Corey Gallinari

OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the four ethical communities
2. Apply the ethical communities 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 organization I’ve been talking about in my situation is R&N Supply. They are a one-
stop shop for contractors and homeowners to get all their plumbing, heating, and HVAC
needs. My role at the time was a Branch Manager, which meant I dealt with all customer
complaints about my store. This situation included a worker of mine, Tim, who is also a
good friend, and a customer Pat whom Tim does not care for. While on the phone with
Pat, Tim was very rude in his responses, causing Pat to be very unhappy. Pat’s
unhappiness led to a phone call, that I as the manager had to handle. While I handled the
disgruntled customer, I had to deal not just with an employee who was out of line, but a
good friend of mine. I struggled at first to find the fine line between boss and employee,
and boss and friend. I was able to find a common ground to talk with Tim to make him
realize what he had done, and the position he put me in as the boss.

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

When I think about R&N Supply I did always think they were an ethical company. I try
to think about the situation at hand between Tim and Pat and question how ethics
influenced the situation. When I do that, I then start to question how ethical was R&N
Supply. Were they really looking out for others or just themselves? In Chapter 20 of
Reframing Organizations, I focus on Medtronic’s core purpose, which was “serving
patients rather than shareholders” (Bolman & Deal, 2021).

Medtronic, which seems to focus on putting its patients first rather than the people who
have invested in their company is something R&N did not do. R&N has always put their
customers first which at times is great. This mindset is why they were the best plumbing
& HVAC company in the local area. But when it came to their employees it did not have
the same effect. R&N, putting their customers first allowed them to act in certain ways
that became acceptable. This was the issue with Pat, he felt he was so important that he
could speak down to people and he never faced any repercussions. If R&N didn’t set this
standard this situation could have been avoided.

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Corey Gallinari

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

Chapter 20 of Reframing Organizations, talks about “The Family: Caring and Love”
(Bolman & Deal, 2021). This section describes caring, as “one person’s compassion and
concern for another—is both the primary purpose and the ethical guide that holds a
family together” (Bplman & Deal, 2021). This definition which in the text was used in
example of parents taking care of their children and eventually children taking care of
their parents. This concept can apply to any company.

When a company shows care for their employees, their employees are more likely to give
back to the company. Giving back can mean giving their best effort at all times, and
respecting the company's decisions and rules. This is where R&N lacked. Not always, but
at times I felt R&N cared more for the customers and the money coming in than the
employees. If R&N focused more on caring for their workers they would get the best out
of their employees. In my situation with Tim and Pat, this could have been the difference
between Tim being a disgruntled worker who at times was fed up with working for R&N,
so he lashed out by attacking certain ways towards customers.

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

When it comes to this ethical framework, there is not much I would do differently. I ran
my store in a very ethical manner, respecting and putting everyone else first before
myself. This situation was something that could have been prevented by many other
factors, mostly from an organizational standpoint. I talked about in other frameworks
how I could have prevented this situation, but when it comes from an ethical standpoint, I
don’t think there is anything I could have done differently.

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Corey Gallinari

Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.