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.
I work for one of the largest oil and gas companies in California, located in the San
Joaquin Valley. Within my organization I am a production technician, I am responsible and
oversee the daily production activities and safety within my organization. The situation I
chose to analyze revolved around how COVID-19 negatively impacted my organization in
two different ways. The first way COVID-19 negatively impacted my organization because
we were not prepared for the economic downfall, that was caused by COVID-19. Due to the
economy, we had to lay-many employees off and we had to cut over time, and a few
employee services got cut as well. The second revolves around how our day-to-day activities
at work have had to change. I feel that communication is important, the current supervisor we
have does not give clear and concise directions. So, when it comes to working with these new
regulations, nobody is on the same page.
2) Describe how the ethics of the organization influenced the situation.
I would say that the lack of ethics influenced the organizational situation. When it comes
to not being prepared and honest about the financial situation the organization was in, that
shows a lack of ethics and respect for the people who work for the organization. I believe that
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it is extremely important to be upfront and honest about anything that can impact the
employees of the organization.
My manager lacked leadership and authority when communicating about the new
COVID-19 work regulations. She was unclear about how we needed to conduct work on a
daily basis. This created massive amounts of confusion which ultimately led to some
individuals being accidentally exposed to the virus. Some people would get out of their truck
to sign work orders, others would say in and give a verbal okay; some people would go into
the office and others would not. How people conducted their work varied person by person.
While thinking about my organizational situation, I am able to see that my organization
used two frames (and their ethics) structural frame and the political frame (Bolman & Deal,
2017). Because I work in the oil and gas industry, the focus is always on increasing
production when we increase production, we increase profit for the organization. So, the
ethics I would say are poor. I would say that my organization uses the political frame as well
because we are a competitive environment. We are always competing with each other or
other competition companies.
3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical communities for an alternative
course of action regarding your case.
After thinking about how I would apply one of the ethical communities, I would apply
the “family” ethical community. The family ethical community relates closely to the
symbolic frame and includes caring and love. According to Bolman & Deal (2017), “caring
is one’s compassion and concern for one another”. Compassion and concern are two
behaviors that set precedence for ethical behavior within an organization and with our
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interactions with one another. Bolman and Deal (2017) make the assertion that love is
something that is almost non-existent within an organization.
If I were to use this ethical community for my organizational situation, I would first keep
my employees needs and interest at the top my priority list. Before making any big decisions
about lay-offs, cutting hours, or moving people around, I would speak with my employees in
an honest transparent manner. I would reassure the people who work for the organization that
I am on their side, and their interests are my number one priority. As for communicating
about safe regulations for daily work during COVID-19, I would use the “family”
community to reassure the employees of the organization that we will get through the
difficulties of COVID-19 together. I would sit down and clearly explain to everyone what is
needed and expected of them and what the consequences are for not following the guidelines.
4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about ethics.
After learning about ethics, I would have handled the organizational situation in many
different ways. I first would assure and reassure my employees that we would do everything
in our power to prevent laying-off people or cutting their hours. If we ended up having to lay-
off employees of the organization, I would be extremely transparent about it and the process.
I would do this because I want the people of the organization to be fully aware of anything
that would occur within the organization that could potentially hurt their future.
I would do few things differently as it relates to informing the employees of the
organization about the COVID-19 working regulations. I would sit everyone down (or have a
mandatory meeting over ZOOM) and I would explain what the regulations are, what is
expected of everyone, and what to do if you see someone not using safe practices. After this,
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I would then host an open forum, where everyone can ask as many questions as they need to
feel comfortable.
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Reference
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
