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Week8
Read the Closing Case in Chapter 8: Social Entrepreneurship and HR. Answer the 4 questions
(also listed below). Use APA style and a minimum of 650 words, not including title and
reference page. Reference your textbook and at least one additional scholarly source to
demonstrate critical thinking. Note that not following these directions will result in a reduced
grade.
In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck the island nation of Haiti a few years
ago, Oregon-based Mercy Corps arrived with a team of emergency-response experts from around
the world. Focusing on immediate humanitarian needs, the team delivered food to overwhelmed
hospitals and set up services to provide clean water. Mercy Corps also initiated a work-for-cash
pro- gram that paid survivors to aid in clearing debris and restoring buildings, thus providing
them with a little dignity along with the means to purchase supplies for their families and
jumpstart the local economy. In addition, the organization set up trauma centers for children,
using counseling methods that it had helped to develop in the wake of the 9/11 terror- ist attacks
in New York City 8 years earlier. In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that
struck Japan in March 2011, Mercy Corps delivered emergency supplies and set up such
programs as Comfort for Kids to help children deal with the emotional effects of a large-scale
disaster. Obviously, Mercy Corps isn’t a newcomer to the enterprise of providing humanitarian
aid. Founded in 1979 as the Save the Refugees Fund, a task force to help victims of famine and
genocide in Cambodia, it expanded in 1982, becoming Mercy Corps International to reflect its
broader mission. Since its founding, the nonprofit organization has provided $2.2 billion in
humanitarian aid and development assistance to people in 114 countries and annually reaches
over 19 million people in 39 nations. Mercy Corps’s approach to on-the-ground assistance also
involves more than immediate-response and emergency-relief services. According to its mission
statement, Mercy Corps has learned that communities recovering from war or social upheaval
must be the agents of their own trans- formation for change to endure. It’s only when
communities set their own agendas, raise their own resources, and implement programs
themselves that the first successes result in the renewed hope, confidence, and skills to continue their development independently. Mercy Corps thus works to foster “sustainable
community development that integrates agriculture, health, housing and infrastructure,
economic devel- opment, education, and environment and local management,” as well as
launching “initiatives that promote citizen participation, accountability, conflict management, and
the rule of law.” In India, for example, Mercy Corps has taught small-scale tea farmers sustainable ways to grow organic teas and get fair prices for them. On plantations owned by big tea
companies, it’s helped not only to improve living and economic conditions in worker villages but
to form self-governing Community Initiative Groups to manage ongo- ing community needs in
education, infrastructure, and employment. In southern Sudan, which has been torn by Africa’s
longest civil war, Mercy Corps has built networks of local organizations to provide such essential
services as adult literacy, orphan care, and HIV/AIDS coun- seling; other programs have helped to
build roads and community centers and to electrify villages. In Indonesia, where sanitation is a
major area of concern, Mercy Corps has launched a long-term Hygiene Promotion Program. On
Hand Washing Day, for instance, community representatives take to the streets with colorful
buckets and teach children how to wash their hands with soap and water; similarly equipped hand-washing stations have been set up in neighborhoods throughout the capital of Djakarta.
(Dirty hands can cause diarrhea, which kills 2 million children under the age of 5 every year.)
Other programs focus on education and equipment for harvesting rainwater and removing solid
waste from residential neighborhoods. In addition to the devastating effects of war, social
upheaval, and natural disaster, Mercy Corps is also concerned with the effects of climate change
on developing communities. It therefore works to provide “viable economic options as
communities adapt to new environmental realities,” especially in helping poor communities to
cope with “the rising incidence of climate-related disasters such as flooding and drought.”
According to Mercy Corps, its climate- related programs fall into three main areas: ? Alternative
energy: promoting energy sources that support sustainable economic activities
Sustainable resource management: supporting a community’s ability to provide its own
environmental and ecological services
? Advocacy, outreach, and models that work: inspiring govern- ments and communities to rely on
proven environment- and climate-friendly programs When drought in the African nation of Niger
threatened nearly 8 million people with malnutrition and starvation, Mercy Corps not only
mobilized efforts to provide food commodities but also helped local farmers deal with chronic
debt arising from inefficient methods and prior crop failures. A year later, Mercy Corps responded
when Timor-Leste, an island nation northwest of Australia, faced just the opposite in climaterelated crises: Because seasonal rains continued throughout the dry season, when farm- ers plant
and harvest the country’s food supply, drainage systems failed and crops could not be delivered
over impassable roads. In addition to providing immediate relief, Mercy Corps trained local
blacksmiths to make portable silos for storing rice and corn, the country’s main staples. 47 CASE QuESTIONS 1. In what ways is HR for Mercy Corps to be similar to HR at a global business
like Starbucks or Dell?
2. How is HR at Mercy Corps likely to be different from HR at a global business?
3. In general, why do people choose to work for a not-for-profit organization? What unique
advantages and disadvantages does this pose to managers?
4. Are there special issues of diversity that may be highly relevant to organizations like Mercy
Corps? If so, what are they?
