Five Hole for Food

1) The Problem
Considering the Five Hole for Food (FHFF) organization is fast growing, the biggest problem
which Richard Loat is facing is capacity which can keep with the primary goal which is raising
awareness and funds for food. Richard has increased the activities of the organization but is
facing a serious problem of personnel. The organization in most cases relies solely on volunteer
labor which is becoming problematic. The volunteer labor is being overworked and putting in
long hours. This puts the organization in the risk of frustrating volunteer laborers. Besides, due to
the additional activities of the organization, the non-profitable organization is likely to run the
risk of operational efficiency as a result of the uncontrolled expansion that will cost Richard
time, money and other resources. With the expansion of Five Hole For Food activities, there is
funds raised are increasing. Therefore, he needs personnel to ensure the activities of the charity
are smooth. The organization is hosting more hockey events to benefit food banks across
Canada. To organize for more hockey events, he will need more personnel.
2) Formulate Alternative Solutions to the Problem
The growth and expansion phase of Five Hole For Food organization is an exciting time
for Richard. The primary goal of this organization is to raise food and awareness for Canadians
across the country. That said the FHFF continues to increase its activities and is raising a lot of
pounds of food in support of local food banks across Canada which is creating the problem of
personnel capacity. There are various solutions I feel would be doable and appropriate given the
situation Richard Loat is at.

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The first solution I would recommend for Richard would be recruiting personnel that can
perform at their best as recommended by Ardichvili et al. (2003). Richard has depended mostly
on volunteers for his FHFF organization. Considering that the organization’s activities are
increasing the volunteer laborers run the risk of being overworked thus quitting considering they
are the ones who manage it. He should, therefore, consider hiring the right talent to ensure the
efficiency of the firm.
A second possible solution would be to restructuring the organization under the corporate
social responsibility umbrella of a large corporation (Sarasvathy 2001:250). Being under the
umbrella of a large corporation, he will be able to outsource some functions (Sarasvathy
2001:250). He can consider a transitional or permanent arrangement depending on the needs of
the organization. Large companies usually have experts in management and operations so he will
be assured of the best person to help him guide his organization through the changes required to
become bigger and better thus achieving his organizational goals (Austin et al. 2006:14).
The third option which I feel is doable and appropriate is reducing the number of
activities to only a number that can be well satisfied by the volunteer laborers. When the
activities are less, there would not be a strain, to the volunteer laborers. Besides, he will not
require hiring and paying people for the Five Hole for Food organization thus maintain the
culture of the organization.
3) Evaluate and compare the alternative solutions. It is important that you present the pros
and cons of your solutions
The option of hiring and paying people for their time will have various pros and cons.
One advantage of this option is that Richard will have a better schedule control (Sarasvathy

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2001:247). He will be able to specify the work schedule of the person he hires thus the person
hied will be available to handle tasks when they are needed to perform. This would be great since
volunteer laborers might hesitate and be difficult to control since they have no financial gain
from the organization. Volunteers might not be available to persons time-sensitive functions
involving the organization. Another advantage of this option is that he will be able to ensure the
efficiency of the activities of the organization. He will hire trained personnel and thus will have
an essay problem in organizing the management and operation of his teams which will
streamline the activities of the FHFF organization (Sarasvathy 2001:247). Hiring and paying
people would also have some disadvantages. One of them would be changing the culture of
FHFF organization. The firm is seen as non –profit with the aim of creating awareness and to
help contribute food. Hiring and paying will change the organization’s culture, and some might
deem it profit-making institution. Another disadvantage with this solution is that Richard will
incur additional expenses in payment of the employed people. He might also need to offer
benefits such as health insurance which might be expensive for the organization. If he continues
with volunteer laborers, he is not responsible for their benefits, taxes or even their social security
payments. Another problem Richard Loat might face is the provision of accommodations that
will permit those he has employed to carry out their tasks. He might need to provide workspace
and might even need to supply computer equipment, desk, chair and office supplies which are
expensive (Sarasvathy 2001:260).
The second option which would be restructuring it under the corporate social
responsibility umbrella of a large corporation would also have some advantages and
disadvantages. One advantage is that Richard will not have to hire people. The company will
take care of all that under their corporate social responsibility platform thus Richard will save

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money. Another advantage of this option is that the FHFF organization will have access to a
larger talent pool (Austin 2006:20). Additionally, using this option, he will be able to run
efficiently the activities of FHFF organization. He will not have to worry who will run the
organization when he is not available. Large corporations have highly trained expert who can
assemble and organize manage effectively (Austin 2006:20).
Just like other option, the option of joining a CSR under a big company has its
disadvantages. One of them would be a lack of control. Although he will provide direction in
regards to what he will want to accomplish, he will have to give up some control. Being under a
big company might affect the culture of the organization thus impacting its reputation. The
company which will take it will design a CSR with the aim of marketing its brand, product and
services thus will influence the primary goal of FHFF (Ardichvili et al. 2003: 110).
The final solution has various advantages and disadvantages. The advantage will be that
the FHFF organization will support only manageable activities which Richard can manage
properly. He will also not need to hire any person. However, there are many disadvantages to
this solution. One is that the FHFF might not achieve its primary goal which is creating
awareness of starvation due to limited activities. The organization will only raise small funds
which cannot have a huge impact on the Canadain starving population.
4) Recommend and justify an Effective Solution
I would recommend Richard to consider option one which is hiring and paying people.
This way he will increase the efficiency of his organization and help more local community food
banks to raise, food, funds, and awareness. With this option, he will have a better schedule
control since he will be able to perform time-sensitive organization efficient. The potential

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implication of this solution would be increasing the food awareness campaigns in the Canadian
community while in turn getting more funds to help local food banks. Though this solution is
effective, it is a risky one since it will mean that Richard will have to incur additional expenses
to pay the people he has employed. These additional expenses might be costly and thus affect the
primary goal which is raising food and funds for food banks to help the starving.

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References

Ardichvili, A., Cardozo, R. and Ray, S., 2003. A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity
identification and development. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(1), pp.105-123.
Austin, J., Stevenson, H. and Wei-Skillern, J., 2006. PTE& Social and Commercial
Entrepreneurship: Same, Different, or Both?.
Sarasvathy, S.D., 2001. Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic
inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency. Academy of Management Review, 26(2),
pp.243-263.