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.

At ComNet, the conflict between the operations and the AV project team is a result of
infighting over a shared resource in the warehouse. The political arena set the rules for
the political dimensions that are in play. The structural framework is heirarhical with with
top-down politics. Operations have a coalition among themselves where they are the
agents of influence. The AV team has it own coalation and uses negation and baraining to
gain access to the resource.

My role as project manager is to intiate my political skills and map the political terrain.
At my organization I found a source of power in unlikely place. The woman I work with
in accounts receivable is responsible for the monthly billing of the clients. Because of the
warehouse issue, I have diffulty getting an inventory count. She is influence by the CFO
to get the biling done. I explain the situation, she inturned explained it to the CFO of
mandated the operations team to assist me with what I needed in the warehouse. The
coalition with accounts receivable is a powerful ally.

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

The political ecosystem at ComNet is internal. Operations is a political ally of the

business unit manager who I think opposes the expansion of the AV division. However,
the AV project team has external political leverage. The lack of cooperation puts $1.3M
project at risk with one of largest clients. Therefore the aclloction the decisions involved
with alloctiong resources, who gets what, is influenced by ComNet’s customers.

When the customers becomes the agent of influence it puts the AV projet team in the
position of power when bargaining and negotiating among the internal steakholders.
Project risk with high profile client motivates the executive team, the target of influence
to relinquish resources.

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

As an alternate approach with in the political arena at ComNet, I could attempt to

Network and build relationships with both supporters and opponents of my plans to use
the warehouse resources. By building relationships I can prove commimment to
consistency, and crate opportunities for reciprocation.

I would also try morality politics. I relationships form, I could demonstrate or at least
remind my oppenents in operations how it would be like if the situation was reversed.
Furthermore, would you want the rest of the company know the project quality suffered
because of the lack of cooperation. Lastly, I would ask are we, Data and AV, operating
under same rules of mutuality? These are alternate attemps to influence the situation from
the bottom up.

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

In the future, before I set out to implement a plan I would set an agenda and map out the
political landscape. To get things done in any organization you have know the power
flow or political influence. In addition, I would seek a mentor who can show me how to
avoid political pitfalls.

After, mapped out the political system, I would be the agent influcne the target group. In
the past I was a Naïve Pollyanna about politics. What I learned here brought me up speed
with my peers. How to navigate the organizational political arena.

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 Reference or References
(Choose appropriate Title if Applicable and Delete the Rest)