Zachary Buller

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.

The organization and problem I would like to study over the course would be Boeing and
their problems related to the 737-MAX aircraft. I will research this from the role of an
external crisis manager. The 737 max aircraft was developed by boeing over several years on
the same platform as the original 737 plane. The max program extended the length of the
plane, gave it a higher fuel capacity and upgraded its power. All this allowed for more
passengers to fit on the plane while still remaining very efficient. Because of the greater
length of the plane, it had to take off at a much steaper bank than previous aircraft.
Something its computer was not programed to recognize. This resulted in the computer to
take over control from the pilots and essentially flying itself right into the ground. This
caused 346 total deaths over two different flights. Understandibly, many asked “why?”
something like this would begin to happen and began to individually draw up solutions that
they think could resolve this issue. This mental practice is referred to reframing or frames
(Bolman, Chapter 1, Pg: 13). Boeing is believed to have known about this information long
before the plane was released to airliners for regularly scheduled flights. Also, it was later
determined that this new cutting edge aircraft required flight crew to go through new training
to have a better idea of the new and different technology on the plane. The plane had
different flight characteristics that were unlike anything else. This was also not released by
Boeing. Airline operators were flying these planes with pilots that weren’t trained on how to
operate them. This project cost Boeing roughly 20 billion dollars in research and
development, manufacturing, testing, and crisis mitigation after the two crashes. Even after
these accidents, the 737 max is one of Boeings most popular aircraft with high demand from
many airline operators.

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

The political frame within an organization defines resources that groups within the
organization must compete for. Politics within an organization are very noticeable
1
 Zachary Buller

because many individuals have several beliefs and interests they carry with themselves.
In many cases these beliefs and points of view will be opposing on one another. These
varied views create a need to satisfy the needs of others by demonstrating power and
resolving conflict. Once politics has been introduced into the work place you begin to see
something very similar to a competition, but only in the worst ways. Employees begin to
work behind eachothers backs with those that share similar interests in order to receive
the things they want. This generates several small groups within an organization that has
goals and practices that are hidden from the rest of the team and organizational leaders.

In the Case of the Boeing 737-Max project, Boeing had several years to develop a new,
state of the art aircraft. They were running out of time and money to develop it and began
to rapidly roll it into the hands of airline operators. Boeing had hidden several facts from
the public stating that the MAX variant did not need any additional training from pilots to
begin flying, and there was nothing new in the way the aircraft handles that pilots of
other 737 varients could not handle. After the second MAX aircraft crashed, Causing
every 737-MAX to be grounded in the world, investigators began to look at Boeing. After
a year and a half of investigating, it was determined that Boeing had a lot of secrets they
were hiding from the public about the new plane. It was also determined that they had
simply lied about several operational standards too. Because of the new engines, the
aircraft had a different pitch that would have required additional training from pilots.
Something Boeing stated didn’t need to be done. There were also several glitches within
the planes software that needed fine tuning before it was ready for flight. This was also
hidden from the public and further demonstrates how Boeing was in a hurry to make
money and establish some quick sales for this new plane.

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

Politics within an organization are going nowhere anytime soon. One of the key
responsibilities of a leader is to be aware of the influences of politics and how they can be
used to change someones mind or alter their opinions. As a leader you are expected to act
with integrity, honesty, and sometime simply common sense. Regardless of the
influences of others, it is important to consistently lead with these values. Because in the
end, you as a leader made a decision and you are responsible for the outcomes that result
of that decision. No matter who you were influenced by, who changed your standing or
point of view, or who attempted to convince you to act without integrity, decisions are up
to you.
Boeing has consistently been the leader in aircraft manufacturing and distributing for
several years. With roughly 150,000 employees it is safe to say that working at Boeing
will introduce employees to a diverse environment with several varying points of view
and beliefs. With such a diverse culture within this organization, there will be plenty of
people who would be able to change a leaders mind that could result in a catastrophic

2
 Zachary Buller

mistake. Organizational politics operates heavily on a diverse environment. I believe this

is a great thing! Every leader should be open with their team and always be willing to
listen to ideas and strategies from their team as they could deliver improvements to
operations to better meet goals and deliverables. Any leader is going to receive influence,
good or bad from their team. Similar to Boeing, leaders were convinced to cover up
problems within the 737-MAX program which resulted in casualties. An alternative
option would be to simply act as someone else successful within a leadership role.
Someone who has the ability to understand the differences between good and bad ideas.
Had Boeing executives followed better judgement and acted with entegrity, they likely
would have had saved the cost of several lawsuits, and saved the lives of hundreds of
people.

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

I have learned that this frame strongly relies on someones judgement. Several workplaces
are promoting diversity, equality, and inclusion more than ever. As a result, you have a
lot of brilliant minds in one space that have the ability to change ones mind or beliefs.
With all these ideas, it is easy for others to effect your mind and change your thoughts. In
many cases, group settings are always encouraged, as they allow for better
communication and content to be decided on. However, the assigned person in the
leadership role must use their best judgement to determine the decisions that could work
in favor of the group or hurt the group. Judgement is something that is easier said then
done. In many decision making situations, the leader is predicting how the role is going
to play out and won’t know if they made the best decision until the situation begins to
unfold. Even in group situations where decisions were built together, the responsibility
falls on the leader who must determine the best outcomes and shape the minds of a group.

In this role, something else I would do differently is be more aware of those around me.
When working in settings with hundreds or even thousands of people, you will likely
encounter an influence from the general group of the workforce. Influences are great as
they represent a majority of what people within the organization are looking for. When a
large group has an outcome they want, it becomes their goal to influence everyone else to
jump on board and become supportive of that outcome or deliverable. In the case of
Boeing, the influence of others was used in a far more negative mannor. Executives knew
their new aircraft was not flight ready, however demonstrated the power of influence to
convince others that it was. People with decades of experience in the aviation industry
were able to have their opinions completely altered down a wrong path simply by the
power of influence. Its important to keep in mind that these people were very much aware
of the state of the MAX aircraft, and also knew it was not ready for flight, however were
able to be convinced down a different path. This influence may have been through bribes

3
 Zachary Buller

like bonuses, promotions, raises, etc. These allogations cannot be confirmed, however it
is likely that they occurred within the Boeing office. As an external investigator of
Boeing, I would be very cautious of how people act in order to generate influence. I
would understand that influence isn’t always used for beneficial reasons. Influence
should be used to establish a positive change, not life ending changes like in the case of
Boeing.