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

Medtronic is an organization in the medical device industry. It supplies many different

medical device platforms, from implantable devices to surgical tools. Medtronic started
due to a power outage that affected all the patients that had pacemakers plugged in and
could not run during the outage. Earl saw an opportunity to battery power the devices so
that they could treat the patients not being connected to a wall plug. I am a technician in
the battery department. My department builds many different models of battery
specifically for Medtronic devices. I have a wide range of responsibilities ranging from
equipment support, to calibrated device management, to doing equipment and or tool
qualifications. My situation revolves around when I was a team lead for one of the
production lines. The supervisor had ultimate say but I was allotted a lot of input into the
decisions. I had a situation that I was told I had to give one operator to another line. We
had a good group of eight people with one that was a lot slower at the processes. I was
told the other line needed a solid person, so I was not allowed to give that one slower
operator to them. So, the first decision was pretty easy that I would give them one of the
newest additions to my line. I then had to decide between the two. Both were very
punctual and had both learned about the same amount of the processes at the same speed
and had equal quality of their work. My decision ended up coming down to the social
makeup of the group. One of the two connected a lot more with two strong personalities
on the line, and at times those two could make me feel as if they were strong holding me
into things. I decided that since I had the opportunity, I could not let them become a trio.
So, I gave that operator to the other line. It was a tough decision and had so many inputs
into why I made the decision I did, it also could have come with multiple different
outcomes.

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 2) Describe how the structure of the organization influenced the situation.
The structure of the organization influenced the situation because we have a strong
hierarchy system in our structure, it is top down and the leaders ultimately have the
power to influence any decision that they so choose to. The leaders decided that I had to
move someone based on the information they had. They then decided the one person I
could not move. I was left making a decision that would affect the lives of two operators
and the outcome of two product lines. If I gave the wrong person, it could be detrimental
to either line.

The choice was framed to be mine, but it was hindered by the structure of the company.
My leaders have ultimate say in what happens, so they were able to tell me exact details
of what they wanted me to decide. They left a few small choices up to me but not many. I
do understand that they were making the decision based on financials and what lines
needed to be producing higher numbers. But the top-down structure made me feel very
unappreciated in the fact that the decision was made without discussing with me at all.

3) Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action
regarding your case.
I could have taken a different approach to the situation and use the structure of the
company to make the supervisor make the decision. This may have caused more
problems for me as I would not have say in who stays on my line and does the work for
me. It would be an alternate path for sure though.
I also could have utilized structure to map out the skill set of each individual and use a
structural approach to decide who stayed. Instead of basing it on the personalities of the
team. This could have also made a difference in the outcome. If I had taken the structural
approach, I would have looked at the speed and quality of which they produced parts.
And how many processes they were certified too.

4) Recommend Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you
have learned about this frame.
I think I would have approached my leaders differently than I did. I approached them
with my recommendations, and I think I would have asked them for their thoughts first to
see what they would do. I think that the leaders could have given me more insight into
why they needed this to happen if I had approached it differently. I also think that I could
have made them more aware of the struggle I had going into the situation.
According to the book “there is no one best way to organize” so they may have been
convinced that there was another option. (Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E.)
Upper management is so intent on looking at situations on paper that they do not always
realize the person A and person B are not going to produce the same quality and/or
numbers. To them a full-time employee is a full-time employee.

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 Reference:
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass (ASU Bookstore Automatic Purchase-Perusall Version Only)
(7th ed.). San