OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural 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.

Three weeks ago I was tasked with letting one of our night cleaners, Kate, go after
she no-called no-showed. This situation became complicated when I made the mistake of
telling Kate that we had to let her go because she now had a criminal record, which was
incorrect. Miss communication between human resources, Kate, and myself lead to this
mistake. Kate threatened to file wrongful termination and ignored all texts or phone calls
from human resources, my co-supervisor, our boss, and myself.

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

My company's structure matches with vertical coordination where there is a

“formal chain of command” which is intended to control the work of subordinates by
using rules and policies (Bolman, pg. 55). As Bolman discusses, a chain of command
needs to be both endorsed by subordinates and authorized by superiors resulting in a clear
and accepted command structure (pg. 57). At JB superior our chain of command starts
with the company founder, followed by both co-supervisors, ending with our workers.
After I was promoted to co-supervisor last year there were some workers that did not
fully endorse me as a supervisor which has created tension or resistance. As I
experienced with Kate she was very resistant to follow any directive from me but much
more willinging to comply with my co-supervisor.

Looking at how JB superiors structure influenced the situation, vertical coordination

negatively impacted this situation. Starting a year ago steps could have been taken to
reduce any tension or resistance from workers about me being promoted to co-supervisor.
Working in a small business the chain of command will rarely change. If workers do not
endorse upper management but can learn to respect the hierarchy this will help maintain a
respectful work environment. In my situation, Kate and I never had the chance to resolve

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 tensions and I believe this negatively influenced the chain of events that lead up to her
termination.

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

From the reading, I never saw human resources specifically mentioned in vertical
coordination or placed in the chain of command. I would highlight human resources
involvement and importance in the chain of command. Human resources help establish
supervisors' validity and maintain upper management relationships with the company.
Looking at my situation I feel that if human resources had been involved earlier the
outcome would have been very different. Kate could have explained her side of the story
as to why she no-called no-showed to human resources. Human resources could have
helped contact Kate earlier on about her performance problems or expressed that her
work hours had to be modified due to client complaints about alarms being set off late at
night.

With this being a small family business restructuring to fit more of a lateral
structure could have many benefits. Having meetings, task forces, or coordinating roles
could improve company communication and performance. Currently, we rarely have
meetings among upper management, or workers, which prevents a streamline of
information sharing (Bolman, pg.59). Looking at my situation, creating a task force to
resolve why several of our complaints were received from only one building may have
solved our problems earlier on. As a small business coordinating roles among upper
management to help join everyone's efforts would create a more holistic company goal.

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

I feel like I did some things wrong with this situation, of course, however, I also
feel I did some right. When Kate contacted me I gathered as much information as I could
and then I brought it to the attention of my superior. I was not sure what needed to be
done with Kate's situation so the most logical thing I could think of was to have my boss
informed. He also was unsure of what needed to be done so we both had a meeting with
our HR representative. With my inexperience I thought I really needed the knowledge of
those who have been in the industry longer than I have.

Where I went wrong is when my boss and HR rep put the burden of firing Kate
and collecting her work keys on me, I was still unsure of how to go about it but I failed to
ask for clarification. Also, on the day I had to let go of Kate, I was having trouble getting
her to meet me prior to the start of her shift. Right then and there I should have reached

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out to either of my superiors to find out what to do next. Instead, I listened to my co-
supervisor and delivered the news through a message while also having the wrong reason
for termination. I think it would have been best for me to have contacted my HR rep and
have her reach out to Kate and explain what was going to happen and the reason for it.

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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 (Perusall Version Only)