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 name of the organization I am using for my Personal Case Analysis (PCA) is H&G
Construction Co., Inc. This was a small, family owned commercial construction
company. It was my father’s company. The company focused on commercial
construction projects for municipalities, educational and religious institutions, as well as
other private industry ventures. The single project value range that H&G Construction
competed in was from $100,000 to $5,000,000. The total aggregate annual sales for the
company ranged from $3,000,000 to $10,000,000. H&G Construction was a viable and
successful business from 1972 to 2016, when it closed.

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

My role in the organization changed many times during my tenure. I started full time in
1993 as a general laborer. I worked my way up in the organization from that entry level
position, becoming a carpenter, then a field superintendent. After an injury, I moved into
the office as an estimator, then project manager. I became a minority owner in 2003 and
served as Vice President. I left the company, amicably, in 2007. Though I had left the
company to start my own company, I still retained my stock in H&G Construction. At
this time, my role shifted from internal to external.

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).

In July of 2016, my father, the majority owner of H&G Construction, unexpededly died.
His staff and project teams were rattled to their core. At the time, he was in various
stages of construction on three major projects. At 98% complete, the Hendrick Home for

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 Children was in close out. Much of the $4,000,000 contract had been completed. Only
the final distribution of funds remained, which was about $400,000 to be paid out to
various subcontractors. The Beltway Park Baptist Church, North Campus was also close
to completion, but a lawsuit was about to be filed over some significant roof leaks. The
Abilene Civic Center was about 50% complete. There were very time-sensitive deadlines
and events were already scheduled in a facility that was heavily under construction. Lots
of people panicked when my father died.

Comments from the text resonate with me. “Ambiguity has many sources. Sometimes
available information is incomplete, which creates a huge problem for decision makers.”
(Bolman & Deal, 2021). Since I am also a general contractor, I was the only person
capable of stepping in for him. When I stepped in, I had to sort through all kinds of
missing information. I met with my father’s staff and contacted each project team.
Another problem was that I had my own company with a full workload with time-
sensitive deadlines. I went to three separate meetings before we buried my father, to give
assurances to his clients that I could finish my father’s work. Many more meetings
followed. I was able to sign checks, since he never had me removed from the signature
card on his accounts. I retained my stock, so I was able to immediately act on behalf of
the company to stave off litigation. I was also listed in his will as executor of his estate.
No one questioned or challenged me in stepping in.

It was one of the most challenging seasons of my life I have ever been through, though
not emotionally. There was no time for emotion. I went straight into damage control and
systematically dealt with the issues. For the purposes of this assignment, I am focusing
on the decisions and actions associated with H&G Construction and not the issues outside
of that. Those actions occurred virtually simultaneously over the course of a few days
and were:
 Beltway Park Baptist Church: meet with the owner and the project team to
determine how to avoid lawsuit and to address the roof issues.

When I first met with Beltway Park Church, asked them where are we? They told
me they were filing a lawsuit against H&G Construction and its roofing
subcontractor. I asked them to not do that and to give me a chance to contact the
roofer and have the leaks repaired. They told me that these attempts had already
been made. I persisted, promising them that I could resolve the issue without
litigation.

I asked the church if they had any pictures or video of the leaks. They did and I
reviewed them. During a moderate rain, water was cascading into the new
sanctuary. They told me that this happens every time it rains. I called a meeting
with the roofing company and the owner. In the meeting I went over all of the

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 typical talking points and got the same excuses that had been given before. Then,
I showed the video. The owner of the roofing company turned pale and his jaw
dropped. Then I asked him to fix the roof or the next step would be unavoidable
litigation. He mobilized a crew the next day and spent almost $100,000 out of his
own pocket to make the repairs over the next several weeks. The issue was
resolved.

 Hendrick Home for Children: meet with the owner and project team to close out
the project and distribute funds.

This issue did not have the drama that Beltway Park Church did, but there were
some problems to face. Subcontractors were concerned that they would have to
wait on probabte court before they would get their final payments. I contacted my
lawyer and he validated the authenticity of my H&G Construction stock. I was
cleared to distribute funds. The problem was that a couple of subcontractors tried
to submit bogus invoices, thinking that I would not know the difference. I
collaborated with the project owner and H&G Construction project team to ensure
that all distributions were legitimate. It took a few weeks longer that it would
have had dad not died, but we sorted through all of the close out documents and
distributed all funds appropriately.

 Abilene Civic Center: meet with the city and the project team and make an action
plan to complete the project on time.

The city manager and architect were panicked. This project was only about
halfway completed and had a very aggressive construction schedule. The facility
had to be completed within 60 days, as events were already on the calendar for the
Abilene Civic Center. I met with the project team and asked more of them than
they had been doing. I was only able to be there two days per week, as I had my
own company to run with a full work load. I worked seven days a week for
months, and successfully completed the project on time. Some of my own
worked suffered a bit, but we eventually pulled through and completed
everything.

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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