Appalachian Mountain Club: Transforming Governance, Case Study Example

Introduction                                                                                                                                     

Leadership is an inevitable source of organizational competence. Through time, different options and types of leadership has made a definite point of transformation on how organizations dealt with particularly complicated situations. With complications arising, it could not be denied that the world is in continuous search for specific individuals who know what they want and are able to do something about such desire. With the emerging culture of organizational improvement, efficient leaders are expected to make it to the front line, especially in making sure that organizations take on the definite path towards growth and success.

Charities and non-profit organizations have a distinct need for such individuals as well. Practically, having good leaders at their disposal makes these organizations more functional especially in the way they respond to the expectations that the society has set for them to reach. In the discussion that follows, a determination of good leadership shall be given attention to, based on the concept of improvement and transformations that three particular organizations took into account in order to create a massive distinction on the role that they are taking as member of the society that they are existing with. Through evaluating their strategies and measuring their efforts, the leadership options taken into account by the supervisors and the managers of the organizations shall be carefully taken into full consideration especially for the sake of determining what is needed to help the organization adapt to a particularly definite sense of advancement for the sake of supporting the cause that the organization is founded upon. To be able to fully evaluate the level and strategies of leadership that have been taken into account by these organizations, the following questions shall be carried into consideration.

Issues and Questions of Concern:

Internally, who do you think performed the most laudably in discharging a well-articulated admission, in recruiting and managing staff talent, in relating well to, and maximizing the value of the board of directors and other key volunteers, in delivering sound operating results and in paying adequate attention to such elements of the balance sheet as cash reserve and/or endowment. How did they achieve these and why?

Considering the cases presented and provided, the three organizations [namely the Teach for America organization, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the United Way Movement] are all dedicated to particular goals to which they have been primarily rooted upon. The foundation of their operations draws the line by which they are noted for. These operations are designed to make a mark on how improvements in the industry are all dedicated towards creating a reputable stand for the organizations and how they ought to be accepted and noted by the public they hope to influence.

Leadership is a primary element that basically insists on how an organization is brought into a state of social acceptability and effective communal function. It could be understood through time that when it comes to identifying with the state of development that the organization hopes to accomplish for the sake of determining its role in identifying with the social development that these entities hope to provide the communities with. What is assumed as good leadership does not come into existence immediately; instead, it is honed through time and experience as the organization itself takes a definite turn especially when it comes to mandating a better sense of insisting on how a particular individual set to lead the organization is able to manage and direct both the resources and the people into accomplishing distinct goals that are designed to make a mark on how the organization makes a name in the community it exists in.

For the sake of evaluating the given cases, it could be realized how the transformation of the management of the Appalachian Mountain Club takes a definite turn especially in making a distinct insistence on how the priorities and the directive operations of the organization are practically managed to be set to support a particular goal. Taken into account the experience of the organization, the overall transformation of the club’s function accounted for the strategic leadership by the new individuals who were assigned to take the said position accordingly. Most likely, the organization’s new set of leaders paved the way towards a more strategic form of existence. Practically, the emergence of changes was distinct enough to make a mark, especially on reevaluating the position of the club in the field of competition that it was supposed to face up with.

On the other hand, the movement of the Teach for America organization was also consistent with the goal that they have been noted to exist for. Creating a new option of improving the way the society recognizes the organization accounts for a better sense of being able to recruit the right people for the right position. The management did not fully expect the results of the new movement. Instead, the organization thought of such process to be less rewarding than it really has become. Little did the management know that a mere presentation of the organization to local campuses and universities would get the interest of the right minded and fully motivated students accordingly.

Teach for America’s goal to improve the provision of education in rural areas became more of a reality due to the fact that the organizational leaders did not set aside the chance to embrace change and become more insistent on how they get access to the right resource in order to make a definite transformation as desired to the communities where they aim to operate in. Most likely, the capacity of the organization to invite more interested individuals to join in their purpose depends on the idea of becoming more visible to the public and explaining their cause for existence to the people; hence getting their interest to join in the process of development that they are being  lead to embrace.

On the other hand, the internal concerns of the United Way Movement made their option of transformation more focused on changing their internal operations instead of involving others from their external connections. Reestablishing the conditions by which the society sees the improved reputation of the organization itself makes the adjustments more reflective of the system’s internal strength.

Externally, who dealt most impressively with foundations, corporations, individual donors, government officials, journalists, consumers, and other stakeholders and interested parties? How did they achieve a measure of success with these constituencies and why?

