United Way and the Boy Scouts of America - a Case Study
United Way and the Boy Scouts of America
Background
The United Way of America is an organization which takes in donations from people and businesses and distributes the funds to programs across the nation to help serve the community.
One of the organizations which receive funds from the United Way, is the Boy Scouts of America. In 1990, an assistant scoutmaster was found out to be gay and was expelled from the Scouts as consequence. This went to the courts with the final verdict being that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) had the right to expel James Dale, the scoutmaster in question. This has been seen as the BSA having a discriminatory policy of admittance into the Scouts. The United Way has an anti-discrimination policy however they do not impose this on the organizations which receive funds (Jackson, 2009).
Central Dilemma
After the Dale story broke in the papers in 2000, the United Way of Columbia-Willamette’s (UWCW) head Larry Norvell knew that it was time for the UWCW to address allocation of funds to the local BSA organization, the Cascade Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America (CPCBSA).
The big dilemma for Norvell is whether or not to address the discriminatory actions of the BSA and CPCBSA organizations and what the impact of this decision will mean to all stakeholders, the contributors, the organization members, the agencies, and the community. As one advisor to Norvell posed, what will happen to the people who need assistance from the UWCW if contributions fall (Jackson, et. All 2009)?
Answers to Case Study Questions
Larry Norvell faces an ethical issue, however one that I feel he can handle as a business decision.
The concern for stakeholders here is that ultimately the UWCW is around to assist organizations by providing funding to better the community as a whole. 100% of contributions go to agencies, as such the only people who will directly be impacted by a drop in contributions would be the people who need those
Background
The United Way of America is an organization which takes in donations from people and businesses and distributes the funds to programs across the nation to help serve the community.
One of the organizations which receive funds from the United Way, is the Boy Scouts of America. In 1990, an assistant scoutmaster was found out to be gay and was expelled from the Scouts as consequence. This went to the courts with the final verdict being that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) had the right to expel James Dale, the scoutmaster in question. This has been seen as the BSA having a discriminatory policy of admittance into the Scouts. The United Way has an anti-discrimination policy however they do not impose this on the organizations which receive funds (Jackson, 2009).
Central Dilemma
After the Dale story broke in the papers in 2000, the United Way of Columbia-Willamette’s (UWCW) head Larry Norvell knew that it was time for the UWCW to address allocation of funds to the local BSA organization, the Cascade Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America (CPCBSA).
The big dilemma for Norvell is whether or not to address the discriminatory actions of the BSA and CPCBSA organizations and what the impact of this decision will mean to all stakeholders, the contributors, the organization members, the agencies, and the community. As one advisor to Norvell posed, what will happen to the people who need assistance from the UWCW if contributions fall (Jackson, et. All 2009)?
Answers to Case Study Questions
Larry Norvell faces an ethical issue, however one that I feel he can handle as a business decision.
The concern for stakeholders here is that ultimately the UWCW is around to assist organizations by providing funding to better the community as a whole. 100% of contributions go to agencies, as such the only people who will directly be impacted by a drop in contributions would be the people who need those
References: Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S., Werner, S. (2009). Managing Human Resources (10th ed.) . Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning http://www.unitedway-pdx.org/about/index.html http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/UnitedWay-Top.html http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/SF-BSA-RetaliationLetters.html http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/06/19/story1.html http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-82447427.html http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use_philadelphiadhq.nsf/vw-news-34/743A5F3F0D0E444D852574C20075C6C5?opendocument http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7806:alternative-to-united-way-emerging&catid=155:nonprofit-newswire&Itemid=986