday language and is quite comprehendible, however, is our initial reaction of the accident the actual message Frost is providing to us? Or is it something deciphered at another level? Focusing on the last two lines, it is the reality that people move on. They forget about incidents like this one and continue with their lives. â€Å"In three words I can sum up everything Ive learned about life: it goes on.à ¢â‚¬  ‘Mending wall’ is a quite straight forward poem, there are very little hidden messages in comparison to Frost’s other poetry. This poem is about people erecting barriers among themselves and Frost is not fond of this style of living, he wants everybody to beShow MoreRelatedFrost and Wordsworth1343 Words   |  6 Pagesexerted profound influence on Frost in writing his poems, especially those on nature. In philosophy and style, Frost and Wordsworth appear both similar and dissimilar. Both Wordsworth and Frost wrote in the ordinary language of ordinary people. Frosts poetry, to use his own words, begins in delight and ends in wisdom, whereas Wordsworths poetry begins in delight and ends in delight. Frosts wisdom is best reflected in the immortal line in Mending Wall: Good fences make good neighbors. In Byrons