OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Political Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the political frame
2. Apply the political frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I work for one of the largest oil and gas companies in California, located in the San
Joaquin Valley. Within my organization I am a production technician, I am responsible and
oversee the daily production activities and safety within my organization. The situation I
chose to analyze revolved around how COVID-19 negatively impacted my organization in
two different ways. The first way COVID-19 negatively impacted my organization because
we were not prepared for the economic downfall, that was caused by COVID-19. Due to the
economy, we had to lay-many employees off and we had to cut over time, and a few
employee services got cut as well. The second revolves around how our day-to-day activities
at work have had to change. I feel that communication is important, the current supervisor we
have does not give clear and concise directions. So, when it comes to working with these new
regulations, nobody is on the same page.

2) Describe how the politics of the organization influenced the situation.

Looking at my organizational situation though the political frame, I believe politics

heavily influence my organization’s situation. I say this because the way my organization
handled the economic downfall of COVID-19 was extremely poor. One area of the readings
stuck in my head and it was, “Morality and Politics” (Bolman & Deal, 2017). When my
organization laid off hundreds of employees, they did not ask questions assessing their
morality and they did not ask the four questions that embody moral judgement (Bolman &
Deal, 2017). I say this because 1) the executives did not think about if they would be doing
what they did to their employees to their family members, 2) they did not think about if the
organization would be better or worse off because they chose to lay off hundreds of people,
3) they also did not consider other avenues that would have rested better on ethical ground
(Bowman & Deal, 2017). The organization also did not consider: 1) mutuality, 2) openness
(as an organization we were unaware of what was going on until it happened), and 3) caring

1
 (when the organization laid off employees, they did not show compassion, nor did they help
laid off employees come up with an action plan) (Bowman & Deal, 2017).

As for the regulations and the whole organization not being on the same page, the one thing
that really sticks out in my mind is “Organizations as Political Agents” (Bolman & Deal, 207).
Though my industry is not education or healthcare, it is an industry that is heavily influenced by
the government. With the new COVID-19 regulations, the executives should have asked people
from the health department educate the employees or managers of the new regulations. This
would have eliminated a lot of confusion.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational politics for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

I would recommend using organizational politics in many different ways for both
organizational situations. When thinking about organizational politics and how my organization
handled the economic down-turn to do COVID-19, I would really ask myself many questions
and take many different into consideration. Before making any decisions, I would make sure that
these decisions were what is best for my people and the organization as a whole. I would be open
and transparent, so that my employees were not blindsided by any layoffs. Lastly, I would make
sure that my employees knew that this was an extremely hard decision, and that we tried
everything possible to not lay off anyone.

When thinking of the regulations imposed on our employees because of COVID-19, I would
use organizational politics to bring in other government agencies to give us a set of strict
guidelines. I would then get together with all of those agencies, have set guidelines so nothing
could be left up to interpretation. When everyone is on the same page, more things go smoothly,
and everyone knows exactly what is expected of them. If people do not know what is expected of
them, chaos and confusion begin to occur and during a pandemic, that is something that should
not happen.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

After learning more about the political frame, I would have asked myself many
questions before laying off any employees. I first would have asked myself three of the
assessing moralities questions. Then, I would have taken at least three of the ethical
considerations. The morality questions I would have asked myself are: 1) would you be
doing this to yourself or someone in your family, 2) I would have asked myself is the
organization better or worse off because of my decision, and 3) I would have considered
all other avenues before making the decision to lay employees off. Before making the
decision to lay off hundreds of employees, I would have considered the morality of the

2
 decision, the openness about what was going on, and compassion (Bolman & Deal,
2017). I understand that sometimes lay-offs are inevitable, but as an executive and leader
it is your job to help your employees realize that this is the last resort. I would have set up
a career day to help the laid-off employees find jobs and I would have made sure that my
employees knew that as an organization this hurt us too. I do not feel that my
organization did this at all, they needed to cut employees to better the bottom line and is
all it was about for them.

When thinking about what I would do different when it comes to making sure
everyone is on the same page with the new COVID-19 regulations, I would definitely
have executives and leaders meet with the health department and other state regulators to
come up with a logical game plan. I then, would set up a training with my leaders to meet
with the health department, so all managers are consistent with what regulations need to
be enforced. After that, I would have a written contract of what my team can and can not
do, so everyone is aware of what they can and cannot do.

3
 Reference or References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass