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.
• Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.
The situation selected for my personal case analysis revolves around an overly ambitious
founder and CEO, Trevor Milton, and the fraudulent actions taken that led to Federal
Fraud charges and his personal demise. My role with the organization is an external
investor.
• Describe how the symbols of the organization influenced the situation.
The symbols of Nikola Motors were prominent and integrated into the culture from the
onset of the organization. One of the main symbols of the organization was the CEO
Trevor Milton himself. He was revered as a hero based on his early accomplishments
including obtaining over two-hundred billion in capital and a contract with General
Motors. His use of theater catalyzed his fall after putting on quite a show through false
advertisements which misled investors. A great description of theater is offered by
Bolman and Deal (2021) when writing theater arouses emotions and kindles our spirit or
reveals our fears. It reduces bewilderment and soothes open wounds. It provides a shared
basis for understanding the present and imagining a more promising tomorrow. Milton
did all of this but it was with bad intent and led to repercussions that will haunt the
organization for its entirety.
In the time period that this happened with Nikola there was great pressure being formed
for electric vehicles to be produced by the government and I feel that was part of the
culture created. This symbolized a fast-paced, get the job done now instead of done right
mentality. There were many other EV organizations forming to battle Elon Musk's
pioneer of the industry, Tesla, as well as to gain a competitive advantage over established
companies possibly stuck in their traditional automaking ways. These different industry
pressures created a tense situation for Nikola as they tried to gain market share in that
space which pushed Milton too far.

• Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.
Organizational symbols could have been utilized to create positive values that could have
 been at the cornerstone of Nikola's culture. I would have pushed more cohesiveness
among departments through symbols of open communication and possibly inter-
departmental meetings in order to cultivate collaboration. The values that count are those
an organization lives, regardless of what it articulates in mission statements or formal
documents (Bolman & Deal, 2021). Nikola created the perfect image, it was strong
enough to fool century old organizations into investing which was done through the use
of staging when viewing this from a dramaturgical perspective.
My goal would have been to use similar methods because they were successful but with a
push to remove Milton as the sole hero of the organization and create a collaborative
environment that focused on shared accountability. There were countless hours by the
team and years of devotion wasted by Milton due to this one ethical decision that was
found to be mainly because of pressures created by false promises. Using stories, Milton
could have easily instilled an honest culture describing the hard work it took to get
Nikola where they would have organically created a hard-working culture.
• Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.
Knowing what I know now there would have been some things that were done
differently. As stated before Milton would have more constraints put on his power from
the genesis of the organization going public and the board's power being created. Less
emphasis would have been placed on trying to emulate the timelines of other major
manufactures as I feel this was a key failure on Milton's part. As Bolman and Deal (2021)
describe contemporary organizations gain legitimacy through isomorphism—reflecting
current thinking about modern management technology. I feel trying to compete with an
established organization should have been placed on the backburner.
One might wonder if the funding would have still been obtained but I would have
preferred to not receive the funding considering most of it was lost with the truth being
revealed anyways. Less emphasis on theater and more on internal strategies and outputs
would have been in place as I feel if more actual work was done Nikola would be ahead
of the competition at this point still. Instilling a culture of honesty and transparency
would be the main goals as this is what caused the downfall.

Reference
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass