OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the symbolic frame
2. Apply the symbolic 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 symbols of the organization influenced the situation.

Starbucks has two main symbols they use in their organization, the Starbucks
Siren and the Starbucks Green Apron. The green apron is the company dress code
approved apron, and has been used to symbolize partner accomplishments such as coffee
master, or special events such as the launch of the Starbucks Rewards program. Starbucks
claims that the Siren symbolizes what Starbucks stands for, being good to people, the
world, and an amazing cup of coffee [3]. So when a customer walks into a Starbucks,
they are expecting the best service they could possibly imagine.

These symbols are universally recognized by every Starbucks employee, and as

such they are to live up to those missions and values. When the partners do live up to
these values, they create the warm and welcoming environment that Starbucks is

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 recognized for, and this is not what happened for those two men. The two men in
Philadelphia obviously got a different kind of treatment when they visited Starbucks that
day, as they were treated unfairly and outcasted, and felt that they were not welcome in
the store. [2]

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

Organizational symbols can be anything from a logo to a mission statement, and

they help paint a clear idea of what the organization stands for or what they hope to
accomplish. Considering what happened in the Starbucks in Philly, the symbolic frame of
equality and warmth was not being upholded by the Starbucks employees.[1] There
needed to be more emphasis put on the idea of creating a culture of belonging, and
wearing the green apron with pride.

While each partner is obligated to read and understand the missions and values
when they first get hired, there is little to no additional stress put on how we live up to
those values every day. Starbucks should have additional training to reiterate the
importance of customers, and create the Third Space for them.

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

Given what I have learned about the symbolic frame, I would have focused on
upholding a culture of warmth and belonging that our partners are supposed to craft, and
if I noticed that there were partners that were not abiding by these standards I would
suggest to my store manager additional training or coaching conversations to help the
partners understand that without customers coming in and enjoying the service and are
we provide for them, there would be no revenue for the business.

Considering that we wear the green apron everyday, and the siren appears on
almost all things ‘Starbucks’ I would tell the stories of how those symbols came to be so
important for Starbucks’ culture. Considering the situation, if the men asked me to use
the restroom and I saw they were not disturbing other customers and using the space as
intended, I would allow them to. They were using Starbucks as a neutral meeting area,
and abiding by the Third Place policies we have in place, so there was no reason for me
to disrupt their lives by calling the police on them.

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 Reference or References

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

Commissioner Apologizes. NPR.

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

To Controversial Arrest Of 2 Black Men In Philly. NPR.

[3] About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company. (2022). Starbucks.