PCA – Structural Frame Worksheet

Kevin Miranda

OGL 481: Organizational Leadership Pro-Seminar I

Dr. Joy D’Angelo

January 21, 2024

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 OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:
PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet
Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural 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.

In 2020, during the pandemic, we faced challenges in maintaining equipment while adhering
to COVID-19 restrictions and FAA regulations. We couldn't have all the people at the same time
on the office floor and for this Section Chief carried out a virtual meeting for ideas on how to
tackle this challenge. The first idea to work in small teams during outages was dismissed for
uncertainty of restraints duration. I suggested a 5-team organization, each being headed by a
supervisor, who would work at the office once per week, also making sure to balance skills and
experience within each team. In the beginning, there were issues with team composition but after
some discussion, we all came to an agreement. The system I developed allowed efficient
maintenance and training to improve our performance. However, once the restriction was lifted
our efficiency went down because of a lack of motivation and other non-essential
responsibilities.

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

I feel that the structure of the military can be seen as a machine bureaucracy where there
is a hierarchy of a high degree of formalization, a clear division of labor, and a reliance on
standardized procedures and policies. The first initial challenge was the response to the pandemic
restrictions. We had to adapt to the restrictions while maintaining essential maintenance
operations. Naturally, machine bureaucracies tend to have procedures that need to run in order to
operate effectively (Bolman & Deal, 2021). We had to navigate the rigid standards of the FAA
along with the unpredictable outcome of the pandemic. The FAA's strong adherence to their
regulations relative to maintenance procedures reflects organizational conformity to external
standards and that is a hallmark of machine bureaucracies. This adherence also diminished the
flexibility of response to the crisis, calling for innovative solutions working within the paradigm
of these regulatory guidelines.
Organizing a virtual meeting for the supervisors with the Section Chief is an instance of
centralized decision in the machine bureaucracy. The formation of small teams, one supervisor
with three workers, falls within the division of labor and hierarchy context characteristic of
machine bureaucracy (Bolman & Deal, 2021). Such a structure ensured that every unit of the

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team understood its roles and responsibilities, which are instrumental in a machine bureaucracy
to ensure there is order and efficiency.
The machine bureaucracy involved a clear and decipherable structure around which to
make decisions and divide labor, on the other hand, its very own inflexibility made it very
difficult to adapt to the unique set of circumstances that this particular pandemic brought upon
us. Other successful adaptations made during the pandemic, like the rotating team system, have
shown that more flexibility and autonomy within this structured working environment might
bring potential benefits.

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

The recommendation I would use in this structure would be to work with its strengths: clear
hierarchy, standardized procedures, and division of labor. Using its strengths and allowing some
flexibility within that will embrace the challenges of this situation. I feel that similar courses of
action will develop but not the same as mine. The centralized decision-making process should be
utilized by my Section Chief in which he requests different solutions considering our restrictions.
This would help him gain multiple perspectives and devise an all-inclusive plan. From there, the
standardization of new protocols that build upon those already established can begin. This would
include protocols of safety following the pandemic while also achieving the previous goals of
maintaining the equipment.
There can also be an implementation of technology to streamline processes and keep
communication between teams effective. Project management tools, maintenance logs, and
virtual meeting platforms can be used to allow for mechanisms to be put in place that will enable
teams to give their feedback as we move forward. Providing a set of guidelines within the team
rotation plan supports the machine bureaucracy’s division of labor. This alternate course of
action is more inclusive where every supervisor is tasked to provide input instead of my situation
where it was more open-ended and only two of us provided anything.

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

Some things I would do differently given what I have learned about this frame is that while I
would respect the structure and consistency of machine bureaucracy, I would also like to
introduce more elements of flexibility. I learned that the flexibility and autonomy we developed
led to higher work output. I would have liked some flexibility in our communication to go from a
more traditional top-down approach to open and two-way communication. This would have
allowed for more innovative ideas to flow amongst us instead of reacting to issues as they came
forward.
This situation also brought forth where the supervisors were in positions, they normally
are not in. Being more focused on a small team of individuals instead of a bigger group was new
to all of us. Since we dispersed the teams to be evenly skilled, most of us didn’t work with the
specific individuals we were responsible for. This should have been an opportunity to develop
more diversified skills where we trained everyone to the level where in the future, it would not
matter who would go where because we are all equally skilled and experienced. I would like to

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have also used the time to prepare for a transition back to normalcy because it seemed that we
performed worse when we returned to normal operations.

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 Reference

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