OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the four ethical communities
2. Apply the ethical communities to your case situation

Complete the following: support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other course materials
per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you can update this and format it for your Electronic
Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I work as one of four Protocol Officers for the commander at the Air Force base I
am currently stationed at. My team’s job is to advise project officers on planning and
executing ceremonies and events. During one of many military ceremonies my team was
responsible for, we advised an Airman whose communication approach and lack of desire
to coordinate with team members created challenges. As soon as we were notified of this
project officer’s identity, we contacted the individual to set up an initial meeting to
discuss the ceremony’s scope, intent, and details. At this initial meeting, we typically
give them a timeline for planning and offer to help find any resources they may need.
Unfortunately, the project officer denied this meeting and dropped communication
entirely with my office. We were happy to help but a little frustrated because an event as
big as this takes much planning. Unfortunately, the Airman did not realize this and started
to pass the blame onto myself and my team. Unfortunately, the blaming from the Airmen
did not slow, and they ended up talking to our supervisors and trying to blame us for the
event so stressful for them. Overall the execution of this event could have been better. On
the event day, the project officer was highly stressed, causing extra work for the rest of us
instead of letting us help.

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

The Air Force has a powerful ethical and moral code instilled in us from the day
we sign our contract and take our oaths. On that first day of Basic Military Training
(BMT), we are taught our new core values, Integrity, Service Before Self, Excellence in
All We Do, and the Airman’s Creed. These things are drilled into us repeatedly
throughout our time at BMT. We will do this to engrain a specific culture and core ethical
code that every service member must uphold. This evens the playing field and ensures
that each of us has the same view and perception of the ethics and morals that he or she is
supposed to continuously uphold as a member of the United States Air Force. There is
1
 also an emphasis on being loyal and truthful. These ethics are thrust upon everyone in
service.

Depending on how you look at my situation, these ethics may or may not have
affected the situation. My team and I did our best in a crappy situation; we did what we
were supposed to do without causing unnecessary pain. On the other hand, the project
officer did not uphold some of these core values we are ruled by in the Air Force. They
chose to ignore the structure and reality of the situation instead of trying. I believe the Air
Force’s ethics affected the situation's outcome. The member was held accountable for not
upholding our ethical responsibilities. In the end, the member did step up (no matter how
late), and the event did go off. The people who came to the event probably did not notice
anything wrong.

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

Although the original ethical environment of the Air Force was that of the
extended family ethical community, the environment in our offices is structural and that
of a factory. According to Bolman & Deal (2021), the factory embodies excellence,
ensuring that the work assigned is done as effectively and efficiently as possible. This is
exceptionally accurate to the practices conducted at our level in the base. However, as
you go further from the center of the base, the structure and values become more and
more convoluted. Even though I do not know what the structure of the project officer’s
specific office looked like, the way the individual acted did not compare to the standards
set for us.
I do not think that ethics played a significant role in this scenario. However, if
there were an ethical gap in the leadership, something would have to be done to correct
and correct it; when we took this situation to the member’s direct leadership, it was
investigated by them. “Efforts to do something about the ethical void in management
have ebbed and flowed as dishonor comes and goes. One proposed remedy is a greater
emphasis on ethics in business schools and training programs”(Bolman & Deal, 2021).
According to Bolman & Deal (2021), influential leaders know how to maximize the value
for customers and employees to give the company an organizational soul. Therefore, it
would have been ideal if the members of upper management had tapped into each
employee’s energy and strengths to produce higher productivity and team morale. At the
core of every organization is the team doing the work needed to achieve the company’s
goals, thus, emphasizing the importance of increasing quality/value and compassion
towards the group.

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

2
 Ethics had very little to do with my situation; there was not much I could have
done differently after learning about the ethical frame. Knowing all the facts about the
Ethical Frame, being that they have been instilled within us from the start, I know that my
team acted ethically throughout the scenario. There were many chances to leave our
ethical and moral standards, but I am proud to say we did not do that. We could have
gotten angry and reported the project officer immediately, but we did everything else not
to overreact.
If it were possible to implement values into the project officers, I would have tried
to implement more of the values that organizations like Zappos embraces in their team,
such as creativity, humor/fun, and random acts of kindness toward the employees. We
typically try to instill this into every project officer we work with (because planning
events can be incredibly stressful). “Leading is giving. Leadership is an ethic, a gift of
oneself” (Bolman & Deal, 2021). Nevertheless, we could not do that because the
individual did not come to see us at all.

3
 Reference
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass