OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the four ethical communities
2. Apply the ethical communities 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.

As the department lead of artist hospitality at Highroad Productions, an event production

company, my primary responsibility is overseeing the arrangements for artists playing
our events. In this particular instance, we were organizing a 4-day music and arts festival
called June Jam, set in the remote Coconino National Forest just south of Flagstaff, AZ.
My role involved coordinating sleeping accommodations and transportation logistics for
out-of-town artists. This entailed renting tents, providing beds and bedding, as well as
ensuring a sufficient supply of food, snacks, and drinks throughout their stay.

Although this marked our fifth year organizing June Jam, it was the year when I received
the contact information for the artists the latest. I had consistently requested the artist
relations director, responsible for contracting the artists, to provide the contact details
well in advance, allowing me ample time to gather necessary information. Despite my
repeated inquiries made months before the event, the information was not made available
until approximately four weeks prior to the festival. As a result, I faced a time crunch to
contact all the artists and collect their arrival and departure dates, transportation modes,
dietary requirements, and other pertinent details.

The delay in receiving the artist information posed challenges in delivering on our
commitments. I was unable to secure the promised high-quality tents and had to resort to
renting from a different vendor. Furthermore, I did not receive a budget from the finance
director, which necessitated frequent inquiries for purchase approvals, introducing
unnecessary complications. The delayed information sharing created additional stress,
and the rushed timeline to gather all the necessary supplies prevented me from providing
the artists with the level of hospitality I had intended.

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

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 Highroad Productions’ ethics are centered around positivity and humor, as well as respect
and kindness. I think some of our positivity and humor can get in the way of being
serious and acknowledging negative situations. This may have influenced the situation
because our positivity and humor tends to downplay challenges. Our respect and kindness
tends to work against us sometimes as well because we tend to forgive and forget as
opposed to facing the hard situations and having difficult conversations. This may have
contributed to the situation because I felt reluctant to bring up uncomfortable topics as it
may be deemed disrespectful or unkind. It’s important to be nice, but I think sometimes
being too nice turns into being a push over.

3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical communities for an alternative
course of action regarding your case.

I propose adopting "The Factory" ethical community as an alternative approach to

address the situation. The core principle of "The Factory," which revolves around
excellence, can significantly benefit us. According to Bolman & Deal (p. 416), excellence
involves maximizing effectiveness and efficiency to achieve high-quality results. The
leadership style associated with "The Factory" encourages autonomy, which, if
implemented, would enable individuals to take ownership of their planning timeframe
and contribute to a smoother workflow. By prioritizing effective information sharing, we
can ensure that everyone has the autonomy they need to excel in their roles, leading to
improved outcomes.

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

I already strive for excellence and even though I had an extremely short timeframe and
wasn’t able to secure some of the hospitality items I would have likes, I still made sure
that all of the artists were comfortable and had a good time. There were many artists that
reached out after the event and expressed their gratitude for the way they were treated.
Many artists have told me that they are never treated that well at other music festivals and
they can’t believe the level of hospitality they are getting when they come to June Jam
because it is such a small festival. I’ve already communicated with my team the
difficulties I faced this year, so they know we need to start planning earlier next year. I
think one thing I will do differently is take a more leadership role and schedule meetings
with my team early on, instead of waiting for someone else to schedule those meetings.

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 Reference

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

Bass, a Wiley Brand.