In connection to external operations, the most effective organization that took the challenge more efficiently still points out to the Appalachian Mountain Club. The new and transformational operations of the organization opened up for the chance to make distinct connections with outside partnerships and alliances. This consideration over the comparative connection that they have with other organizations existing alongside them makes the operation of the organization more effective and more recognized in the community. Before such bold movement to take on the chance to market the services and the features of the club, the organization and its role as well as its purposes were less known to the public. However, with the realization of how the option of growth ought to be given attention to, the management of the club knew they had to take the risk and make distinct investments that could bring them more returns that would better improve the concept of balance that the financial resources of the organization needed to have.

The imbalance in the financial sources of the organization pushed the management to take on risky options; nevertheless managing the operations fully to avoid a jeopardizing essence of the situation made it easier for the whole organization to take on a more workable pattern of transformation that lead the club into gaining more attention from the public while also gaining more interest from prospective members of the club who would likely make positive appeal and appreciate what the club has to offer. Through this condition of change, it has been evident that the organization tries to create a definite essence of new implementation how it publishes its name for public recognition. Most likely, the approach intended to create a new and impressive picture to the target members of the society who are likely to accept the invitation of the club.

Teachers for America on the other hand made a definite insistence on such concept of improvement on getting the attention of the public to be involved in the process of gaining the right human force to support the operations of the organization in getting the learning-teachers into becoming interested in practicing their craft in less urbanized areas where the need for educational assistance is high. Creating bold information campaign to support the ideas and the purpose of the organization in bringing high-edge education to learners in rural areas is an essential part of the process. Nevertheless, getting other organizations or educational institutions involved in the campaign was not a particular strength that TFA had up on its sleeves. Perhaps the desire to focus on single campaign that would be much easier to manage on the part of the organization’s administrators made such attempt to singular development more effective for the group; however it could not be considered to be in par with the performance of the Appalachian Mountain Club movement in relation to its operational transformations.

Finally, taking into account all of the strengths and weaknesses of the leaders, which one of them would you most like to report to as an employee and which one of them would you most like to oversee as a trustee. Why?

 The leaders of the Appalachian Mountain Club would likely be the best choice to work for. Their determination to tread along a pattern of growth that is most likely based on effective management makes it easier for employees to be practically directed on what they are supposed to do or what role they are supposed to take into account in relation to the condition of operation that the organization is expected to accomplish. Noting what the organization has experienced through time and how it has accomplished to pick its operations up from such tumultuous conditions gives an indicative insistence on what the organization is capable of doing, what is capable of acquiring in relation to the growth pattern that it hopes to embrace now and even towards the future. This record of successfully handling the challenge of a trying part of the organization’s operation makes it certain that the group itself would be much capable of handling the same pressures in the future.

The organization that would be much interesting to oversee would be that of the United Way Movement. The status it had to redeem itself from proves the fact that it has the need to be looked over accordingly. Protecting the members of the group from being further judged and reestablishing the reputation of the organization in the face of being assumed to have a low grade morality is what needs to be managed accordingly. While the organization has already learned from such condition of failure and has made particular changes in their systems of operation, it could not be denied that making sure that such points of adjustments be completely managed to avoid future failures is a necessary step to oversee.

Conclusions  

 Based from this case-based evaluation and response, it is obvious that leadership strategies to have particular impact on how an organization progresses especially in the way it engages in modern aspects of development and face particular conditions of complicated situations. The three organizations that have been given attention to in this analysis make a distinct insistence on how leaders take on the consideration over providing the most effective and strongest foundation that needs to be given attention to especially when it comes to making change and transformational strategies work for the organization accordingly. The determination of the leaders to take the unconventional route to success is what distinguishes their desire to keep on moving forward even amidst the rising need to keep a strong stand in the middle of a tumultuous situation and further proves their capacity to rise to the challenge and keep on moving forward.

Organizations benefit well from leaders who have the right condition of thinking and right motivation to bring the whole organization into greater stakes of development which later on benefits the different elements that make up the internal and external connections of the organization. Most likely, employees would be much willing to work for administrators who are able to embrace better options of redevelopment and leaders who have enough strength to carry on the risks that are necessary to take into account when dealing with the options of growth aimed to be embraced by a particular group. It is with such reputation that trust among stakeholders of the organization is built accordingly.

Works Cited

Appalachian Mountain Club: Transforming Governance. Harvard Business School.

Childress, S. (2005). Teach for America. Harvard Business School.

Glaser, J. The United Way Scandal. John Wiley and Sons Inc.

House, Robert J. (1996). “Path-goal theory of leadership: Lessons, legacy, and a reformulated theory”. Leadership Quarterly 7 (3): 323–352.