Treatment Access And Support

Introduction

Big-C is a charitable organization located in Norfolk, UK. The organization was established in 1980 to help people of Norfolk and Waveney have access to the best cancer treatment as well as other forms of support (Big C). The idea of developing Big-C began with two young men in Norfolk. The two men were suffering from cancer and since there was no facility that could treat them, they were forced to travel to Cambridge or London. The young men thereby decided that they would start an organization that would ensure access to cancer treatment for people from Norfolk. For individuals who are seeking healthcare dissertation help, Big-C stands as a beacon of hope, offers medical assistance, and also emotional and financial support during the phase of challenging times. Some of the activities that Big-C include building hospitals and equipping the hospitals with the equipment that can be used to treat cancer; supporting research on cancer in order to establish to new and better ways of tackling the disease; building information centres which can provide people with valuable information about cancer such as diagnosis of cancer, treatment, and side effects (Big C).

The objectives of Big-C are to: develop and expand information and support services centres across communities in Norfolk and Waveney; finance and promote research particularly within the local medical and science communities; fund staff, facilities, and equipment in order to support diagnosis and treatment of cancer; and generate awareness by organizing and staging events to engage with people in Norfolk (Big C). Like any other organization, Big-C’s activities have management accounting implications, that is, the activities affect the way financial decisions are made in the organization. In this report, a balanced scorecard for Big-C will be developed. Measures under each of the four perspectives will also be provided in order to allow for monthly evaluation of the organization.

Challenges faced by Big-C

As a charity organization, Big-C faces a number of challenges. One of them is the financial problems. Being a non-profit organization, the organization’s main challenge is to raise the financial resources that would help it fund its activities. The main source of financing for the organization is donors and sponsorships (Bingham and Walters 2013). This implies that for Big-C to get enough financial resources to fund its operations, it must attract more sponsors and donors. However, this is challenging since the ability to attract financial support depends on how the organization can prove its legitimacy and trustworthiness. Donors and sponsors normally require non-governmental organizations and charities to prove their legitimacy before they offer these organizations financial support (Ebrahim et al 2014). Trust is also another requirement that charities and NGOs need to develop in order to attract financial support. For example, charities and NGOs are required to demonstrate financial accountability and transparency for them to attract. This implies that a charity has to have a highly efficient accounting department that accurately records and presents the organization’s financial transactions (Weerawardena et al 2010). Transparency in financial transactions makes donors and sponsors to be convinced that their money is being used effectively.

Big-C also faces the challenge of adjusting its internal operations so that it improves the quality of the services it provides. The idea of adjusting the internal operations of an organization is more relevant for profit organizations. This is because business organizations have to constantly adjust to business environment (Bromideh 2011). However, charities such as Big-C and NGOs also need to adjust their internal operations in order to enhance their efficiency in terms of how they use funds. The success of a charity is determined by its social impact. As such, a charity must ensure that limited funds are used in administrative operations while majority of the funds are used to advancing social welfare (Ebrahim et al 2014). Big-C thereby faces the challenge of how to improve its internal operations so that it can spare more funds to invest into hospitals, equipment, and research.

Financial perspective

Since Big-C is a charity organization, the financial measures that need to be adopted should be focused on the cost of operation and generation of financial resources. One of the financial measures that Big-C should adopt is reduction of the cost of operation. The cost of operation is one of the factors which affect organizations (Niven 2011). Business organizations are constantly looking for ways of lowering the cost of production in order to enhance profitability. For Big-C, the need to reduce its cost of operation is based on the need to expand its operations. As indicated in the objectives, the organization needs to fund research, build facilities, and purchase equipment for hospitals (Greiling 2010). The plan to expand its operations implies that Big-C needs more financial resources. One way of securing these financial resources is to cut on the cost of operation.

There are a number of ways that Big-C can use to reduce its cost of operation. One of them is automating and refining processes in the organization. Automation is one of the most effective ways that organizations can use to lower operational costs without affecting service delivery negatively (Cheng and Humphreys 2012). Big-C may acquire process management software that would allow it to automate processes which are currently being carried out manually. Operations such communication, accounting, and HR can be automated, partially or fully, using process management software programs thereby allowing the staff in the organization to save time spent on the activities (Meadows and Pike 2010). Consequently, this will reduce the cost of operation of the organization. Automation will not only reduce the cost of operation in terms of hours spent, it will also help Big-C to enhance operational efficiency through reduction or elimination of human error (Lecy et al 2012). This implies that the resources which are used to fix the errors will be saved lowering the cost of operation further.

