PAC is a national organization representing over 14,000 paramedics in Canada (Paramedic Association of Canada, 2006). The Paramedic Association Canada is a not-for-profit organization (Industry Canada, 2007). PAC “exists to promote quality care through cooperative working relationships among organizations with national EMS interests. Protection of the Public and development of the profession in the public interest is [it's] foundation” (PAC, 2006, pp.2). The association accomplishes this goal through cooperative consensus building amongst the professional paramedic associations found in each of the provinces in Canada.
The PAC headquarters is in Ottawa, Ontario. Nonetheless, most of the organisational activity is conducted through digital communications or at varying locations of convenience throughout Canada. The PAC is a prime example of a virtual organisation. The use of advanced communications technology and travel has the made the need for a base of operations for managerial tasks redundant and unnecessary.
PAC is lead by a democratically elected president and a board of directors. The PAC governing body (the BOD) consists of elected presidents from each of the provincial chapters in Canada. The BOD elects a chair of the BOD who is provides the leadership of the board. The organization also contracts a registrar (or Chief Executive Officer) who manages the daily operations of the organisation and is accountable to the PAC Board of Directors.
Governance and Accountability
The PAC has never openly discussed or formally analysed how the organization makes decisions or executes business process. To the most part, organisational decisions are performed at the executive level (the BOD and president). The organisation has a set of regulations, however they are often used a reference for proper meeting etiquette, rather than how the organisation makes decisions or holds itself accountable. In review of the PAC Regulations and Bylaws the agency theory is the model of governance for the organization (Paramedic Association of Canada, 2006).
The agency model is not a new concept in organisational governance and still is a commonly used governance model for not-for-profit organisations such as PAC (Miller, 2002). As early as the 1700's, Adam Smith had articulated the complexities of governance and introduced a framework to the agency theory as an effective governance model to guide performance and accountability within an organization that is similar to the agency theory (Brown Governance, 2004, p. 2).
The agency theory model provides insight into the behaviour of the key actors [the BOD, the membership, and the PAC registrar] in a contractual relationship” (Miller, 2002, p. 431). Specifically, the agency theory of governance implies that the principle [the membership], or owner, of the non-profit organization is the donor and that the non-profit administrator is the agent [the registrar] (p. 433). The governors of the organisation are the BOD. They are the elected representatives of the paramedic membership and are the overseers of the organisation (p. 439). As representative of the principal owners, the BOD ensures that the best interests of the principles and the agents align properly. The board of directors monitors managerial action to ensure that the agent does not usurp the interests of the principles (p. 439).
Berle and Means (as cited by Miller, 2002) warns that “that the agent often possesses the knowledge, or skill that he or she needs in order to act on behalf of the principal , we can presume that the agent will not always act in ways that are consistent with the principals [the BOD] expectations” (p. 431). Adam Smith (1776) contested that the agent/owner relationship is destined to be tested by the personal aspirations of the agent diverging from the vision of the executive board. Smith (1776, republished 2001) stated,
It is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals, which seem to know neither this nor any other species of contracts. Two greyhounds, in running down the same hare, have sometimes the appearance of acting in some sort of concert. Each turns her towards his companion, or endeavours to intercept her when his companion turns her towards himself. This, however, is not the effect of any contract, but of the accidental concurrence of their passions in the same object at that particular time (Smith, 1776, republished 2001)