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.

My role within the company is a shift supervisor of six years, and a barista overall

for 8 years. I work for Starbucks, a coffee company based in Seattle.

My situation is one that happened in 2022, when the former CEO, Howard Shultz,

had to come out of retirement to help pull the company out from potential financial

disaster. Many stores began unionizing, which in return required a complete overhaul of

the visionary statements in the company. (Schultz, 2022) This situation affected me

directly due to the extreme changes in policies and rituals that take place within the

organization.

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

The symbols of the organization caused a lot of confusion because Starbucks

always talks how the employees (or partners, as the company calls its’ employees) are

one of the most important aspects of the company. However, when it came down to the

pay and expectations of what the workers thought the organization should provide,

Starbucks let many employees down. Because of this, many stores began to unionize in

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 hopes for treatment they had be striving for. Seeing the the current symbolds of the

company were not meeting the needs of its’ employees, Starbucks had to take a hard look

at itself.

The company had always had many levels of storytelling that helped to keep

traditions alive, but it wasn’t enough to keep employees loyal through this rough patch.

(Bolman, 2021) Because of this, Starbucks had to reinvent their storytelling and myths

into more modern, and realistic standards for the current situations. They recognized the

struggles that arose during COVID19, and vowed to bring their partners safety first. The

“Third Place Policy” was formed during this time. This allowed partners to take matters

into their own hands if they were met with an unfavorable situation (unruly customers

were the main concern), which brought many partners back on board with commitment.

(Starbucks, 2024)

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

While I think Starbucks made a good decision in this situation, I would

recommended bringing a perspective from the baristas at the bottom levels. Providing

real opinions and stories that more workers could relate to, could have rebuilt the culture

of the organization, allowing for more growth from the lower levels. (Bolman, 2021) As

this would become a standard within the organization, it would be easier for the new

partners to feel included and valued.

At the beginning of this situation, it became more and more obvious that the

attention had been turned away from the safety and wellbeing of the partners, and more

focused on customer satisfaction. While the customers are very important within the

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 culture of the company, the partners are the core of the customer interaction, and Schultz

could see that it was waivering within the foundation. I personally would have verbally

acknowledged the disconnect. The level of honesty and transparency that it would take to

do that would show the partners that not only does the company hold them to the

standards, but that the CEO would also follow the standards set out from the

organization’s symbolics.

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

Some things that I would have done differently knowing about this frame would

have been to be more open for change. This frame is very flexible and it shows that while

a company can be set into a way due to its’ symbolics, it is possible to redo them to build

a more resilient company. (Bolman, 2021) In fact, as the company grows and becomes

older, it’s only inevidable that the culture and symbolics go through transformations, as

the world around it is ever evolving. It’s important to keep up with changes in order to

stay relevant. I would make sure to keep was is absolutely necessary to keep the same

vision, but to rebuild where needed to fit the current flow of society.

I would not change how Schultz brought the “Third Place Policy” into affect. I

believe this was a very smart move to bring commitment back into the organization. It

reminded partners of the core values and their store can still be their home away from

home. By providing that reassurance, Starbucks held to their own symbolics that they

formed within the culture of the company itself. (Bolman, 2021) Without this policy, it

would have been very hard to handle the chaos of COVID19, and all the aftermath. Even

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 to this day, we are able to feel backed up in making decisions for our safety, without fear

of reprimanding.

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 References

About us: Starbucks Coffee Company. About Us: Starbucks Coffee Company. (n.d.).

https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/

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

(7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Schultz, H. (2022, July 11). A message from Howard Schultz: The next chapter of ... - starbucks

stories. Starbucks Stories and News. https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2022/a-message-

from-howard-schultz-the-next-chapter-of-starbucks-reinvention/