Zachary Buller

OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet
Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource 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.

2) The organization and problem I would like to study over the course would be Boeing and
their problems related to the 737-MAX aircraft. The 737 max aircraft was developed by
boeing over several years on the same platform as the original 737 plane. The max
program extended the length of the plane, gave it a higher fuel capacity and upgraded its
power. All this allowed for more passengers to fit on the plane while still remaining very
efficient. Because of the greater length of the plane, it had to take off at a much steaper
bank than previous aircraft. Something its computer was not programed to recognize.
This resulted in the computer to take over control from the pilots and essentially flying
itself right into the ground. This caused 346 total deaths over two different flights.
Understandibly, many asked “why?” something like this would begin to happen and
began to individually draw up solutions that they think could resolve this issue. This
mental practice is referred to reframing or frames (Bolman, Chapter 1, Pg: 13). Boeing is
believed to have known about this information long before the plane was released to
airliners for regularly scheduled flights. Also, it was later determined that this new
cutting edge aircraft required flight crew to go through new training to have a better idea
of the new and different technology on the plane. The plane had different flight
characteristics that were unlike anything else. This was also not released by Boeing.
Airline operators were flying these planes with pilots that weren’t trained on how to
operate them. This project cost Boeing roughly 20 billion dollars in research and
development, manufacturing, testing, and crisis mitigation after the two crashes. Even
after these accidents, the 737 max is one of Boeings most popular aircraft with high
demand from many airline operators.

3) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

In many cases it is the role of human resources to look out for the best interest in both the
employee and the organization. Because of this, sometimes the best needs of the
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consumer are not met. In the case of the Boeing 737-MAX project, program leaders were
looking at sales rather than safety. This cost the life of hundreds of people. In many cases
of human resources, they have to look for the good of their own organization before they
look for the good of the consumer. This doesn’t mean that HR departments don’t care
about customers or those using their products and services, but their role is to develop
employees with a clear understanding of the organizations mission, provide benefits and
compensation, and keep employees aware of rules and regulations within the work place.
This doesn’t go without being said that human resources does not care about the
customer, they simply prioritize their employees and organizations needs first. HR
managers still have ethical values they need to follow in their daily routines. This is
something that I believe was overlooked by leaders within Boeing executive offices.
Leaders clearly demonstrated their greater care for money over safety.

4) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

Human Resources leaders are expected to follow several competencies and obligations
within their careers. One of the greatest obligations being well being. This expectation is
for everyone. Especially for a large company like Boeing, HR representatives need to be
aware for the best interests of their organization and the products manufactured by the
organization. Boeing has a connection with almost every person in the world. Millions of
passengers have flown on a Boeing aircraft at some point in their life. Although their
human resource department may consist of just a few dozen people, their ethical decision
making can have a huge impact on millions of passengers. Although HR leaders are
responsible for well being, they are also responsible for health and safety both internal
and external to their organization. Within the case of Boeing, this seemed to be
completely disreguarded. Leaders minds were focused on a path of sales and product
delivery over safety.
As a leader of Human Resources, I would make myself aware of all the values and
competencies of a HR leader. This doesn’t mean that those within the Boeing executive
team were unaware of these values, they were likely detured to have a different belief that
fits within the deeds of the organization. However, with all the training and experience a
human resources leader will encounter over their career, they still have ethical values
they must implement within their own practices and within the organization as well.With
continius research, it is clear that Boeing executives lacked any kind of ethical values
within the launch process of the 737-MAX. This decision ultimately cost them millions in
lawsuits and a large chunck removed from their safety reputation. It is critical that leaders
are aware of proper Human Resources Practices and can effectively analyze risks that
may result from their decisions. In addition, HR leaders need to be aware of their own
ethical values and prevent others from altering their decisions even if they know it’s the

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wrong decision. Because of these weak leadership practices within the Boeing executive
office, they were able to launch an aircraft that was not ready to see the skies.

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

Throughout my research of Human Resources and its effects within an organization, I

would hold myself to a higher ethical standard out of respect for those that will be using
our products. I would also point out the ethical values that executives should follow
throughout the production of the 737-MAX. An aircraft is a very mechanically complex
machine that is still assembled by humans. Because of this, it is fairly common for human
error to occur from time to time in the production of these planes. Several countries have
agreed on many safety factors on aircraft and it is up to manufactures to meet those
regulations. Because there is human error in production, Human resources is responsible
for identifying who or where the problem is rooted and begin to generate corrective
action. It was obvious that these standards did not exist within the Boeing factory and
executives were needing money fast. This goes against the ethical values that Human
Resources in responsible for educating people on, but unfortunately they were over ruled
and were unable to make the correct decision given their situation.
Many of us encounter having to make ethical decisions regularly. These decisions are
almost impossible to identify. This is because we all have different views of ethical
values and beliefs. In this situation, I would make sure everyone is held accountable for
their own decisions. Although this could perminatley damage my reputation as an
employee and likely cost me my job, I would report any findings of safety constraints to
external researchers and authorities that could ensure that all safety protocalls are being
met. As mentioned earlier, this could likely cost me my job, but it would be the ethical
decision that could have saved the lives of hundreds of people.