OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Choosing an Organization Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Identify an organization and situation you want to study over the remainder of the course.
2. Describe the organization and the 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) Name and describe your organization.

The organization I was involved with is called Sakana Sushi & Grill. The

restaurants have been in business for over 20 years in Arizona and have a great reputation

for their sushi and sashimi as well as appetizers and entrees. Sakana Sushi & Grill has

three locations, one in Ahwatukee, one in Glendale, and one in Scottsdale with a location

in Mesa that has since closed. The organization has gone through many changes since its

opening, expanding from just one location to multiple throughout the valley. Many of the

original staff members are still employed, with a deep loyalty to the owners and their

position within the organization. Sakana employs servers, hostesses/cashiers, sushi chefs,

line cooks, dishwashers, and other support staff.

2) Describe your role in the organization (it can be an internal or external role).

When I first started working at Sakana I was just 16 years old and a junior in high

school. With a busy schedule that included dual enrollment classes I received college

credit for, I didn’t have much time to work. In September of 2017 I was hired by the

manager as a part-time hostess/cashier and was excited to get started at my first job. I had

a very difficult time learning my role and what the job duties were. As hostesses we’re

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 expected to take care of to-go orders (answering the phone and taking care of walk-in

orders), seat customers, and bus tables, with many minor tasks to learn and an extensive

menu which required studying to become familiar with. My training was less than

superior, with hostesses/cashiers who struggled to explain what they were doing during

busy times. Rushes resulted in my standing back and watching, the trainer too busy with

their job responsibilities to detail what was happening. Later on, I began serving and my

overall experience with the organization improved, though I was disturbed to see how

tips were split, with sushi chefs receiving a significant amount of tips and none of the tips

allotted to the hostesses/cashiers who contributed so much to the successful turnover of

tables.

3) Describe the situation, including information you think the will help the reader
understand the most important elements of the situation. (This will require
selectivity: part of the art of case writing is separating the essential facts from the
mass of information that might be included).

As mentioned by Bolman and Deal in Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice,

and leadership, “organizations are complex, surprising, deceptive and ambiguous”

(Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 43). During my three years of employment with Sakana, prior

to the COVID-19 pandemic, one complex and deceptive situation involved the division

of tips. It is commonplace in restaurants for servers to keep their individual tips and tip

out support staff from their earnings. At Sakana, all tips from dine-in orders were shared

with 65% going to servers, and the other 35% given to sushi chefs. When servers counted

tips, we often wondered why the sushi chefs received such a large amount of the tips,

considering that their hourly pay was significantly higher than ours. Another issue that

existed was a lack of compensation from dine-in tips for the hostesses who often bussed

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 entire sections, ran food, and were vital for servers to have a successful shift. A

contributing factor to the unequal tips was the fact that the 65% (server tips) was often

split between three or four servers, while the 35% (sushi chefs) was rarely split between

more than two chefs. This lack of equality perceived by servers and hostesses contributed

to the extreme turnover that took place. Perhaps this could have been resolved had we

worked on developing our “ability to reframe” and found a deeper appreciation for our

position, but nearly every month employees left with new ones being hired to replace

them soon after (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 43).

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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.