OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Understand the four ethical communities
2. Apply an ethical community 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 had an internal role within Crabby’s Crab Shack (an anonymous name is being
used). I was a server, bartender and a certified trainer for all the front of house roles. I
played a major role in onboarding and training new staff. At the time I had been with
Crabby’s for about six years, was well respected and often traveled to other locations to
assist in training.
Late one Saturday night, the Crabby’s Crew was ready to go out together and
unwind. I was invited, but declined because I was not feeling well. Leslie was a trainee
who was promoted to server and often went out with everyone. Gloria and Tanner were
new to Crabby’s and excited to join in. Monday came along and I went in for my night
shift. As I clocked in, the manager, Tony, found me and said he needed to talk to me in
the office. I followed him back through the kitchen to the office and Debbie, another
manager, was there waiting. Tony closed the door, he asked what had happened on
Saturday night because something awful had happened to Leslie and he was told I was
there and did nothing to protect anyone. I told Tony and Debbie that I was shocked, as
everyone seemed to get along fine and they left the restaurant to go together with some of
the other staff , when we were done closing. I told them that I was sorry, that something
bad had happened but I was at home, so I was not sure what they needed from me. He
told me that I need to go to the police and give them the information that I had, and that
he extremely disappointed that I would be a part of something so heinous. I told Tony
and Debbie that I had no information to give, because I was not there. Whoever had told
them different was lying. Tony told me to go get to work.

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

I believe the ethics of the organization played a significant role in my situation.

Bolman and Deal (2021, pg 407) mentioned an organization worrying about losing the
soul of the organization, and in my situation I believe that is what happened. Crabby’s
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 Crab Shack was very invested in creating a great place to work, while creating a great
experience for our guests. The accusations that I had to deal with, created a hostile work
environment for me and others, which went against the ethics of the organization. It made
for months of stress and worry for me everytime I stepped in the building. The stress I
faced made it impossible for me to care for the guests in a way that was aligned with the
organization.

While my situation is no where near as unethical as the bribery examples spelled

out by Bolman and Deal (2021), it did create an ethical dilemma for myself and other
members of the team. There was worry about the state of the organization, if these
behaviors were what was modeled from leadership. There was worry, that someone else
might be targeted next. It changed the culture of our restaurant in a way that was not
aligned with Crabby’s Crab shack’s vision or mission. This dilemma was sure to have
negatively impacted the business.

3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical community metaphors (see
Exhibit 20.1 in Bolman and Deal) for an alternative course of action regarding your
case.

This situation is reminiscent of the political frame for the ethical community
metaphors (Bolman and Deal, 2021 pg 414). This was very much a jungle, the political
game was being played. Reflecting back, it seemed as though Tony and Debbie were
playing for power in the leadership contribution. They wanted to make sure they
remained on top, while gossiping brought others down. They stayed in the power role,
until higher up management was brought in to stop it.

Alernatively, I was hoping for the extended family or human resource community
metaphor (Bolman and Deal, 2021 pg 414). I was looking for caring and love. I had put
so much of my time and energy into this organization, and I was expecting that to be
reciprocated from the management team. If the extended family frame was a part of this
situation, I believe things would have happened very differently, there would not have
been the gossip, and I believe that the management would have trusted what I said from
the beginning.

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

Reflecting on what I have learned about ethics, makes me realize just how
unethical this situation was. The management team behaved in a completely
inappropriate, unprofessional manner. Very akin to “mean girls” by spreading and
allowing gossip about me. It is extremely unfortunate that the management team did not
stand true to the ethical values of the organization. There was no caring or love for
anyone involved in this situation. It is truly saddens me to know, that the original victim

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 of this was nothing more to them than a story and I was just something to gossip about.
The damage caused to me and my reputation is not what the organization was about. That
is not the type of employee experience the executive leadership would have wanted for
one of their restaurants.
Bolman and Deal (2021, pg 411) discuss the “spirit and the soul” of an
organization, the core purpose of the organization. I had been an employee for a long
time at this point, and I was well aware of the soul of the organization and everything that
happened was the opposite of what that soul was. Knowing what I now know, I should
have filed a human resources complaint in addition to speaking with the general manager.
If I involved HR, they would have been able to keep track of the unprofessionalism of the
two managers, and hopefully, worked with them on ways to improve their leadership
skills. With HR involved the organization would have been notified at the unethical
behaviors coming from two individuals chosen to represent the organization’s leadership.
I hope that they never did anything like this to anyone else.

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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