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.

The organizational event that I am choosing to write about is my accounting firm’s spring tax
season. I joined the firm in the middle of February and was extremely overwhelmed and
unprepared for the madness of tax season. Tax season is our busiest time of the year and the high
point lasts from mid-March until approximately April 15th. Though this year it was April 18th,
due to the tax deadline falling on a Friday before a holiday. For my role as client services
coordinator, the high point always means a consistent flow of clients & appointments in the
office, constant phone calls, lots of mandatory overtime, and an endless number of returns to be
delivered.

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

Within the throws of tax season, our firm systematically operates much like a factory does.
Clients bring us the documents to be used in preparation of their tax returns, and we deliver the
completed document for them to sign. Their signature is required to file. Our client base is
composed in the majority of high-earning individuals with multiple sources of income. Our
firm’s mission is to alleviate the stress of filing taxes by ensuring that retuns are completed
quickly and correctly. We have a multi-layered review system before any return is delivered to
clients to ensure it is free of mistakes. What our firm lacks during this high volume time is a
sense of authorship (Bolman & Deal, 2017, p. 392).

Leadership struggles to drive home the idea that our work is meaningful to our clients as our
clients’ needs often overshadow that of our employees’. The emphasis is less on what the work
contributes to, and more about the process of getting it done to keep our clients satisfied. Our
clients often surpass their tax preparer and bring their grievances straight to our founding partner,
via email. Personal accountability is limited as our founding partner often takes the return from
whomever was previously responsible and completes it himself.

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

Our organization would benefit greatly from migrating away from the factory metaphor and
becoming an extended family (Bolman & Deal, 2017, p. 392). During tax season, employees’
needs take a backseat to the tasks at hand. The result is great detachment from our roles and a lot
of undue stress.

Leadership needs to take time to listen to what employees need, show concern for such
needs, and make an effort to provide what they can (Bolman &Deal, 2017, p. 393). Moreover I
think what they’ll find is the longing for meaning in our work and a the need to feel connected to
one another during this challenging period. Opening communication channels and showing
employees that our leaders can be compassionate to internal members bolsters respect and unity.

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

Given what I have learned about this frame, I feel as though it is important to contribute to
the soul of my organization. Our current ethical community lacks the sense of authorship from
leaders in order to maintain the level of excellence that is demanded from us. However, sense of
authorship can come from a variety of sources. As the person who handles most client
interactions, I have a more direct connection with their experiences and feedback. During tax
season, many people thank me for the work our firm did for them. Seldom do I relay this to the
preparer as they are often busy working on the next return. I can do better to let the preparers
know when the clients have shown gratitude towards them. Afterall, it is always nice to be
thanked.

I can also share with the preparers some of the stories I have heard which I feel make our
work worthwhile to me. For example, we work with a lot of older clients. I have had three
women tell me that this is the first year they have had to handle the filing of their taxes. The
reason being that their husbands had passed away within the past year. These women were each
stressed and emotional at dropoff and very relieved when they came to pick up the return.
Having our firm take care of their taxes alleviated so much stress for them and took something
unfamiliar off of their plates. Knowing the stories behind the product we provide can create a
sense of meaning and attachment to the work.

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 Reference

Bolman, Lee G., and Terrence E. Deal. Reframing organizations: artistry, choice, and
leadership. 6th ed., Jossey-Bass, 2017.