OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

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

The situation at the social media giant (Twitter) is that the company has been sold

to a new owner that proves to be controversial. A large portion of the current staff have

been fired by the new owner in effort to facilitate the restructuring of the company. My

role within the company is the Human Resources Manager and I am responsible for

assisting the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with the restructure and hiring of key

positions. I must work together with the board of directors and a team of executives to

ensure that we put the right people in the right places to support the vision of Twitter.

Another part to the dilemma is that Twitter must develop a plan that prevent users from

leaving Twitter because of technical issues and the potential for offensive content being

allowed on the platform.

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

Historically Twitter have been known as an organization where employees can

freely express themselves while fostering innovation throughout each department. You

can say that the work environment was highly relaxing majority of the time. As you may

1
 know, when change comes about so does the climate in the place. Sometimes it can be for

better or for worse. In this case, it appears to be for worse.

Once Elon Musk arrived, the company was placed on edge because of the mass

firings and threats of making people work astronomical number of hours to get the

company on track. Employees are scared to say the wrong thing in fear of them being

next on the list. The once relaxed environment Twitter was known for is now more

hostile and chaotic than ever. According to Elon Musk, this is a necessary change that

will remove the company from the previous state of lacking oversight.

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

My recommendation for using organizational symbols would be to enable the

middle level leaders to form small functional teams. I feel this will give some ownership

back to the managers and will empower the employees in taking responsibility for their

work. The company can enforce change while keeping up with the traditional freedom of

speech and innovative climate. All change does not have to be bad. Initially, some people

will be resistant, however including them in the change assist in easing the transition.

Another recommendation is to host a team building exercise that will enhance unit

cohesion. Currently, the environment is uptight with a lot of uncertainty floating around.

It is hard for people to focus and give 100 percent effort to their work when they are

wondering If they will be fired soon. Team building will create an atmosphere that will

allow employee to relax and get a chance to learn about the new CEO. Over time, the

company will revert back to what it was previously known for after he changes settle

down.

2
 4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

After reviewing the symbolic framework, I discovered that it would be good

practice for me as the Human Resources Manager to emphasize the core values and
mission of Twitter. Twitter’s mission is “To give everyone power to create and share
ideas, and information instantly, without barriers”. I feel it is important when giving
recommendations of changes that the mission statement should always be considered.
Our corporate strategy would be to attract the right people for the right jobs, but we must
be aligned with our mission to prevent the public’s view being unfavorable.
I would help create a lighter atmosphere that is more fun instead of being uptight.
In social media type companies it is best practice to keep a fun environment instead of
being stressful all the time. This will allow employees to contribute to their jobs in a
higher degree that what we are currently seeing. The symbolic frame has opened my eyes
to factors that are not so evident, but are important to the overall health of the
organization.

3
 Reference or References
(Choose appropriate Title if Applicable and Delete the Rest)