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.

I work as an electrical sales associate at the Home Depot. Recently, there was a drop in
my department’s on-shelf availability score (the rating of how well stocked a
department’s shelves are on a day to day basis). The solution that management had
decided on was to perform all bay packdowns (stocking the low and empty spots on the
shelves) as full bay packdowns (removing all items down from the overhead, stocking
everything, then putting the remainder back up.) The problem is that such extra work
limits my ability to provide customer service throughout my shift. As the decision was
made by the district manager, I must comply and have no say otherwise.

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

At the Home Depot, we as employees are often encouraged to “live our values.” Our core
values are a prominent point everywhere in the organization. One of the values that is
talked about the most is “excellent customer service.” The Home Depot’s description of
this value is, “we must go the extra mile to give customers knowledgabale advice about
merchandise and to help them use those products to their maximum benefit” (Home
Depot, 2024). My issue with this particular situation is that the addition of unnecessary
work limits my ability to live this particular value. That such work reduces my
availability to the customer.

Another value that is affected by this situation is “respect for all people.” This value
states that “our associates must work in an environment of mutual respect…where each
associate is regarded as part of the Home Depot team” (Home Depot, 2024). I have
discussed in my analysis of the political frame on this situation that the politics of the
Home Depot prevented myself as a low-level employee from having a voice that is heard
by upper management. This goes against the notion that “each associate is regarded as
part of the Home Depot team.”

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

I would recommend that all decisions that are made be made with all of the Home
Depot’s values in mind. To truly strive to “live our values” as I was taught when I was
first hired. “The values that count are those an organization lives, regardless of what it
articulates in mission statements or formal documents” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 255).

“Organizations often rely on CEO’s or other prominent leaders as exemplars” (Bolman &
Deal, 2021, p.257). From my perspective on this case, it feels like my district manager
isn’t following our core values as closely as he should. The core values that we have in
the Home Depot are more than just guidelines. Ones that I would like to see “lived” by
my leadership so that they will better serve as examples for the whole organization.

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

From what I have learned about the symbolic frame, I see how I would do things
differently. I have learned the value of the various symbols and values that build upon an
organization’s culture. I have learned the value that teamwork has in any organization.
From what I have learned, I will strive to follow the Home Depot’s values more closely
so that I might serve as an example for others to follow and hopefully my leadership will
notice and strive to follow my example as well.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Home Depot. (2024). Our Values. The Home Depot. Retrieved from
https://corporate.homedepot.com/page/our-values