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.

I work for “ABC Deliveries” and my company focuses on food delivery as well as
convience, we’re planning a big project to become a top alcohol delivery app. As a
Project Manager within the supply chain team, I handle projects and daily warehouse
issues. Due to my experience, I believe I will have a chance to be involved in this new
alcohol delivery endeavor.

My company is changing how the Supply Chain team works to focus on alcohol delivery.
Our previous competitor recently stopped alcohol delivery which gives us a chance to
capitalize on this new opening. Our team is choosing people based on merit, and not
factoring seniority. In a previous meeting with the Senior Manager it was emphasized
that skills matter more than seniority.

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

The organization’s ethics absolutely shaped the situation by emphasizing the merit-based
selection standard over seniority in the selection process for the project. While
controversial, this new system does ensure that team members selected for this project are
selected based on their skill and abilities rather than their tenure with the organization.
This process will reward talented individuals while feeding into the company ethos of
customer-obsessed service.

Ultimately, this shift in selectrion does demonstrate the organization’s ethical

commitment by ensuring that the absolute best employees are selected for a project
containing such a potentially dangerous product (alcohol). The company’s principles
helped them make a controversial, yet impactful change in their selection that does relate
to their culture for excellence.

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

To align with the ethical community of “The Family :Caring and Love” the organization
could have focused on the wellbeing and overall support of the team as we transitioned to
this new alcohol delivery project. I think with this ethical community in mind, we could
have focused on open communication, as well as empathy and support to ensure that the
employees (especially those not selected) felt valued and respected during this
organizational change (Bolman & Deal 2021).

The Family emphasizes check-ins, as well as more candid feedback (Bolman & Deal
2021). There is an increased emphasis on providing resources for professional growth
that could potentially allow those who are vying for a position on the new team the skills
they need to be eligible. Additionally, the rallying of the team could create a sense of
community within the org that can recenter the attention to the mission at hand. We could
potentially become an org that is extremely dedicated to this new outlet of opportunity;
this can be propelled if everyone not selected also feels just as important and valued as
their new project counterparts.

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

Given what I’ve learned about ethics, I would have prioritized a culture of transparency
within the organization. I would have attempted to promote ethical standards that can be
visible to all those who are inquiring, as well as selection criteria for those who may have
not been selected. I would focus on trying to create an organization where everyone feels
empowered, and feels as though they have an equal chance to succeed.

Also, I would focus on empowerment at an organization level. In the act of providing

resources and different opportunities to my team, I could ensure they’re more involved in
the culture of the organization. The community that we could build with such a
philosophy of advancement could ensure that those who are not selected now, feel as
though they will be made ready for a future selection. This community within the
organization can ensure that everyone is equally determined to make our business
ventures as successful as possible.

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Bolman L. G. & Deal T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations artistry choice and leadership (7th
ed.). Jossey-Bass.