Big-C can also lower the cost of operation by cutting down on office space. One of the factors which increase the cost of operation of organizations is the office space (Moxham 2010). The cost involved in office is not only in putting up or renting offices but also funding the daily operations of the office. An organization with a larger office space thereby incurs higher cost of operation (Boateng et al 2016). Cutting down office will thereby help Big-C reduce its cost of operation. Another financial measure that Big-C should put in place is how to increase its financial resources. Currently, Big-C relies only on donors and sponsors for financial support. However, due to the need to expand its operations, the organization needs more financial resources in order to be able to operate effectively (Martello et al 2016). One way the organization can improve financially is to find ways of attracting more donations and sponsorship. To do this, Big-C can organize events to appeal to the public to take part in sponsoring it so that it can continue with its work of helping people in the community (Lee and Nowell 2015). It can also appeal to the existing donors and sponsors to increase their funding.

Apart from looking for more donations and sponsorship, Big-C can also involve itself in revenue generating ventures. The organization should start engaging in business activities so that it can generate revenue to fund its operations (Boateng et al 2016). This will help it successfully fulfil the additional responsibilities it has as well as initiate more projects that are geared towards fighting cancer in Norfolk.

The customer perspective

Customers are the most important external factor for business organizations because they determine how successful a company can be (Meadows and Pike 2010). A company which manages to satisfy customers performs better in the market since this provides it with a competitive advantage (Greiling 2010). However, for charity organizations and NGOs, there is no requirement to satisfy customers because there is no financial reward involved. Despite the lack of financial motivation, Big-C needs to take a number of measures that are customer-related in order to achieve its goals. One of the measures that Big-C needs to consider is increasing the information centres (Niven 2011). One of the reasons for the high level of cancer cases is limited information among people concerning the condition, its causes, and how one needs to do in order to reduce the risk of contracting the disease (Martello et al 2016). Increasing information centres would allow more people to access information about cancer and learn how to handle the situation if they diagnosed with the disease.

Another customer-related measure that Big-C needs to implement is improving the quality of care that is provided to cancer patients. The organization needs to invest more in cancer equipment and drugs as well as train more personnel to handle the cases (Moxham 2010). This will not only improve the wellbeing of patients, it will increase the rate of recovery.

The internal process perspective

The internal operations of an organization determine how effective it is in terms of financial performance and the quality of goods and services that it offers its customers (Lecy et al 2012). In the case of Big-C, the internal process determines the ability of the organization to successfully provide services to cancer patients and disseminate the relevant information to people in Norfolk and Waveney. Some of the measures that Big-C needs to take, and ones which are related to its internal process include: streamline its internal operations, use technology to boost efficiency, and carry out quality optimization (Boateng et al 2016). Streamlining its internal operations will help Big-C to improve the services provided to patients and other stakeholders and reduce the cost of operations. This is because streamlining will enable Big-C to eliminate duplication of roles, increase coordination between departments, and hasten processes. Use of technology, as indicated earlier, will help Big-C to lower the cost of operations through automation and reduction of human errors and increase efficiency of operations and thereby the quality of its services (Lee and Nowell 2015). Lastly, quality optimization will allow Big-C to enhance its performance operationally, increase its cost effectiveness, and provide better services to cancer patients.

The learning and growth perspective

The performance of an organization is dependent largely on the human capital. An organization with a high skilled workforce performs better. Such an organization also realizes rapid growth. In order to enhance learning and growth, Big-C needs to put in place a number of measures. One of them is training of its workforce (Cheng and Humphreys 2012). The organization needs to provide its workforce with training in order to enhance their knowledge and skills which would them to perform better. Another measure that Big-C needs to put in place to increase learning and enhance growth is creating an information capital. The organization needs to develop an information system that would provide information concerning its work, the failures it has encountered, and what it needs to do in future (Meadows and Pike 2010). This will help Big-C to realize growth because it will look for ways to constantly improve on its performance by building on its successes and handling its failures.

Conclusion

Basically, as a charity organization, Big-C faces a number of challenges. These challenges include financial and operational problems. The organization needs to put in place measures that would ensure its improved performance. These measures include: reducing its cost of operation; increasing its financial resources in order to be able to carry out its mandate and expand its operations; improve the quality of care provided to cancer patients; increase awareness about cancer; improve its internal operations; improve the knowledge and skills of its workforce; and increase its information capital. These measures will help it to enhance its performance.

References

• Big C n.d. Inproving lives of those affected by cancer in Norfolk & Waveney. Norfolk’s Cancer Charity.
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• Martello, M., Watson, J.G. and Fischer, M.J., 2016. Implementing a balanced scorecard in a not-for-profit organization. Journal of Business & Economics Research (Online), 14(3), p.61.
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• Niven, P.R., 2011. Balanced scorecard: Step-by-step for government and nonprofit agencies. John Wiley & Sons.
• Weerawardena, J., McDonald, R.E. and Mort, G.S., 2010. Sustainability of nonprofit organizations: An empirical investigation. Journal of World Business, 45(4), pp.346-356.

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