OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural frame to your personal case 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) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

Two young African-American men were sitting in the lobby of a Starbucks in

Pennsylvania waiting for a third man to have a meeting about real estate. One of the men
asked an employee for the bathroom and he was told the bathroom was for paying
customers only. They two men were asked to purchase something or leave, and they
denied. The police were then called and arrived on scene after about 5 minutes of
waiting. The police asked the men to leave, and they refused as they felt they did nothing
wrong. The Pennsylvania police then made the decision to arrest the two men and escort
them to jail. My role in this organization is that I am a shift supervisor. I am in charge of
delegating responsibilities and tasks to the baristas on shift, and am responsible for the
cash handling and safety and security of the store while my store manager is not
available.

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

The structure of the organization is clearly defined as vertical, as there is a store manager
at the top of the pyramid and then the shift managers/supervisors below the store
manager, and then partners (employees) underneath. If you wanted to get into the smaller
details, above the store managers there are district managers, area managers, regional
managers, and then anything higher than that will go into the corporate ladder. This
structure affected the situation by following a chain of command that led to the police
being called.

The employee who told the young man that the bathrooms were for paying customers
translated the data of the situation to the store manager, who then chose to escalate the
situation after the men refused to leave and decided that it was the best choice to call the
police. I feel the reason the store manager made this decision was because there was a
policy implemented either by said store manager or the district manager above them that

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 customers must buy something to use the lobby as a shared space. Due to this being a
policy in this store, the store manager must have felt compelled to uphold the policy no
matter the situation, even though the young men were not being disruptive to any other
customers around.

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

To start off, I do not think the structure of this organization is incorrect. For a store that is
as small as most Starbucks are, the vertical structure usually works very well to achieve
wanted results and goals that are set. Having a top-down leadership helps keep every
employee accountable for their actions and makes it easier to notice when an employee is
falling short and needs additional training. For this situation though, I think
communication is the one factor that was missing in the organization. The store manager
who called the police took the most immediate form of action to rectify the situation
based on the policy that was set in place by either themselves or the district manager.

Another course of action that could have unfolded would have been to have a
conversation with you young men about why the Starbucks’ lobby and bathrooms were
for paying customers only, instead of telling them to basically buy something or get out.
If at that point the men were still refusing to leave, the next course of action would be to
contact the district manager for further instructions. Due to the two men not disrupting
the Third Place policy that all corporate Starbucks have, the police being called was not
something that I felt was necessary by the store manager.

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

If I was present during this situation, I feel as if it would not have escalated to the point
that it was. A big concept in Starbucks culture is being warm, welcoming and having
empathy toward others. Even if there was a policy for this store or district that to use the
lobby and bathrooms the customers had to purchase something, I do not feel as if the
current situation needed the assistance of city police to rectify the issue at hand. If I was
the shift supervisor on duty at the time, I would explain calmly to the young man asking
for the bathroom that we currently are only allowing paying customers access to the
restrooms due to recent events like abuse of the bathrooms. I would also explain that due
to this misuse of shared spaces in this area’s Starbucks, only paying customers would be
allowed to stay in the lobby area. I would point out that it does not have to be a large
purchase, just a small coffee or maybe a cheaper pastry item, but as long as there was
some type of purchase made that the two men would be allowed to use the shared space.
If at that point they still refused to comply with the store’s policy, and were also
disrupting other customers, I would contact my store manager and seek assistance with

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how to go about the situation. Without the immediate threat of danger or disruption of the
shared space or other customers, the police being called should have been a last resort.
For an issue as small as the men wanting to use a shared space and the bathroom, the
police have little to no business being called from my point of view. Showing empathy
and understanding of the men’s time and dignity are part of Starbucks’ core mission and
values.

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 Reference or References

Held, A. (2018, April 19). Men Arrested At Philadelphia Starbucks Speak Out; Police

Commissioner Apologizes. NPR.

Gathright, J., & Sullivan, E. (2018, April 14). Starbucks, Police And Mayor Respond To

Controversial Arrest Of 2 Black Men In Philly. NPR.

About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company. (2022). Starbucks.