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
1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.
I work as an assistant general manager for a quick-service restaurant. When we
hired Nick and Tina, they were dating. They had been working at another franchise
location of the same quick-service restaurant. Nick and Tina had been dating and working
together for a few years. We knew that they were dating when we hired them at my
location, and we hired both as managers. The situation in question arises when Nick ends
the relationship with Tina. This caused some drama within the store as employees began
to choose sides. Within a week, the situation got worse. Employees found out that Nick
had a new girlfriend. She was a woman named Megan, who was a newly promoted
manager at our restaurant. Once the employees discovered this, there was even more
drama, gossip, and slander towards all three people involved.
2) Describe how the ethics of the organization influenced the situation.
"Ethics ultimately must be rooted in soul: an organization's commitment to deeply
rooted identity, beliefs, and values" (Bolman, 2021, p. 421). Our organization does not
have any written code of conduct or values statement. So, organizational ethics are the
identities, beliefs, and values that employees bring, mixed with each other and the
managers. Just because we do not have written ethics does not mean we have no
ethics. For example, using profanity towards a customer would violate our organizational
ethics. Some employees come to the job with this value. In contrast, others may have no
problem cursing at a customer. However, as they work, they may see no one else
curses at customers. Or, as they work, they use profanity towards a customer and are
talked to by a manager who tells them they cannot do that.
When it comes to the situation in question, organizational ethics did influence the
situation. Many employees felt like Nick was acting unethically. Many employees also
felt like Megan was acting unethically by engaging in the relationship. This is because
we have a sense of being an "extended family" (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 415). We care
about one another and want to have the best time working together that we can. This
value is generally developed in employees as they work more and more with us. We
also treat each other how we want to be treated. A shared respect is given to everyone
because we all have to work together. This value is generally held before one is
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employed, but it develops as they work with us. When Nick and Megan did this, an
ethical chord was struck. Employees felt Nick violated his responsibility to act in a loving
way. It was unloving of him to break up with Tina and date someone new in front of her.
It also violated respect because no one in our organization would want to be treated this
way. These two violations of organizational ethics are why employees saw the whole
situation as wrong.
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.
Another view of the situation would be that our organization is a "jungle," and the
events that unfolded had to do with Nick's power and Megan's increase in power
(Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 415). This is because the breakup happened around the same
time that Megan was promoted from an employee to a manager. To some, it looked like
Megan was promoted because she was Nick's new girlfriend, as Nick was already a
manager. This is not what happened, as Nick had minimal say in Megan's promotion.
But that does not negate the fact that that's what it looked like. The jungle metaphor is
viewing the situation from a political viewpoint.
A way to remedy this situation would be to demote Nick from management for
some time. This would not have to be a permanent demotion, but it would be long
enough for Nick to figure things out and for the drama to subside. When bad things
happen from a political view, people want justice. This situation was no different. The
employees wanted justice for Nick's unethical behavior. They wanted something to be
done in response to Nick doing something wrong. A demotion would bring justice to the
situation while simultaneously squashing the concern that Megan got this role due to
Nick's power. Or that the relationship was because of a power imbalance, as Nick would
have less power than he did when Nick and Megan started dating.
4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about ethics.
One thing I would have done differently would be to leverage the "extended
family" metaphor (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 415). As employees were upset at Nick, I
could have reminded them that we are still family even though Nick did something
wrong. I could talk about how people make mistakes, but families love them despite their
mistakes. Likewise, we should continue loving all three employees involved in the
situation because that is what families do. I could ask them if a family member in their
family has ever done something wrong, but they still got the benefit of the doubt from
their family.
Another thing I could have done differently would be to move Nick to the other
store for at least a period of time. The owner of our store owns another store, and some
managers go in between the two. By moving Nick to another location, justice would be
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served, as Nick would receive some penalty for his actions. It would not have been
wrong to fire Nick. However, when looking at the situation from a structural and human
resource perspective, it is clear that you want to be cautious about firing people because
they are needed to have a successful organization. One thing we did not do, and I would
not do, is fire or ask Tina to leave.
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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
