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.
Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.
I have chosen to describe a situation that occurred in my previous organization. At this
organization I sold clothes in a store in the mall. For the first four months I worked in the store
Outsold all 7 other employees week after week. At this point we learned that our company had
been sold and we were now combining with another store to create one large store. We moved
from 9 employees to well over 30, during this process many of the employees I worked with
were either fired or quit. I was promoted to a managerial position that transferred my
responsibilities from selling clothes to structuring sales goals and training new personnel.
Describe how the structure of the organization influenced the situation.
This organization had a pretty clear vertical structure where everyone knew who they
were going to report to. Unfortunately some less important roles such as "Visual manager" who
directed the mannequins, were kind of left in the middle where no one knew if they were higher
ranking or not. This brought some confusion when we had to meet certain deadlines for the
corporate office. After we merged companies the new larger company had much more clear
structure, still following a vertical frame but with more clear roles.
For example many of those in between roles that we had disappeared. People were
brought in to specialize in that role, so instead of the sales staff helping a manager with
decorating mannequins it became someone's sole purpose at our organization. This helped to
eliminate any confusion surrounding this gray area.
Recommend how you would use structure for an alternative course of action regarding your
case.
Before the company had been bought I do believe there would be many benefits in the
reconstruction of the original company I started working for. If we could have defined clear roles
for each individual I believe that the efficiency at the company could have been a clear path
towards success. Oftentimes individuals would come into work not knowing what to expect. The
managers had tasks that they were required to complete weekly and often recruited the help of
the sales staff. Sharing tasks l;ike this left confusion across the board, I believe that if we could
have re constructed the frame we might have had a chance at staying as our own company.
Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned about this
frame.
In this case I do believe that the new company that bought us did us well. It was very beneficial
to take on their way of business. They were more organized in their structure as well as their
clear defined roles. Many problems that popped up day to day would not be ignored until the
last minute. I think that our company would have benefited greatly from a restructure in order to
minimize tasks getting lost in the gaps, oftentimes workers would either not be doing what was
expected of them or they would be doing things that they are not getting paid for.
Reference or References