OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the four ethical communities
2. Apply the ethical communities 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 ethics of the organization influenced the situation.

I would say that the lack of ethics influenced the organizational situation. When it comes

to not being prepared and honest about the financial situation the organization was in, that

shows a lack of ethics and respect for the people who work for the organization. I believe that

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 it is extremely important to be upfront and honest about anything that can impact the

employees of the organization.

My manager lacked leadership and authority when communicating about the new

COVID-19 work regulations. She was unclear about how we needed to conduct work on a

daily basis. This created massive amounts of confusion which ultimately led to some

individuals being accidentally exposed to the virus. Some people would get out of their truck

to sign work orders, others would say in and give a verbal okay; some people would go into

the office and others would not. How people conducted their work varied person by person.

While thinking about my organizational situation, I am able to see that my organization

used two frames (and their ethics) structural frame and the political frame (Bolman & Deal,

2017). Because I work in the oil and gas industry, the focus is always on increasing

production when we increase production, we increase profit for the organization. So, the

ethics I would say are poor. I would say that my organization uses the political frame as well

because we are a competitive environment. We are always competing with each other or

other competition companies.

3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical communities for an alternative
course of action regarding your case.

After thinking about how I would apply one of the ethical communities, I would apply

the “family” ethical community. The family ethical community relates closely to the

symbolic frame and includes caring and love. According to Bolman & Deal (2017), “caring

is one’s compassion and concern for one another”. Compassion and concern are two

behaviors that set precedence for ethical behavior within an organization and with our

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 interactions with one another. Bolman and Deal (2017) make the assertion that love is

something that is almost non-existent within an organization.

If I were to use this ethical community for my organizational situation, I would first keep

my employees needs and interest at the top my priority list. Before making any big decisions

about lay-offs, cutting hours, or moving people around, I would speak with my employees in

an honest transparent manner. I would reassure the people who work for the organization that

I am on their side, and their interests are my number one priority. As for communicating

about safe regulations for daily work during COVID-19, I would use the “family”

community to reassure the employees of the organization that we will get through the

difficulties of COVID-19 together. I would sit down and clearly explain to everyone what is

needed and expected of them and what the consequences are for not following the guidelines.

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

After learning about ethics, I would have handled the organizational situation in many

different ways. I first would assure and reassure my employees that we would do everything

in our power to prevent laying-off people or cutting their hours. If we ended up having to lay-

off employees of the organization, I would be extremely transparent about it and the process.

I would do this because I want the people of the organization to be fully aware of anything

that would occur within the organization that could potentially hurt their future.

I would do few things differently as it relates to informing the employees of the

organization about the COVID-19 working regulations. I would sit everyone down (or have a

mandatory meeting over ZOOM) and I would explain what the regulations are, what is

expected of everyone, and what to do if you see someone not using safe practices. After this,

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 I would then host an open forum, where everyone can ask as many questions as they need to

feel comfortable.

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 Reference
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership

(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass