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Business Administration Degree Curriculum and Managing For Profit and Not-For-Profit

There are some differences in managing an organization that is a not-for-profit one and one that is for-profit. The good news is that the business administration degree curriculum teaches you everything you need to know to handle both. There are big differences though in the goals and objectives of managing them. To look at the differences between the two types of situations I decided to look at two local organizations that I like and may even want to work at some day. These are the American Heart Association which is a not-for-profit organization and K12, an educational provider based out of Herndon, VA (Flexjobs, 2015). These two organizations are different in their industries. The AHA is in the health and advocacy industry and K12 is in education. I am interested in both of them though because they both often come up on lists of the best local organizations to work for in the DC and Northern Virginia area. So even though they have different industries, an important part of choosing where I would like to work one day is how highly the organization is rated in terms of employee satisfaction.

The American Heart Association is based out of Dallas, Texas, but it has major offices in the DC area (The NonProfit Times, 2013). The NonProfit Times, “The leading business publication for nonprofit management,” rated the American Heart Association fourth best among the largest non-for-profit organizations to work for in the DC area in 2013 (The NonProfit Times, 2013). Its mission is “To build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke,” and goes on to emphasize that by saying immediately afterward, “that single purpose drives all we do. The need for our work is beyond question” (American Heart Association, 2015). It is the nation's “oldest, largest voluntary organization devoted to fighting cardiovascular disease and stroke” since it was founded in 1924 (American Heart Association, 2015). This focused mission statement makes it easier for management to perform its duties because the mission statement is clear and concise. Another great aspect of this organization is that it is very old and has a strong reputation all around the world. This means that working for it gives you credibility by association. It has over 22.5 million volunteers, 133 local offices, and 2,700 employees (American Heart Association, 2015). This not-for-profit organization is one of the most recognized in America for a good reason. This is because it is consistently ranked in the top most efficient not-for-profit organizations, which means that it is an ethical and honest organization (The NonProfit Times, 2013). I would love to apply my business administration and management knowledge to work at an organization such as this for these reasons.

K12 is a for-profit online school business that was set up in 1999 because “children's needs were not being met by traditional education models” (About Us, 2015). It therefore provides alternative education that is more cutting-edge than schools (Hechinger, 2011). It uses digital technologies in abundance in order to deliver content (Hechinger, 2011). Its mission is, “To put students first and maximize their potential to learn and achieve” (About Us, 2015). K12 has been very successful in its endeavor in terms of growth. By the mid 2010s, the company had more than $500 million in revenue, a $24 million operating income, and 2,500 employees (K12 Inc. Company Information, 2014). The company is not only fully accredited but because it addressed a need early on that only grew as the 2000s went along, it was able to secure contracts and relationships with the education industry all across the country (Butler, 2015). These relationships are a main reason that it has come to dominate its industry (Butler, 2015). To me, they are exciting reasons to involve myself with a growing and successful company where I could apply my business administration and management knowledge.

Although these organizations ask for a lot of similar things in terms of business administration and management, the fact that one is for profit and the other is not-for-profit makes a major difference. Marymount's management program “prepares students to succeed in this dynamic, intellectual discipline concerned with the solution of problems and the improvement of business operations using specialized knowledge, skills, and systematic analysis” (Marymount University, 2015). This is a very generalized management tract that will prepare me for management in either a not-for-profit or a non-profit as they are mostly the same in terms of business administration as a field. What matters more is the individual organization mindset and attitude. For example, I could work for a not-for-profit organization that had a very traditional management style that was all about hierarchy and conservatism. And I could work for a for-profit that had a very progressive management style. The point is that individual organizational culture is going to make more of a difference in how management and business administration is approached in general than the difference of whether an organization is not-for-profit or for profit. In regards to this difference, if I worked in management for the AHA, part of my strategy would be to keep costs as low as possible and efficiencies high just as it would be if I worked at K12. But the underlying reason and activities would change. At the AHA, my goal would be to put as much money back into the organization as possible to fund its activities. However if I worked for K12, my management goal would be to make as much money from the organization in order to pass it along to private individuals like stockholders and other investors and employees, specifically executives. So the question of whether I would like to work in a not-for-profit or a for-profit does not matter much to me from my management skills perspective because I will be doing the same thing, the difference is who the organization exists to serve. And allegiances can be split, as K12 shows, because children can learn and while investors earn.

References

American Heart Association. (2015). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/General/About-Us---American-Heart-Association_UCM_305422_SubHomePage.jsp

Butler, R. (2015, January 14). Imagine K12's Latest and Largest Class Yet. EdSurge. Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-01-14-imagine-k12-s-latest-and-largest-class-yet

Hechinger, J. (2011, June 2). Education According to Mike Milken.BloombergBusinessweek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_24/b4232076996440.htm

Hoovers. (2014). K12 Inc Company Information. Retrieved from http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.K12_Inc.726653c057ef83e5.html

K12. (2015). About K12. Retrieved from http://www.k12.com/about-k12#.VL-gx0fF9yQ

Marymount University. (2015). Business administration. Retrieved from http://www.marymount.edu/Catalog2014/undergraduate/business-administration.htm

The NonProfit Times. (2013, April 1). The Best Places To Work. The NonProfit Times. Retrieved from http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/BestPlacesToWork_2013.pdf