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 that I am researching in this assignment is the United Auto

Workers (UAW). I work for an automotive supplier as a sales analyst. The company I
work for was impacted by the automotive strikes that happened in the Fall of 2023 by the
(UAW). My role would be considered external since I do not work directly with the
UAW, but decisions made by the UAW can directly affect the company that I work for.
Every four years, the automotive union contracts end for General Motors (GM),
Stellantis, and Ford. The contracts have to be agreed upon by all parties involved,
otherwise a strike happens. This leads to businesses temporarily shutting down and a loss
in business for other companies. Since I work in the sales department, we have lost
business due to these strikes and the automotive companies deciding not to move forward
with certain projects.

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

The politics seems straightforward when it comes to the UAW. There can be a lot
of issues in communication because of the amount of people who are involved. The UAW
has to try and be one voice for all. This makes it tough because not all the members will
agree with the actions being taken. In this case, there were many members who were
satisfied with some of the offers that were made, but there were also many members that
did not think the offer was enough. There are many different viewpoints between
members and these disagreements can cause issues when the UAW has to make a
decision for all of the team members.

Power is one thing that influenced this situation. There are many people that
would say that Shawn Fain engaged in the strikes in this way for fame. If this is what he
did hope to gain from this situation, then his strategy did work for him. “There is no
guarantee that those who gain power will use it wisely or justly” (Bolman & Deal, 2017).

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 There is a big debate on whether Shawn Fain used his power wisely or justly. Some
would argue that he used his power wisely because he helped to increase the benefits for
the UAW members, but others would argue that he did not use his power wisely or justly
because it caused many automotive workers outside of the UAW to lose their jobs.

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

I would recommend to influence more communication regarding what all

members are wanting when it comes to the strike agreements. It is important to have trust
in each other. In this case, it is important that all members trust the UAW since the UAW
is the voice for the members. In order to create more trust, there should be more
communication with members on what they are expecting.

I would recommend creating an agenda and sticking to that agenda. One issue
during this situation is that the UAW asked GM, Ford, and Stellantis for certain benefits.
During the strike, the UAW lowered their agreements. Then, the offer that the UAW
accepted was much lower than they were originally asking for.

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

One thing that I think would be important to do differently is make sure that
everyone is on the same page when it comes to what they want in the agreement. Since
there are so many members, it may be difficult to understand what every single member
wants. Although, I would promote more communication between members and the UAW
beforehand. There should even be discussions on who this may impact.

Power can be a strong influence in an organization. In this case, the UAW and
Shawn Fain were a strong influence. Shawn Fain gained his fame for his strategy at
supporting the UAW members. Shawn Fain was not thinking about the others outside of
the UAW. This caused many people to lose their jobs in the end that had nothing to do
with the UAW. I can understand that his job was to be a voice for the UAW members, but
I would like to encourage him to think about the people beyond the UAW, as well,
including the automotive industry as a whole.

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 References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass