OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the four ethical communities
2. Apply the ethical communities 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.

As an employee in the organization, I have witnessed hours given to the

employees have been cut significiantly. Labor hours are given to stores who perform
highly. Starbucks is currently facing staffing shortages causing their performance to
decrease, meaning hours are being cut for employees (Schulz, 2022). Due to the staffing
shortages, we are forced to have modified hours for our store, opening our store later and
closing our store earlier. Hours being cut also means pay is being cut. This causes
frustration among both customers and employees.

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

When examining the ethics of the organization to determine how it influenced the
situation, I think it is important to look at the core purpose of the organization. The
mission of Starbucks is “To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup
and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks, 2022). Starbucks also starts their values off
by stating, “With our partners, our coffee and our customers at our core…” (Starbucks,
2022). Yet it seems as though this situation did not keep the customers or the partners in
mind when making most of the decisions, considering both the partners and customers
were both greatly effected by the situation. As the text explains “A company that loses
track of any redeeming moreal purpose doesn’t provide credible ethical guardrails for its
employees” and because of this “the result is often a spiritual and financial disaster”
(Bolman, 2021, p. 413). This actually made the situation worse by causing some stores to
feel as though they need to unionize.

As an employee, I can vouch that normally the organization does a pretty good
job looking out for their partners and making them feel appreciated, as well as their
customers and making them feel welcomed. However, ever since this situation occurred,
things within the organization have been a little rocky. Soul has a lot to do with the ethics

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 of an organization, as these two can be seen as intertwined (Bolman, 2021, p. 414). So
when there is no soul in the organization, it can lead to a disappearance of the
organization’s normal ethical behavior. This is what influences situations within the
organization and can lead to disasters.

3) Recommend how you would apply one of the ethical communities for an alternative
course of action regarding your case.

A big issue regarding this situation is that a lot of partners feel like they aren’t
being heard or appreciated based on the actions that were being taken in response to this
situation. Starbucks partners want to feel like they are being cared for in their
organization. By not feeling cared for or appreciated, partners are wanting to unionize.
When looking at the ethical communities and coming up with an alternative course of
action, one in particular popped out that I feel would be best for this specific situation.
The human resource frame can be compared to an “extended family” and focuses on the
terms “caring” and “love” (Bolman, 2021, p. 416).

As an alternative course of action, I think it is important to at least show that

partners are cared for an appreciated through these hard times. Leaders should show their
caring side as “One person’s compassion and concern for another is both the primary
purpose and the ethical glue that holds a family together” (Bolman, 2021, p. 417). At our
store, we are all practically a family. We all check in with each other, laugh together, and
hangout. It is also a good idea to show some love to the partners. Love can have multiple
meanings. In this sense, I refer to love as the appreciationg and respect that partners
desire. We took a lot of pay cuts but for those of us that still took around and continue to
work hard to bring performance back up and gain back those hourse, I think we could all
use some appreciation and respect. Show some love by listening to partners and show
some understanding.

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

Regarding ethics, I’ve learned how important it is to stay true to the mission and
values of the organization. In this situation, I think the organization failed to do so. I
would stand by my missions and values and live up to the purpose of the organization no
matter what. This is a tough situation that I know involved tough decisions that needed to
be made. However, the purpose of Starbucks is to keep the partners and customers at the
core so I would have made decisions while also keeping the partners and customers in
mind. I would have kept the soul and spirit of the organization alive and taken the time to
personally check in and make sure everyone is doing alirght to see if there was anything
more I could have done to support the employees of the organization.

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 I would have also showed my appreciation towards all employees. A lot of people
ended up leaving the company in response to this situation. So I would have done
something to thank the remaining partners and show my appreciation. I would have
listened to their ideas, acknowledge their feelings, and show an understanding regarding
their frustration and what they are going through. Transparency is key and especially at
the beginning of this situation, a lot of partners were left in the dark with questions for
their managers that remained unanswered for some time. We, at Starbucks, are a big
family. It’s time we started acting like one again by sticking together by showing our
caring side and showing some love for each other.

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 References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Schulz, Bailey. (2022). You may wait longer for your lattee: Some Starbucks stores cute hours
with staff shortages. Retrieved from
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2022/01/15/starbucks-covid-staff-
shortage/6540528001/
Starbucks. (2022). Expect More Than Coffee. Retrieved from
https://www.starbucks.com/careers/working-at-starbucks/culture-and-values/