Chelsea Velasquez

OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Ethical Communities Worksheet

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

In 2020 the non-profit children’s museum I was employed with furloughed myself and
the rest of the staff due to lack of funds available to pay us. I was in an internal
administration position as an Outreach and Programs Specialist. The situation in question
leaves room for speculation of the what if outcomes that could have ensued had some
minor adjustments been made with the funds allocated to the museum.

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

Imagine U was and is a community-based organization, whose focus is the children of

the community. With that I would say that the affluential ethical element of the business
was based upon the response from the sponsors in this situation. Which is not surprising
considering the amount of money that some sponsors have shelled out for their name to
be involved with an exhibit. The community of the south valley, and more so in Visalia,
is based upon generations of farmers and their legacies. A true exhibition of that is found
in some of the sponsors of the museum, most of them are wealthy farmland owners or
dairy people. I was born and raised here and know plenty of the big names around here,
nothing adds more to your name than to give to a community favorite like the children’s
museum.

Adding to that factor, is the influence of the executive director. Whose family is one
of those bigger recognizable names. She was so focused on the funding of the museum as
opposed to the culture of it from the very first day in her position. Her main objective as a
leader was to transform the museum for profit. When the pandemic initially began, and
the united states was beginning to shut down she was adamant about staying open until
the very last second possible. Her political views were continually reflective in her
decisions by far a fair example of what the text mentions of political leadership (Bolman
& Deal, 2017 p. 352).

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

Bolman and Deal mention, “why should an organization – be concerned about soul”
(Bolman & Deal, 2017 p. 389), in this circumstance because the employees were the
basis of what could be the soul of the organization. Without the people who bring life to
the experience of the museum there leaves a gap of expressionism and joy, without them
the place is simply a building with some exhibits. The museum is a CHILDREN’S

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 interactive place, essentially without soul it becomes another chuckie cheese or johns
incredible pizza, without the food element.

Caring, caring about the employees was not fully reciprocated when the layoffs
occurred, and even before that moment. As previously mentioned, the museum had a
large time where there was a high turnover rate. This negatively reflected upon the
remaining staff and created fear. A simple switch of caring for those employees and
allowing them the proper timeline for adequate training may have been beneficial to the
museum and added to the soul of the organization.

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

The sensitivity surrounding the year of the quarantine and the pandemic was already
high. With the layoffs it was brought to another level of hurt from the employees that
were let go, i.e., me. Even so, I do not believe that it was a deliberate shot at the
employees, I say this because I choose to believe that all people are not inherently evil or
conniving. I would bring comfort to those who were laid off to ensure them that they
were well equipped to begin looking for other work. Giving them the element of, ‘I value
you, and your work’ feelings.

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 Reference

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and

Leadership (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.