OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

Personal Case Analysis (PCA) -Symbolic Frame

CONFIDENTIAL

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

Phoenix-Metro Public College (PMPC) is the organization I have chosen to focus on for
my Personal Case Analysis (PCA). I had the opportunity to experience this organization
in both internal and external capacities for no less than two years and my observations
have given me plenty of data to analyze the strengths and weaknesses based on current
structure and desired strategic goals. PMPC considers itself to be a “learning”
organization, both for the customers it serves as well as the nearly thousand employees
staffed there. Based on the current structural frame, “learning” is not always the outcome.
In fact, I would argue that the current structure enforces barriers to learning, especially
for employee development.

As an independent consultant, I have been tasked with analyzing PMPC’s organizational

structures based on the Four Frames (Bolman, 2022) to determine how they may better
reach their strategic goals in providing exemplary service to all stakeholders.

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

As I have stated throughout this case analysis, PMPC has a strong symbolic vision of
learning. There are both tangible and intangible applications here. Not only is it an
educational institution, so learning is a given for those who are patrons of the
organization, but it is also meant to provide the best learning opportunities via highly
knowledgeable and collaborative staff. In this capacity, however, their values did not
align with their actions (Bolman, 2022).

Beyond the written statements of what PMPC believed, its lack of investment in its
employees via learning opportunities, and interdepartmental collaborations, tells its
employees, investors, and students a different story. The symbolic framework of this
organization is out of balance and needs review. Being able to identify that these symbols
have directly influenced the identified situation is the first step in reframing it.

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

I can confidently assert that the recommendations I have made in regard to the other
structural frameworks that drive the organization will be equally as effective here.
Ultimately, encouraging executive staff to review PMPC’s vision and mission statements,

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 and its values will help them to define the true meaning of these things and what they
hope to achieve by adhering to these statements and standards (Bolman, 2022).

Additionally, doing so will allow them greater insight into how every strategic and
organizational decision and action aligns with those symbols. When PMPC’s leaders are
able to confirm their assigned value of being a “learning organization” to everything they
do, they may find greater success in their initiatives, and in their student and employee
successes as well.

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

In conclusion, if I were to consider PMPC as an organizational theater and each

stakeholder as a critical actor in its successful function, I would have to encourage the
executives to place more value in their employees. Each actor within each department
plays a vital role in providing the resources that allow students to be successful in their
studies and degree pathways. Understanding and believing in the value of these
employees that are the very foundation of every service provided on campus could be the
first step in beginning to follow the script that was first written. This dramaturgical
interaction creates the very environment in which every goal can be met (Bolman, 2022).

My call to action is merely a reminder to the leaders of PMPC of the original vision they
set out to achieve. There are no major changes that I can recommend. Their intention has
always been to see those on their campus succeed. Sometimes, with the daily busyness
that many organizations find themselves caught up in, this vision can be temporarily lost.
As a consultant, my job is to remove the barriers that prevent them from seeing and
achieving those goals. Ultimately, PMPC has a wonderful symbolic framework. They
simply need to be able to implement the right processes to ensure its total functionality
and success.

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 References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2022, September 17). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice,

and Leadership (7th ed.). Perusall. https://app.perusall.com/courses/ogl-481-org-

leadership-pro-seminar-i-2022-fall-b-795852759/reframing-organizations-artistry-choice-

and-leadership?chapter=Acover