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.

My role in the situation at the time was assistant store manager. I oversaw all the
home services, installations and specialty departments. The situation that caused
me to lose faith and trust in my superiors was at the onset of the Covid19
pandemic. In March of 2020, as the world was learning about the severity of the
illness and how to conduct business in a health-conscious manner, my son
contacted the illness. At that time, the CDC mandate was that anyone who tested
positive or had someone in their home who tested positive was required to isolate
for ten days. I immediately called my manager who was the store manager and
explained my sons test results and the need for me to isolate. He told me to report
to work, but to keep my exposure a secret from others. I believed it was unethical
for me to be close to customers and coworkers when I might be carrying the
illness and infecting them. After a few days, I contacted my district human
resources manager to seek advice about my manager and my concern for other
people's safety. She asked me if anyone heard the conversation with my manager
and I explained that no one did. She advised me that there was nothing I could do
since no one heard the conversation that it would turn into a “he said”, “she said”
situation. She also informed me to continue to work as my manager said.

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

In business management, we study how one can manage in a way that can achieve
organizational goals. Business Ethics is the moral standards, laws, and ideals that
direct how businesses and people conduct business. Establishing a code of
conduct that guides employee behavior at all levels and fosters customer and
business trust goes above and beyond legal requirements. It's common to think
that some fundamental human needs may be neglected in the pursuit of profit.
This is where the significance of corporate ethics arises.
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 In my situation, I feel that business ethics were not followed by my superiors. Part
of business ethics is to create the maximum good for the maximum number of
people, which would have resulted in a decision to have me isolate so that I was
not potentially infecting other people. Handling procedures and feelings at the
same time might be difficult for some managers. Perhaps my manager was having
difficulty making an ethical decision based off what he was feeling at that
moment.

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.
I feel if the Human Resource Frame, The Family Metaphor of caring and love
would have been used in my situation, the outcome would have been different.
Mangers who use this frame show care and concern as they would their own
family member which is what holds a family together. (Bolman and Deal, 2017.
Pg. 416). A caring family or society needs servant leaders who are considerate of
the needs and preferences of all those involved. This is a difficult responsibility
for leaders to comprehend and manage the well-being of the group.

Being a caring leader starts with awareness; it calls for acceptance, understanding,
and listening. It advances by a growing sense of respect, gratitude, and finally
love. My emotions and inability to understand the situations was just as skewed as
my managers were. I believe had we both taken the time to discuss the matter at
hand including our emotions and feelings, we could have developed a better plan
of action. This in itself would have created a better situation for all involved and
provided a stronger and more respectful relationship between my manager and I.

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

Keeping an open mind to the things that were changing around me was one of the
things I could have done differently in that circumstance. My manager and I were
not considerate of one another's feelings because we couldn't agree on what was
the appropriate course of action. Because of this circumstance and others that had
arisen previously, I thought that the company was losing its soul; yet I don't think
the company was soulless; rather, I think my bosses lost sight of what was
important.

I usually take a human resources approach to leadership, offering understanding

and compassion in most circumstances. However, because my manager is more
focused on his own achievement than the success of the team, he leads from a

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 political frame. I've come to understand that there were other approaches for
addressing the situation after studying and gaining knowledge about the various
frames. It's not necessarily that it was handled poorly, even if I believe it should
have been handled with more care. Both he and I should have behaved differently.

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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