OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Political Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the political frame
2. Apply the political 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.

My role is an Operations Supervisor in Bowlero Corp. My role when this situation occurred
was an internal role and one that I feel I can still have a full picture of the situation that
occurred. The situation boils down to when a party left a tip for the staff. It was quite large
and was to be split between the staff who worked for the party. He left $100 to the server and
bartender and then $50 each to the two kitchen staff. I was not there for the discussion of
how he was splitting the tip, which occurred with my GM and the contact as there was a form
that had to be filled out and I had not split a credit card tip before. The bartender felt that she
deserved all of the tips as she worked “the whole party”. This was not the case as the cooks
worked the party as well as Amber until Roxy scared her off of the bar. Roxy also felt that I
should be on her side because of our relationship when I was following what the contact
wanted. Roxy ended up walking out mid-shift, angry with what happened, and quit. The tip
later was not claimed under anyone and ended up being put in as $0. I forgot to claim it or
communicate that it be transferred to another employee since I had swiped into the computer
when he left the tip to be divided. I then called him to come back and leave a tip which he
said he would and then never came. The company did a payout to provide the staff with the
tip since it was an honest mistake.

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

The recognized people of power in the situation were me, the customer deciding who gets
the tip, my general manager who helped me since I did not know how to split a credit
card tip and had my back with HR, and the district manager who made the decision to
complete a payout for the resolution. The power is centered around a hierarchy structure
and applies to all issues and areas regarding the business. The district manager and HR
are not directly involved in the day-to-day, however, their presence is there if a situation
arises. The primary basis of power was simply transferring money to the right people
based on the costumes wishes. It was based on the customer's analysis of who earned
what and how the employees interacted with him and the party. The relationship between
power and authority is just in this case and does not seek to be more powerful than
another. The authority of the tip is based on what the customer wanted and the managers
who could make that happen. In this case, money produced conflict and the employee,
Roxy, who was upset at the monetary value the customer felt she earned, was at will to
that. The customer did not mean to cause harm or for her to quit her job, he simply was
dividing the tip between the staff who worked for the party and gave her more than
others.

There are no obvious coalitions, but Roxy may feel this is what happened.
Because Roxy felt powerless in the situation, I tried to ask and explain to her if she feels
the rest of the staff did not earn that money. She was too upset to think this through and
decided to leave. She later expressed to me when she picked up her paycheck that she
blamed our GM for what happened and not me, simply because she had never had to split
a tip before and our GM was the one who simply knew how to do it at the time. There
were no issues discussed or bargaining in the backroom as Roxy did not want to resolve
the situation or understand the customers' reasoning.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational politics for an alternative

course of action regarding your case.

I would use organizational politics to my advantage in this situation again and be more
aware of the different levels of authority involved. I would instead create a network of
support and negotiate for both allies and adversaries. I often would defend the staff even
if the staff was in the wrong to show that I am on their side however in this situation, I
needed to defend the customer's decision as well as the other team members who were
involved and earned the tip. I would take a moral stance from the beginning and not be
conflicted about where my loyalties lie. I already had an ethical framework and was upset
when Roxy could not see me as the messenger in this scenario. This is because I failed as
the messenger and did not explain the tip would be split and instead left to go get help
from my GM. I had neglected my employee's feelings in this sense but was trying to
execute the customer's wishes.

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

Knowing what I know now about organizational politics, I would approach Roxy
first explaining that the tip was going to be split instead of leaving the tip out by the
register and her thinking it was to be assigned to her. I left the room for a moment to go
discuss with my GM how to split the tip for the customer since I had not split a credit
card tip before. I feel that this would have resulted in her not being so angry and not
 assigning blame to us as managers thinking it was our idea to split the tip and not the
customers.

My lack of communication and position of power caused a political wall between

her and us, as the staff member, and my GM and I as managers, to where she did not
think we were on her side. In reflecting on the whole situation, I think I would have
instilled more communication and be more direct in my explanation instead of getting
emotional since I thought of Roxy as a friend.

Reference or References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (n.d.). Chapter 9 Power, Conflict, and Coalition. Perusall.
Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://app.perusall.com/courses/ogl-481-org-leadership-pro-
seminar-i-2023-spring-a/reframing-organizations-artistry-choice-and-leadership?
assignmentId=bu9SFhaFqacnvixn8&part=1

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (n.d.). Chapter 10 The Manager as a Politician. Perusall.
Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://app.perusall.com/courses/ogl-481-org-leadership-
pro-seminar-i-2023-spring-a/reframing-organizations-artistry-choice-and-leadership?
assignmentId=bu9SFhaFqacnvixn8&part=1