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Zack Peterson

Professor Willmott

OGL 481

30 September 2020

PCA: Ethical Frame

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

From Module 1, the situation and my role in the situation, as it was initially stated, was

that of a potential candidate for an available position with Urban Outfitters, a well-known

clothing retailer a part of the organization URBN. The position I had been interviewed for was

Social Media Coordinator for the men’s division of Urban Outfitters, where I would have

worked alongside a team of several other creative, like-minded individuals to create content

focused on the vast product range of their men’s department, which would then be shared across

all of the social media outlets belonging to Urban Outfitters. The interview process began in

January of 2016 and came to an end towards the last days of February. Coincidentally, when this

door closed, another one had opened for me. The very next month, I found myself working at an

Urban Outfitters store in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, and would continue to work there

until November of that year. During my nine-month journey of working at the store, I went from

being a Sales Associate to becoming the store’s Women’s Accessories Team Lead within a few

months. In my role, I worked alongside our Women’s Accessories Manager and co-led our three

Women’s Accessories Team Coordinators, all of whom specialized in a specific focus within the

women’s accessories division. In October, I was involved in a situation that was primarily

orchestrated by my store manager, which, to my surprise, would cause me to then leave my role

at the store the following month.

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

The ethics of an organization, as they are pointed out to us in our textbook by Lee

Bolman and Terrence Deal, are largely embedded in soul (Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 396).

Furthermore, the soul of an organization is comprised of their organizational excellence, the care

they exude and demonstrate to their constituents on all levels of the organization, assuring

balance between justice and power, and maintaining faith among their constituents, as well as the

community they are able to reach. Regarding Urban Outfitters, on an organizational level, their

ethic of power is what ultimately influenced the situation. An excerpt I found from the text,

which adds to the context behind my claim, states, “Institutional, structural, and systemic issues

are very difficult for members of dominant groups to understand. Systems are most often

designed by dominant group members to meet their own needs. It is then difficult to see the ways

in which our institutions and structures systemically exclude others who are not ‘like us’”

(Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 394). The reason I was not considered as a serious candidate for the

Social Media Coordinator role is because I did not have a college degree, which was listed as a

requirement for the role. However, because I was approached by a senior talent recruiter from

URBN on behalf of Urban Outfitters and it was made clear that I was not yet a college graduate

at the time, I was under the impression my educational background had simply been dismissed

from my eligibility of fulfilling the role. In the end, though, my lack of a degree, which separated

me from “them,” was the primary drawback to them offering me the role. Due to the fact that the

requirements of the system were designed by dominant group members of said system to meet

their specific needs and expectations out of potential job candidates, naturally, I did not meet

those needs and expectations, which created the exclusion between myself and the organization.
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Regarding the situation where I was caught in an unfair circumstance, which had been

orchestrated by my store manager, the ethic of power is also what influenced the situation and

how it unfolded. Throughout the week’s assigned reading, a theme I have come across is how

there is a distinct difference between that of what managers do and what leaders do. The two do

not coexist as easily, or even at all, as most would assume they do. Bolman and Deal refer to this

theme of a distinguishable difference, citing, “Bennis and Nanus (1985) suggest that ‘managers

do things right, and leaders do the right thing’; that is, managers focus on execution, leaders on

purpose and value” (Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 335). Seeing as how I was just the Women’s

Accessories Team Lead and not the Women’s Accessories Manager, the degree of training and

company intel I had was not nearly as extensive as my manager’s. Even though my store

manager was aware of the level of inexperience I possessed, he still made the conscious decision

to have me conduct and lead an unplanned and sudden meeting, by myself, with a brand

representative; a skill I was not properly trained to do, nor had I been given any pointers of what

to do or say versus what not to do or say beforehand. Even though the meeting went as smoothly

as it could have gone and the brand representative felt certain about the brand’s product

performance in our store based on the report I was able to draw up, the treatment I was given by

the brand representative after the fact is what got me in rough waters between myself and upper

management. Had my manager done the right thing – the right thing being to not let me conduct

and lead a meeting when I did not have any prior experience – he would have conducted and led

the meeting the right way for both the sake of his management role and the sake of the company.

3. Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical communities for an alternative

course of action regarding your case.

