OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

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

The situation that I face pertains to role clarity and unified leadership among shift
supervisors. At my local Starbucks, I am responsible for maintaining our third place
environment. I do so by ensuring the safety of our baristas and customers. I am also
responsible for ensuring corporate recipes and standards are upheld by partners. My role
also requires that I manage inventory, cash management, and food safety. In my situation,
our store manager and other shift leads are working to clarify roles for baristas by
unfying our work as supervisors to company standards.

In our last supervisor meeting, our manager had the four of us exchange “gifts,” positive
and constructive feedback, to each other, and discuss recent feedback from baristas on
our performance. We found that the manager that receieved no complaints from baristas
rarely corrects their behavior and allows them to take additional breaks during early
morning shifts. When we heard this, we were frustrated because her actions did not
follow company expectations and made personal concerns, coming to work
hydrated/caffeinated and fed, if needed, a store problem. This supervisor went as far to to
say that she would continue to provide these unsanctioned breaks even if it cost her the
job. While this behavior may not seem important, this inconsistency in leadership is
confusing for baristas, makes leaders disunified, and creates room for personal concerns
to override job responsibilities. Because this imbalance is a major issue at the store, this
allowance is dangerous.

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

Starbucks ascribes symbolic power to our green aprons. In many corporate communiques
and manuals, respect and craft is associated and required of those that wear the green
apron. To further emphasize this point, our dress code is built around it, calling us to
avoid prints that distract from it. The apron is the symbol of partners and the company’s
commitment to craft and people. The authors of our text take a quote from former
Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz. He says, “A company can grow big without losing the
passion and personality that built it, but only if it’s driven not by profits but by values and
people” (Bolman & Deal, 2021).

Though I cannot be sure, I can safely assume that my fellow supervisor is approaching
her leadership with people at the center. This is evidenced by her actions of allowing
partners to eat and drink during their shifts when they are scheduled early morning shifts.
She is empathizing. Starbucks is clearly a people-centered company, and this supervisor
is people-oriented as well. The authors define a symbol as “‘something that stands for or
suggests something else; it conveys socially constructed meanings beyond its intrinsic or
obvious functional use’” (Bolman & Deal, 2021). For this reason, I think that my
collegue associated the weight and symbolism of the green apron to her dealings with
baristas.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

I would use the organizational symbol, the green apron, to related back to our
commitments to company policy. I dislike the dryness of this response, but I think that it
is a rather favorable response to the company’s people-centered policy. Many of
Starbuck’s competitors do not provide free meals and drinks to their employees.
Starbucks does. Many other’s do not allow the flexibility, support, and resources that the
company provides. In return of these multiple benefits, we are required to work a couple
hours between breaks and lunches. I think that this is a fair request.

I would use ur green apron to remind the leaders in our store of our commitment to
uphold the company mission, values, and behaviors. By doing so, the apron would serve
as a s symbol of mutual covenant.

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

In regards to what I have learned about the symbolic frame, I would give greater value to
my green apron and challenge my team to do the same. Many of those on my team have
not made the connection between their apron and their role in the company. This is clear
to me because many come to work with aprons covered in the last shift’s residue. Too
many of them do not take pride in their dress or role as a Starbucks barista. The apron has
become a burden. Given what I have learned about the symbolic frame, I will work to
educate my team on the many benefits and responsibilities of the wearing the apron. I
will engage the company’s new mission statement to “unit[e] people, and hel[p] an
enterprise accomplish desired ends” (Bolman & Deal, 2021). I think that communicating
this to store leadership and distilling this goal of responsibility and benefits between the
company and partners will change the culture of our store.

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 Reference or References
(Choose appropriate Title if Applicable and Delete the Rest)

Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and

leadership (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass