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 company I am working at is a new technology enterprise proliferating its business.

Because of the poor economic situation - inflation and rising energy prices have led to
severe financial losses for the company. Also, the competition in the industry is fierce.
Other companies have launched newer, lower-priced products to beat ours, which has
caused us to lose some customers in certain markets. The company has spent a lot of time
and money developing new products, but now there is no more budget to recruit new
people to fill the line of business to match the required skill set of the new product. Also,
sometimes the product fails to meet specific deadlines because of the approval policy
based on the corporate hierarchy. Furthermore, the upper management is considering
laying off some employees from overstaffed departments if necessary to cut down on
expenses. My role in the organization is as a project manager responsible for finding a
solution to best suit the company in this urgent situation.

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

As environmental uncertainty becomes the norm, the corporate culture can be critical in
determining whether a business will thrive or fail. The organization highlights its culture
and values through symbols. Moreover, it is crucial to establish brand awareness in the
minds of consumers through effective publicity channels and the development of
enterprises. Symbolism conveys a unique business philosophy in the organization's
business activities, including the enterprise's culture, values, and attitude toward many
stakeholders.

1
 3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

The company has a symbol of holding hands as the trademark. We intend to use the
existing trademark to develop new products and markets. Having good technology and
products does not necessarily guarantee the success. It must also have a good sense of
trademark management and market development capabilities.

We will express corporate culture through intangible symbols - the trademark, thereby
affecting the behavior of employees, which can directly affect the way of interaction
within the organization. Corporate culture affects the way a company's business activities
interact as well. These two ways of interaction will directly affect the organization's
efficiency and operational performance.

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

I would still like to increase the influence of spreading symbolism within the organization
because it is a powerful tool that can directly impact business efficiency. Organizational
culture is the foundation of the company’s construction and directly determines its
business strategy. At this stage, business development is not only profit-focused like in
the past but also takes the sustainable development of society as a concept and promotes
it into the corporate culture.