Peterson 1

Zack Peterson

Professor Willmott

OGL 481

2 September 2020

PCA: Structural Frame

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

As stated in Module 1, the situation I was involved in was an interview process for a

position in which I was approached by from someone who, at the time, was a senior talent

recruiter for URBN. URBN, as an organization, is a retail conglomerate comprised of familiar

clothing brands, such as Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie. The talent recruiter

who had approached me was looking to fill a Social Media Coordinator position for Urban

Outfitters’ Men’s division. After the interview process was completed, taking more than a month

of time, I was not pursued for employment due to the fact that I was not a college graduate. Even

though my academic status at the time was made visible on both my resume and LinkedIn

profile, where I was originally contacted, the minute detail had been overlooked by all but one of

the seven people who had interviewed me for the position. Shortly after receiving the rejection, I

made the decision to work at an Urban Outfitters store in Nashville, Tennessee, where I held a

role in the store for nearly nine months. In that time, I went from being a Sales Associate to the

store’s Women’s Accessories Team Lead in just a few months, where I worked alongside the

Women’s Accessories Team Manager and co-led our three Women’s Accessories Specialists.

When I was caught in an unfair situation, ultimately orchestrated by the management team, I

chose to leave my role at the store and pursue other work elsewhere.

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

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The structure of the organization influenced the situation due to the level of importance

they place on specialization. The authors of our textbook, Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal,

highlight the significance of specialization within the structure of an organization, stating, “On

the other hand, [formal constraints] help to ensure predictability, uniformity, and reliability. If

manufacturing standards, aircraft maintenance, hotel housekeeping, or prison sentences were left

solely to individual discretion, problems of quality and equity would abound” (Bolman & Deal

2017, p. 54). In my case, due to URBN’s hiring process, there is a specialization which is placed

on potential candidates to ensure there is uniformity of educational and professional experience

amongst the multiple teams and groups who work together, as well as predictability and

reliability in terms of each individual’s knowledge and skillset relating to their role. Since I was

still attending college at the time of the interview process, I can understand why I would not be

pursued any further for the role I was presented with by the talent recruiter. However, it puts me,

as well as URBN, in an awkward and uncomfortable position when the talent recruiter informs

me of how they were unaware of my academic status, even though, at that point, they had had

the information within their possession for a month.

Once I started working within a store environment, the structure of the organization there

influenced the situation due to the unjustly authority figure in which it relates to vertical

coordination. Because the unfair situation I was caught in had been initiated by my store

manager, the outcome proved to me how unjust and corrupt the authority style was that my store

manager possessed. Bolman and Deal emphasize the reasoning and application of such qualities

which are comprised of vertical coordination, such as authority, explaining, “A chain of

command is a hierarchy of managerial and supervisory strata, each with legitimate power to

shape and direct the behavior of those at lower levels” (Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 55). My store
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manager, sitting atop of the managerial strata, provided me, someone who sat closer to the lower

level in hierarchy, with the opportunity to brief a visiting brand representative with a report as to

how the brand’s products were performing at our store; a task specifically designated for that of a

manager, rather than a team lead, such as myself. Because I had no experience or training when

it came to the conduction of a brand-oriented briefing, I was unaware of the right thing to do or

say. So, when I am given a gift by the brand representative for providing them with statistical

information relating to the performance of the brand’s products, I find myself being punished

and threatened with job termination for accepting the gift myself and not sharing it with my

peers, even though I was the only one approached to conduct the briefing.

3) Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action regarding

your case.

I would use the structure of workforce nature for an alternative course of action regarding

my case because it would require a stricter set of requirements, as well as a better supervised

hiring process, when it comes to bringing on potential job candidates. Bolman and Deal go into

detail about workforce nature when breaking down structural imperatives of organizations,

noting, “Human resource requirements have also changed dramatically in recent decades. Many

lower-level jobs now require higher levels of skill” (Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 69). Since the

lower-level job I had been informed about from the talent recruiter required a college degree, to

which I did not possess at the time, by default, it made me an ineligible candidate for the job. If

there was more supervision from other recruiters regarding who they contact with potential job

opportunities, the talent recruiter who had reached out to me could have avoided wasting both

my time and the organization’s time since I was clearly not up to their requirement standard.

I would also use the structure of lateral coordination for an alternative course of action
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regarding my case because it would have allowed me to have held the briefing with an

understanding of what to do and say versus what not to do and say. In regard to meetings

conducted under a lateral coordination, the authors of our textbook state, “But in fast-paced,

turbulent environments, more spontaneous and informal contacts and exchanges are vital to take

up slack and help glue things together” (Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 59). Since the visit of the brand

representative was unplanned and very much spontaneous, there was little to no time for proper

preparation ahead of their visit to the store. Because my store manager did not have nearly as

much of the knowledge I possessed when it came to the brand’s product performance in our

store, I can understand why they would approach me and ask if I could lead the briefing with the

brand representative. However, because I did not have prior experience with meetings such as

that, and it was something they were aware of in the moment, they should have known to have

led the meeting themself and allowed me to chime in when necessary.

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

this frame.

Given what I have learned about this frame, even though the outcome destroyed my self-

esteem and confidence for months after, I do not believe I would have done anything differently

regarding the situation. The experience, as a whole, was something I will never forget, and it

allowed me the chance to get a taste of what it is actually like to go through an extensive

interview process for a major corporation. The interviews I endured were completely different

than interviews I had been a part of in the past, which prompted me to think fast and keep on my

toes in anticipation for what would come next. One sentiment that was shared with me by the

talent recruiter, which gave me some reassurance, was after I had been told over the phone that I

would not be pursued any further for the role, the work I had showcased to everyone who had
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interviewed me did not deter them from wanting to pursue me as a serious candidate. It was

merely the fact that because I was not a college graduate it, in the end, discouraged them

pursuing me. So, while the outcome did not bode well for me, I could at least know my

individual talent was good enough to have taken me as far as I had gone in the process.

Given what I have learned about this frame as well, I would have acted differently

regarding the situation I faced while working in the store. Instead of saying yes to leading the

brand-oriented briefing with the brand representative, I would have insisted my store manager to

have led the briefing and I could sit in to observe and chime in when they felt it was necessary.

Because it was so sudden and spur of the moment, I did not have the time to think logically about

what type of circumstances could unfold from the briefing. If I had been given the time to think

about whether or not I would want to partake in this kind of meeting, again, I would have acted

differently, which would have meant a different outcome for my place within the store’s

hierarchy.
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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