OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource 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.

Southwest Parking Services is a large valet and parking management company that
provides valet and shuttle service at restaurants, malls, hospitals, nightclubs, stadiums, hotels,
and casinos, as well as managing parking structures. The situation involved losing a major
retail valet client that generated several million dollars of revenue for the company. The
client accounted for about 40% of the company's business. With the loss, the company was
faced with laying off multiple account managers as well as over one hundred valets and
parking attendants. Solving the situation required a major strategy shift and rethinking the
management structure to allow more lateral coordination and empowerment of different
management team members. My role was as an account manager, but as the longest-serving
manager, I was given a seat at the table when strategy decisions were made.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was a middle-aged white male whose
management style would be described as often leaning toward the autocratic side.
However, he was surprisingly open to suggestions and often allowed democratic
decisions to be made in moments of crisis. Overall, the executive team, which numbered
nine people, was a diverse group with women, minorities, and LGBTQ represented. Most
of the members of this team preferred a more democratic approach to leadership.

Because the CEO was open to a democratic approach to finding a solution, the entire
management team, which numbered about sixty individuals, was asked to collaborate and
work on a solution. However, even though a democratic approach was taken, it did not
reach the point of being egalitarian. Egalitarianism includes employees from all levels in
the decision-making process (Bolman & Deal. 2021, p.156); in this case, no one outside

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 the management team was involved. Using the entire team allowed the company to
devise creative ways to save as many jobs as possible. This approach also helped the
company to creatively design a new strategy that would allow them to pivot to a broader
range of profitable clients.

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

The management team at Southwest Parking was able to come up with a workable
plan. However, the company had over 600 employees that were not part of the planning
process. This group included college students, young professionals from other industries,
and several retired executives. These employees were a valuable resource that could have
come up with several great suggestions.

Given the magnitude of the crisis, I would have included everyone in the company in
the process of finding a solution. The company was being forced to change, but using
everyone to help usher in the new era could have brought the change in more smoothly.
This would also have made everyone in the company feel as though they were highly
valued. The company would have benefited from this because people who know they are
valued are more likely to be flexible and give their all when needed.

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

Given how the situation turned out in the long run, it is hard to argue that the best
course of action was not taken. Southwest Parking has grown to be larger than it was at
the time of the situation, and there is now no single client so large that their loss would
jeopardize the future of the company. However, I would have changed a few things in the
human resources frame to empower each employee and hopefully encourage them to
work together to come up with different solutions.

I believe that the tendency for the CEO to act in an autocratic manner created the
situation in the first place. When renewing the contract, I would have allowed the
executives and managers who already had a close relationship with the client to work out
the details without interference from the CEO. I believe that relationships carry more
weight than just money. Therefore, I would have empowered those executives and
managers to use their knowledge of the business along with their relationship with the
clients to forge a long-lasting partnership.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (7th
ed). Jossey-Bass.