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Regarding my case, I would apply the ethical community of justice for an alternative

course of action, which would have led to an outcome completely different than the outcome I

had received back in 2016. A contributing factor to the soul of an organization is justice, as

justice and power go hand-in-hand in assuring an organization’s soul. This quality of ethics is

made clear in its application by Bolman and Deal, wherein they proclaim, “Justice requires that

leaders systemically enhance the power of excluded or vulnerable groups – ensuring access to

decision making, creating internal advocacy groups, building diversity into information and

incentive systems, and strengthening career opportunities” (Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 394). Since

I did not meet the requirements of the system due to my lack of a college degree, it caused me to

be a part of an excluded group to the organization. Although, because I had been approached by

a talent recruiter from the organization to potentially fill the role, that, in and of itself, is

something which should not be discredited. If there was reason enough for them to have

contacted me, out of the blue, and put me through seven interviews over the course of just over a

month, I feel as though that should have been justified for actionable justice. Such actionable

justice could look like an incentive system similar to the system Starbucks has created with

Arizona State University, in providing Starbucks employees with the opportunity to pursue a

college degree while being employed by the organization. Had there been an incentive system in

place at URBN at the time, it would have completely changed the way in which they recruited

and hired individuals, which would have also strengthened either different or similar career

opportunities within the organization for employees.

Similarly, regarding my case, I would also apply the ethical community of justice for an

alternative course of action. If Team Leads were given slightly more power to their role, such as

receiving formal training for how to conduct and lead a meeting with a brand representative from
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a brand that is stocked at your store, I would have been well-equipped and confident to take on

the opportunity of meeting with the brand representative. An excerpt I found from our textbook

which supports my plan for an alternative course of action, states, “Giving power liberates

energy for more productive use. If people have a sense of efficacy and an ability to influence

their world, they are more likely to direct their energy and intelligence toward making a

contribution rather than making trouble” (Bolman & Deal 2017, p. 393). By expanding upon the

responsibilities and duties related to the role of Team Leads within the store, doing so would

offer a stronger sense of connectedness between themselves and the store, as well as the

company, at large. When I was a Team Lead, there were certain parts of my role that I was not

allowed to do, yet there was never enough reason to justify why a manager could do something

that I could not. I believe, had there been more for Team Leads to do in their role, it would

relieve some of the stress the managers carried with them and would create a more enjoyable,

productive, and efficient work environment; one in which everyone feels as though they are

contributing to something that adds to the collective purpose of the store and the company.

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

ethics.

Given what I have learned about the ethics frame this week, what I would have done

differently is I would have questioned the intent of the recruiter’s direct approach to me. Was

their intent to string me along, giving me nothing but false hope, just to use me for the work and

ideas I had disclosed with each person who had interviewed me? Or was there a genuine interest

in what I brought to the table, but, ultimately, they felt it would be too much of a risk to offer

someone the role without being fully equipped to do so? These are questions I still ask myself to

this day, and they are questions I regret having not asked in the moment when I was told I would
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not be considered any more seriously than I had been at that point. My disappointment got the

best of me during that moment on the phone, which prompted me to be short yet appreciative in

my response for the opportunity I had been given so far. However, on the other hand, part of me

believes I would not have done anything differently given what I have learned about ethics. From

the disappointment I experienced came a lot of self-reflection over the following months, which

showed me that maybe I was not meant to fulfill the role with them, specifically. It would be

later on that I would realize my own ethics do not align with the ethics of Urban Outfitters,

which gave me reassurance that the outcome I received was the outcome that was intended.

Reflecting on what I would have done differently, given what I have learned about ethics,

I would have cordially denied the request by my store manager to conduct and lead a

spontaneous meeting with a brand representative. I would have emphasized how my lack of

experience in conducting and leading any meeting at all, let alone a meeting as important as one

with a visiting brand representative, does not make me equipped to carry out the meeting as

rightly as it should. Something else I would have done differently would have been to request his

presence at the meeting to ensure it aligns with the core values and integrity of the company.

Rather than have my store manager be, well, just a manager, he could have been a leader and

used this meeting as a training opportunity for me to benefit from. If he had seized the

opportunity of leadership, the outcome of the meeting would have rightfully met the standards

upheld by corporate, which meant I could have ended up staying in my role with the company

for longer than I did. Nevertheless, though, no matter how many times I reflect back upon this

time of my career, I strongly feel these situations ended when they should have. The self-

discovery I earned from reflecting back to this time reassures me that where I am, now, is where

I am meant to be, which is something I am incredibly grateful for.

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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