OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

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

My workplace Yellow Freight has been rebranding the company. They are not only changing the
overall name of the company, but combining some of the companies together. I started as a
YRC freight employee and at the first of the year transferred into the Holland arena. Now
we are getting ready to move the company from Holland into the old YRC terminal and
have been charged with implementing a training plan for the Holland employees. There
are quite a few hurdles, starting with locations, equipment, personnel, and technical
systems and my biggest hurdle is we are expected to maintain the same productivity level
despite the personnel from the other company having to learn how to use the computer
system and applications that YRC uses.

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

YRC Worldwide Inc. is an American holding company of freight shipping brands YRC
Freight, New Penn, Holland and Reddaway. YRC Worldwide has a comprehensive
network in North America, and offers shipping of industrial, commercial and retail goods.
YRC Worldwide is now Yellow. It’s time to expect more from the creators of the LTL
industry. We’re one company, powered by five brands, and we have the dedication and
determination to get the job done(myyellow.com).

As you can see there is a complete rework of my company's name and with it the
symbols of the companies have changed from each company not only having an
individual name and symbol to become one of five names and symbols under an umbrella
of one.. "A symbol is something that stands for or suggests something else: it conveys
socially constructed meanings beyond it's intrinsic or obvious functional use."(Zott and
Huy, 2007, pg 72)(Bolman, 2017, pg 241). With this change we are having to learn the
rules and operating systems of our fellow companies and this is what has brought about
the training situation.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.
With each company having their own symbols and environment, I will use this to access
their training manuals (if they have one) and then I can extrapolate the information I need

1
 to conduct the training classes for each group. I can also combine all the information
under one training manual and have it be under the Yellow brand. This will help in future
training not only in my terminal but possibly in the other terminals as they transition into
one cohesive place of business.
Another asset I would like to use is Yellow's values. Values are intangible and define a
unique character that helps people find meaning and feel special about what they
do(Bolman, 2017, pg 244) They say their people and performance sets us apart, and that
their five powerful and successful brands each with their own fiercely loyal employees
will deliver more than ever as one company and I would like to use this as a motivator to
speed the training process up.

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

References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

https://www.myyellow.com/#enterprise-transformation