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.

Starbucks prides itself on beverage innovation and creating an uplifting experience for its
guest. In March of this year, with no warning they made a decision to close a speciality
wing of Starbucks called Reserve Bars. Prior to closing the portfolio, Reserve Bars only
made up an infintismal percentage of stores across the US, specifically less than .006%
for the US Business. As a store manager in a Reserve Bar location I am responsible for
the successful operation of the business, which includes sourcing and onboarding talent,
sales and inventory, teaching and training, performance and development and profit and
loss. I had a vision to run these stores with a retailer mindset, that is to create an
experience unlike any other store while controlling costs and maximizing revenue. I took
great pride in leading the Reserve Bar portolio in sales, customer connection metrics, and
total contribution. In these stores, exotic coffees from around the world are used to craft
innovative beverage. Baristas (employees) take extreme pride in the knowledge they have
aquired and the passion they have for their craft. The decision to decommission the
Reserve Bar portfolio seemed sudden, unfounded and poorly executed. Leaving everyone
in the store perplexed as no reason was given and no follow up provided.

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

The organization is split into two distinct sides, the retail side which accounts for most of
its labor force. Retail operations are the stores, the people who work in the stores and the
management who support them. The other side of the business is the non-retail. This
accounts for all of the support services, including supply chain, procurement, accounts
and payable and so on. Politics influences both sides respectively, the politics is even
more severe from the retail to the non-retail side. “The political frame is the realistic

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 process of making decisions and allocating resources in a context of scarcity and
divergent interests” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.185).

The process of decommissioning the Reserve Bar portfolio is a significant project, with
many stakeholders and key decisions to be made. The general lack of consideration for
these decisions left the stores and their leaders feeling lost and searching for answers. No
resources were provided, just an email stating the stores would be transitions back to
normal operations and a vague timeline. The email was sent out in March of this year,
since then there has been no follow up, no decisions made and no ownership for who is
responsible for what. There needed to be decisions made including who, what, where,
and when the process would take place. The conflict emerged when no one took
responsibility for paying for the massive understaking. There are cost’s associated with
removing machines, changing store layout and reverting the menu. In the first month, we
continued to have customers visit our store because of its status only to be disappointed
when they arrived. From an online perspective, nothing was turned off or changed so
customers could still look us up online and validate that we were a Reserve Bar, even
though that ended weeks before.

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

A key change would be setting a realistic agenda to understand who was responsible for
which actions. This would be accompanied by a realistic timeline that would support all
those involved. I would recommend that the agendas and the access be granted to all
interested parties, so that there could be collaboration between the coalition of teams
driving the work. The company had a vision for what they wanted the outcome to look
like, but lacked a strategy to get there. “A vision without a strategy is just an illusion”
(Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 214).

A second recommendation would be to engage in a building networks between the retail

and non-retail side of the business. By linking the two arms of the business we stand to
learn more from each other, increase levels of communication and reduce conflict.
“Getting things done in an organization involves working through a complex network of
individuals and groups” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.201).

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

Now that I have had time to digest the political frame, there are few things I would have
done differently if given the opportunity. First, as a manager I wasn’t afforded the
opportunity to discuss the process or the specifics. I was left to pick up the pieces with
what was left. I would have advocated for myself and the other managers in the portfolio,
formed a coalition between us and set forth an agenda of items that we as stakeholders

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 would like to see addressed. I would have recommended with the decision makers that
we create an open and transparent method to communicate what steps were being taken
and steps to address missed milestones.

Lastly, I would have pressured my leadership to think more broadly about the scope of
the project to decommission, and demanded commitments and consistency from all key
decision makers. My hopes would be that the result of these actions would command a
higher degree of excellence from the organization. “Constructive politics is a possibility
—indeed, a necessary option if we are to create institutions and societies that are both just
and efficient”(Bolman & Deal, 2021,p.207).

References

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

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